The great, global warming ‘denier’ is hanging up his spurs.

George Bush is heading back to the ranch to break out the brush cutters, chainsaw and bass rod – oil companies and defense contractors should start fast-tracking a purchase order for a top-of-the-line, cushy seat on their board of directors for the consummate ‘decider,’ and soon to be ex-President.  Time for the cowboy to cash in those chips — he certainly earned them.  The man created an energy policy right out of the Exxon Annual Report and has kissed enough Saudi Princes to need a prescription for both ChapStick and lip gloss.  Not exactly a shining green legacy; although, George, inspired by a documentary by Jean-Michael Cousteau, did recently create the largest marine protected area in the world.  Perhaps, in retrospect, he just needed to see more films.

George W’s final moment of green envy was easily counterbalanced by a bevy of industry-friendly Executive Orders which stopped only because they ran out of time.  G.W. and his intrepid anti-green team have done their best to weaken:  the Clean Air Act, The Endangered Species Act and clean water regulations — while opening up public lands to oil, gas and coal exploration.  In the case of the Endangered Species Act, the Bushies removed provisions that called for independent scientific review of projects that could have impacted endangered wildlife.  The EPA recently loosened regs on disposal of debris from mountaintop coal mining (where they lop off the top of the mountain) to allow mining companies to more economically dispose of debris in nearby valleys and streams.  The EPA, as re-constituted under the Bush administration, appears to support the protection of: coal fired power plants, auto emissions and polluters — over clean air, water and the public safety.

The fast-approaching Obama inauguration will allow Dick Cheney to go back to cashing big checks from Halliburton, and G.W. to hit the lucrative rubber chicken circuit, buttressed with the knowledge that they did everything they could to make America “business friendly,” if not economically sound.  Obama has already strayed from the Bush hiring blueprint by appointing people to key cabinet positions that have actual qualifications that far exceed the Bush prerequisites of being able to recite a loyalty oath to the administration and having done some work for the Republican Party (”Heck of job, Brownie”).

In just a few days, the Obama inauguration will allow every barn owl, gray wolf, endangered lizard, mountaintop, and EPA scientist to breathe a sign of relief and harbor hope for the future.  Heads will roll in the Department of the Interior, EPA and any number of federal wildlife agencies as the pendulum of regulation and protection swings swiftly away from developers, big oil and industry and back towards Al Gore, polar bears and alternative energy.

I presume that somewhere up in the cold north, over a steaming hot bowl of moose stew, Bush protege Sarah Palin can only shake her head.