by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
As Appearing in The Daily Sentinel

One of Shakespeare’s most famous lines comes when Hamlet asks his mother how she reacts to a certain character’s effusive and flowery language, and she responds, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” It’s among the bard’s many lines still quoted today, this one used when someone’s overblown rhetoric seems to disguise insincerity.

That is very prevalent these days, as nearly every new administration’s natural resources policy is immediately blasted by the environmental industry as a complete disaster. In many cases, the bombast is so over-the-top that it loses all credibility. All Americans care about the environment, and leaders on both sides of the aisle try to do the right thing, as they see it. Some think we can strike a careful balance between preservation of resources for the future, and use of resources for today’s economy. Others think everything man does is bad for the environment, and should be stopped. Political differences make our democracy interesting. But the accusation that anyone would purposely destroy nature, whatever side they’re on, reveals more about the accuser than the accused.

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