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| Planet Turns Ten 1 2 3 4 5 | |
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< Property
Rights Ruse: In our first issue, we publish a photograph
of former President Ronald Reagan and a story on the “takings”
movement, an alliance of polluters and anti-regulatory advocates
hiding under the guise of private property rights. We run a Nancy Kittle photograph of Death Valley on the front page, with the caption, “Almost Home,” about the California desert victory on the horizon. (JULY 1994) |
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< Desert Victory: That victory comes on October 31, when President Clinton signs the California Desert Protection Act, capping a campaign that started in the 1970s when Judy Anderson, Jim Dodson, and other self-described “desert rats” started exploring the vast dunes and mountains of Southern California and began efforts to protect it from such damaging activities as the annual Barstow-to-Las Vegas motorcycle race. (SEPTEMBER 1994) |
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< Newt World Order: The good news is that the 1994 election is not a referendum on the environment. An Election Day poll confirms that the vast majority of Americans voice strong support for public health and the environment. But the actual votes? Not good. For the first time in 40 years, the Republicans gain control of both the House and Senate. Presumptive House Speaker Newt Gingrich announces the “Contract With America,” 10 draft bills the GOP vows to push through in the first 100 days of the 104th Congress. (NOVEMBER 1994) |
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< War on the Environment: The Contract With America never directly mentions the environment; it’s packaged as a populist “get the government off our backs” movement. With the new year the Sierra Club and its allies begin a many-month process of exposing the radical anti-environmental initiatives buried in the Contract. Like the Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act—who could be against that?—that mandates compensation to private industry anytime a federal law or rule reduces a property’s value by 10 percent or $10,000, whichever is lower. (FEBRUARY1995) |
| APRIL 1995: First e-mail address appears in The Planet. | |
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< Environmental Bill
of Rights: The centerpiece of the counter-offensive
in the War on the Environment is a massive “environmental
bill of rights” petition drive led by the Sierra Club
and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “The petition
is designed to move beyond sounding the alarm and put forward
a positive agenda for addressing the serious threats to America’s
environment,” says Bruce Hamilton, the Sierra Club’s
conservation director. (APRIL 1995) |
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< Parks, WIlderness Under Attack: With control of both houses, the Republican leadership unleashes a torrent of now-familiar initiatives that have been on anti-environmentalists’ wish list for years, like drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and expanding timber sales in the national forests. (MAY 1995) |
| 1996 beckons - read on... | |
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