http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/31/AR2008123102833.html Bush Interior Dept. Is Giving Itself A Pat on the Back
Environmentalists Take Issue With List of Achievements
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 1, 2009; A11
As President Bush's tenure comes to a close, independent experts and administration insiders are delivering their assessments of his government's performance over the past eight years. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has posted his own verdict on his department's Web site, and the upshot is that he did great.
Under the heading "Bush Administration Accomplishments at the Department of the Interior," the agency lists 26 achievements it has made since 2001. Some of the policies and programs named have received bipartisan accolades, such as the National Park Centennial Initiative, which will add at least $1 billion to the park system's budget over the next decade, along with another $1 billion in federal matching money that must be paired with an equal amount in private donations.
But Interior also lists some of its most controversial policies, including its decision to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act while circumscribing the move's broader implications.
The fact sheet states: "After months of careful study and the development of new, cutting edge scientific techniques to properly identify, track and predict the effect of declining sea ice on polar bear populations worldwide, the Department proposed and then listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The Department further developed a Polar Bear action plan to help protect the bear."
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