Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of

the spirit of connection S 131
that destroy ozone, increased the amount of mercury in the air
and water . . . the list goes on and on” (Duncan, 2005).
Both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, among other
prominent Republican leaders, are said to have believed that
these are in fact the end times, and even advanced the cause a bit.
George W. Bush placed fundamentalists in positions of authority
throughout the federal government, including departments and
agencies administering federal lands and environmental laws, and
these appointees were not shy about amending scientifi c reports
in ways more agreeable to administration doctrine. Many professional
environmental scientists and highly competent career civil
servants were fi red or forced into early retirement, replaced by
others with apocalyptic religious views and considerable hostility
to laws and regulations aimed to protect the environment and
supportive of efforts to eliminate inconvenient regulatory barriers
to resource extraction, pollution, and the preservation of species
(Kennedy, 2004). And if, as Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior
James Watt is purported to have said, the end times are indeed
upon us, there is a case to be made to exploit what’s left of our
forests, soils, and resources and close things out with a party. On
the other hand, if the end is near, one might ask why bother to
add another few percent to the gross national product? The faithful
might better spend their remaining days toning up spiritually
by prayer and fasting rather than laying up for themselves more
treasure on a doomed Earth, which would be rather like winning
another pot in a poker game on the Titanic. But extreme
fundamentalism of any sort is not necessarily about consistency
or even facts, but about maintaining the hold of doctrine on the
faithful. 4
The George W. Bush administration is now departed, and all
of this would be so much ancient history except that its legacy
remains and extreme fundamentalists are still with us, and by all
signs still intend to change the nation into a theocracy. And even
if somewhat subdued and hopefully in decline, the unholy alliance