by Greg Walcher, Senior Policy Fellow
As Appearing in The Daily Sentinel
It is commonly said of ill-advised policies that “the cure is worse than the ailment.” That’s often true, but not always. It came to mind this week when several websites expressed horror over a report regarding numerous environmental policy changes. Several articles carried headlines about the “staggering scope of environmental rollbacks by Trump administration.”
Interestingly, not one article expressed the slightest wonder about the “staggering” scope of the policies being “rolled back.” One change was even criticized because it was made by executive order — even though the policy being changed had also been created by executive order. That process was apparently acceptable for President Obama, but not for President Trump.
That is the crux of the debate over this “report,” issued by the Center for Western Priorities (CWP), an environmental industry group based in Denver but funded by the “Resources Legacy Fund.” The latter is a California fund launched by the Packard Foundation with a $175 million check, and into which the usual environmental donors have lavished millions to push a preservation agenda. They do that by funding projects like CWP in California, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana.
