White House seeks to bypass reality

From Think Progress

Today, the AP reports on new draft rules being proposed by the Bush administration to gut the Endangered Species Act. This would be the biggest change to the groundbreaking legislation since 1988, and would not require the approval of Congress.

Currently, federal agencies are required to consult with an independent agency — the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Service — to determine whether a project would harm an endangered species. The AP reports that under the new rules, agencies would simply be able to “decide for themselves”

I have long said that you can see in microcosm everything wrong with the Bush administration by looking at its approach to the environment. This is still the case. The White House wants to cut independent scientific analysis out of the process because the White House does not believe that there should be any such thing as a non-political truth or reality; that, and then there's the desire of the White House to find a way to circumvent laws it does not like.

It's the same reason that the White House was able to never learn that Iraq did not have WMDs. This kind of governance by ideology inspite of factual evidence is excellent at putting ideological beliefs into practice. It is terrible at yielding competent, non-corrupt government that can deal with and respond to reality.