1. Reworked the Northwest Forest Plan making it easier for logging to take place.  Some rollbacks included removing wildlife protections that protected old-growth forests, easing “survey and manage” requirements, and removing salmon-protection requirements.

2. Removing protections for the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska. 

3. The “Healthy Forests Initiative” which was a giveaway to the logging industry via a policy loophole which removed environmental review, allowed for large tree removal, and restrain public input. 

4. Proposed changes to remove the wildlife “viability” rule from National Forest Management Plans – putting critical species in danger. 

5. The Bush Administration’s EPA stopped reversed a proposed ban on snowmobiles in parks like Yellowstone and instead conceded and allowed some continued access.  Courts have ruled against this policy.

6. Recommended not saving one of the last undeveloped stretches of seashore in CA by making it a National Park. 

7. Worked to push through two huge land development deals on Yosemite, affecting over 200 acres of meadowland. 

8. Without public comment the Administration issued a permit to drill on Padre Island, a National Park in Texas. 

9. Worked to allow development in areas deemed ‘critical habitat’ to endangered and threatened species. 

10. Allowed for a 33,000 salmon and steelhead die-off as the administration’s plan for Kalamth River management didn’t allow enough water to be left in lakes and streams. 

11. Exempted the Dept. of Defense from the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act allowing for habitat destruction among other things. 

12. DOI proposed a plan making it easier for federal water managers to declare drought conditions and divert water to agriculture and away from protected habitats. 

13. BLM plan which allows motorized vehicles in protected habitat in the Sonoran Desert. 

14. Failed to enforce federal rights not have water diverted away from National Parks, threatening habitats and species. 

15. National Park Service allowed motor vehicles in GA’s Cumberland Island Wilderness Area, although strictly prohibited by Wilderness area designation. 

16. Forest Service granted lead mining exploration in Mark Twain National Forest despite the risk of water pollution. 

17. Forest Service no longer required road construction projects near streams to acquire Clean Water Act permits. 

18. Fish and Wildlife withdrew a plan, 4 years in, to create a the Little Darby Wildlife Refuge in Ohio. 

19. National Marine Fisheries Service allowed continued fishing in New England, violating the Sustainable Fisheries Act. 

20. Army Corps of Engineers hurried construction of a storm water storage facility outside of the Everglades w/o proper environmental analysis. 

21. DOI cancelled a two-year ban on mining in Sisikyou National Forest. 

22. Forest Service proposed allowing over 100,000 acres of roadless forest in Los Padres National Forest to be opened to oil and gas extraction. 

23. Bush administration attempted to open the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska of over 1 million acres of wild lands. 

24. Allowed fishing of one of the last Atlantic Salmon fish runs to be fished by Greenland. 

25. DOI rejected the need for a citizens’ panel to oversee the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. 

26. Executive order limiting public involvement in federal highway and airport projects. 

27. EPA renounced the government’s authority to conduct wilderness inventory on public lands.  Allowing them to remain open to mining, drilling, and logging.

28. Added Categorical Exclusions to NEPA which would allow timber sales in zones designated for fire-clearing and fire-rehabilitation and would exempt all Categorical Exclusion deals from appeal - basically a handout to the timber industry in our most protected areas.

29. Dismantled the Clinton-era roadless rule leaving millions of acres unprotected in favor of a state based petition process.

30. Allowed the Forest Service to draft a plan to reinstate logging in the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

31. The Forest Service’s created a management plan which calls for tripling the amount of logging allowed in the Sierra Nevadas old growth forests.

32. In the state of Alabama the Forest Service drafted a management plan in which 90 percent of the national forests in the state can be drilled and mined.

33. “Interior Secretary Gale Norton overturned a Clinton-era regulation that limited the amount of public land that could be used for waste from mining operations.”

34. “BLM proposed new rules in February 2004 to overturn Clinton-era rangeland management reforms. The new regulations would give ranchers greater influence over decisions affecting 160 million acres of public lands”

35. Critically underfunded the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife to such a a degree that it was often unable to protect critical species and habitat.

36. EPA wants exception from ESA law which requires new pesticides be evaluated for impact on endangered plants and wildlife if it ‘probably’ won’t affect them.

37. The administration tragically underfunded the Federal Salmon Recovery Plan by 50% making it impossible to properly address the issue of salmon die-off.

38. “The Forest Service has exempted some logging projects from the requirements of the Aquatic Conservation Strategy. Now, only whole watersheds, not individual streams, will be monitored by federal agencies for ACS compliance. This proposed change paves the way for increased logging and will allow destructive practices such as clear-cutting on steep slopes.”

39. Rolling back Steller Sea Lion protections. When the Bush administration took over, strong regulations were replaced with a weaker version that allowed industrial fishing operations back into much of the sea lion's critical habitat.  

40. In 2008, the EPA proposed limiting the Endangered Species Act so that global warming could not be considered a factor in a species declining population. Additionally, they seek to limit scientific review of a proposed listing, and to limit public comment periods. 

1. Bush administration’s EPA exempted 17,000 coal fired power plants from installing pollution controlling equipment as required under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review Provision and also made it more difficult to sue plants that failed to comply. Courts have fought these proposals.

2. The Clear Skies Initiative which would allow 3 times more mercury pollution and also would increase sulfur and nitrogen pollution while pushing back the Clean Air Act’s mandated dates for a reduction in these pollution causing chemicals.

3. Pushed through a deal which allowed for an ultra dirty coal fired power plant to be built and hinder visibility at Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave.

4. Sided with the automobile industry to hamper California’s efforts to fight air pollution via the Clean Cars Program and the Zero Emission Vehicle rule.

5. The EPA allowed ‘interpollutant’ credit training in Louisiana to allow oil and chemical companies to emit more carcinogenic chemicals in exchange for emitting less of a less-dangerous pollutant.

6. Signed off on a Corps of Engineers plan that would weaken Clean Water Act permitting laws and allow for the destruction of waterways – removing a 300 foot limit on the destruction of streams.

7. Removed the acre-for-acre replacement of wetlands federal guidelines for developers that destroy wetlands.

8. Reversed a Clean Water Act guideline so mountain top removal coal mining operations can dump mining waste into rivers lakes and streams.

9. Allowed for pollution trading credits to be used by water polluting industries instead  of actually cleaning up pollution under the Clean Water Act.

10. Redefined the ‘waters of the United States’ in the Clean Water Act to not include small waterways and wetlands – opening them up for pollution.

11. Set new rules that force fewer factory farms to comply with Clean Water Act standards relating to disposal of waste into waterways.

12. Proposed doubling the number of open-pit limestone mines in the Everglades. Although the feasibility of the plan would require a 10 year study the project was allowed to begin in 2002.

13. Proposed the release of sewage into the nation’s waterways as long as it was diluted with treated sewage.

14. Allowed the EPA to give a special exemption to Florida to continue to pump sewage underground even though it may endanger drinking water supplies.

15. The EPA released a report which failed to regulate mercury pollution strictly and allowed for an increase in pollution while they readdressed the issue until at least 2018.

16. Failed to fund a program created through treaty between the US and Mexico which would clean and limit pollution along the border.

17. Reduced the frequency of pollution monitoring on industrial smokestacks – making enforcement more difficult.

18. The Bush Administration proposed an “agreement [which] would allow large, corporate-run farms to escape prosecution for air pollution violations for two years if they pay a $3,000 fee and allow the EPA to monitor air pollution emitted from their feedlots.”

19. The EPA relaxed air pollution standards at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota by simply changing the way they constitute what “polluted” means – setting a dangerous precedent.

20. Weakened the Clean Water Act by not allowing the total maximum daily load program to take effect which would limit and prioritize pollution in waterways at the federal level – instead opting to allow states to regulate which has been shown to be ineffective.

21. EPA allowed the corps of engineers to continue to dump sludge in the Potomac for up to 7 years after they gave the ruling to stop.

22. “In March 2003, the Bush administration exempted the oil and gas industry from a new water regulation aimed at reducing polluted runoff.”

23. “EPA refused to comply with a federal court ruling that the agency must protect lakes, streams, and wetlands by requiring that pesticide applications be subject to Clean Water Act permits”

24. “The EPA announced in September 2003 that it will not regulate ballast water discharges from ships,” even though it introduces foreign species w/ limited predators damaging sea ecosystems.

25. “The BLM issued its final environmental impact statement [that a proposed] copper mine, which would cover 3,360 acres (two-thirds on federal lands), would have no ecological impacts. The agency based its finding on Phelps Dodge Corporation’s pledge to use impermeable plastic to prevent toxic materials from leaking into the Gila River water system. Critics are skeptical that a plastic liner would provide adequate protection for Arizona’s limited water supply.”

26. The Bush Administration changed the investigative powers of the NAFTA Environmental Oversight Commission by only allowing them to investigate specific instances of environmental enforcement failure, not larger systemic environmental problems. 

1. Ended the ‘polluter-pays’ portion of the superfund program shifting the burden to tax-payers.  As a result, superfund cleanups have been drastically produced leaving many highly polluted danger zones across America.

2. Blocked the EPA from issuing a warning concerning 16 billion pounds of asbestos-laced vermiculite that was used in home insulation.

3. Failed to update drinking water standards for atrazine – a probable human carcinogen – even though many Eurpoean nations have banned the herbicide.

4. Left perchlorate (which can negatively affect hormonal development) unregulated even though over 10 million Americans drink it in their tap water daily.

5. During the first two years of the Bush Administration polluters paid 64% less in fines overall than they did under the Clinton Administration due to changes in fine calculation rules.

6. Failed to fund the necessary money to fix the EPA’s Clean Water and Air Act’s permit system.  As a result many permits are issued w/o considering previous pollution while others are allowed to expire w/o renewal.

7. EPA allowed the Washington DC Sewage Authority to continue to deliver drinking water heavily polluted w/ lead to residents without informing them of the danger.

8. Accepted faulty data and released restrictions on mercury releases into the Savannah River.

9. The EPA submitted to rat poison industry special interests and did not require the adoption of certain safety measures in their assessment of the poison’s ecological risks.

10. The administration adopted a policy of devaluing the lives of older Americans in their environment impact studies.

11. Weakened the National Environmental Policy Act to limit public involvement in the review process of new projects.

12. “Between May 2003 and February 2004, the EPA issued final rules exempting pulp mills, auto factories, steel mills, and other industries from rules requiring these industries to curb their toxic fumes to the maximum extent possible.”

13. “Instead of repealing a law that would exempt farms from having to obtain air pollution monitoring permits, the EPA switched to supporting the agribusiness industry’s position that tougher standards should apply only to major farm-based pollution sources.”

14. Applied for exemptions to a treaty phasing out methyl-bromide – the largest ozone depleting chemical still in use today.

15. “In February 2003, the EPA restricted the public’s right to know about dangers posed by industrial facilities in their backyard. The new changes affect the Clean Air Act Risk Management Plan, which was designed to provide citizens with information on the dangers posed by local industrial plants to their communities in the event of a chemical accident”

16. The EPA accepted industry’s suggestion to weaken the reporting process for the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program, informing the public about industries toxic pollution.

17. “The EPA took the position that federal law bars lawsuits against the makers of faulty insect- and weed-killers” even if they are found to sicken people.

18. “The EPA announced in October 2003 that it will not regulate dioxins found in land-applied sewage sludge.”

1. Allowed a large mining company to continue operations without getting the full bond necessary for environmental cleanup.

2. Both the DOI and the USGS issued reports first condemning drilling in ANWR as hazardous to the ecosystem and then later issued reports which contradicted their initial findings, leaving the discussion mired in unknowns.

3. Instead of setting goals to lower greenhouse gasses, the administration has set goals which lower ‘emissions intensity’ – which will still allow emissions to increase, while leaving industry goals as voluntary measures.

4. EPA withheld chapters having to do w/ global warming pollution from a report on U.S. air pollution trends.

5. Eased BLM safeguards to allow drilling in New Mexico’s Otero Mesa – despite widespread public opposition.  The fight continues to this day.

6. BLM proposed leasing drilling lands in the fragile Jack Morrow Hills of Wyoming even though over 90% of the state’s public lands are already leasable.

7. Has leased land under consideration for wilderness level protection for oil and gas drilling in Utah and Wyoming.

8. DOI gave the go-ahead for drilling in the Western Arctic Reserve in Alaska – despite the possibility of habitat destruction.

9. After preserving millions of acres in Utah from development the Administration then allowed them to be used as a location for potentially damaging film crews.

10. Let the Energy Savings Performance Contracting program expire – as well as slashed funding to the Energy Star program.

11. The Administration’s EPA ruled that it had no power to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act – directly contradicting the Clinton-era EPA’s stance.