PBS on George Bush, Despoiler of the Planet, Scourge of Clean Air and Water

August 23rd, 2005 7:56 AM

On this day three years ago, PBS omnipresence Bill Moyers earned a runner-up in that year's Best of Notable Quotables with this sermon about Bush the Environmental Exploiter:

“Next week, over 100 heads of state will meet in Johannesburg, South Africa. Their goal is to search for ways to save the Earth’s life support system – our water, air and soil. Ten years ago they gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the same purpose, but United Nations studies reveal the Earth’s environment is still in decline. So the leaders of every major industrial country will be in Johannesburg next week, except for George W. Bush. That makes his core constituents quite happy: Representatives of the religious right, conservative activists and big companies like ExxonMobil wrote the President this week praising him for not going to the summit. They also asked him to make sure American officials...keep the issue of global warming off the table. It’s all part of a pattern. The Bush administration is carrying on what the Los Angeles Times this week called ‘the most concerted exploitation of the public’s land, air and water since fundamental protection laws went into effect three decades ago.’”
– Moyers on Now with Bill Moyers, August 23, 2002.