Not gone

Frank Rich had a lot of fun skewering GW Bush in today's TImes http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04rich.html?ref=opinion, but Bush is not a harmless, befuddled nitwit wandering aimlessly around the White House and wondering where everybody went. He's still hard at work doing his malicious work, as this story from the Washington Post revealed last week.

Bush administration issues last-minute environmental rules
Oshkosh Northwestern – Gannett
By Erin Kelly
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
WASHINGTON — During its final days in office, the Bush administration has issued more than a half-dozen regulations that environmentalists say would weaken protections for clean air, water and endangered species.
Democratic leaders hope to overturn the last-minute rules when the Obama administration and a new Congress take over in January.
In a victory for environmentalists, the Bush administration recently announced it would drop proposed regulations that would have eased air pollution controls on power plants near national parks and exempted some new or expanded power plants from having to install the latest clean-air equipment.
Among the most controversial rule changes that remain:
Clean water. The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining published a final rule Dec. 12 in the Federal Register that would allow companies engaged in mountaintop mining to dump rocks, dirt and other waste into rivers and streams. The rule is to take effect Jan. 12.
In a separate action, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a final rule Nov. 20 that would exempt large livestock feeding operations from getting federal permits that would control how much animal waste can flow into waterways. That rule is scheduled to take effect Dec. 22.
Toxic waste. The White House Office of Management and Budget approved a final EPA rule Dec. 1 that would reclassify thousands of tons of hazardous waste as fuel, allowing it to be burned instead of carefully disposed of. The result, environmentalists say, would be toxic emissions worse than anything released into the air by the burning of oil, gas or coal.
National parks. The National Park Service announced a final rule Dec. 5 that would end the 25-year-ban on loaded guns in national parks.
Endangered species. The Interior and Commerce departments announced a final rule Dec. 11 that would allow federal agencies to approve roads, dams, and mining and logging activities without consulting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists about how to avoid harming endangered plants and animals.
Air pollution. The Office of Management and Budget approved a final EPA rule Dec. 11 that would exempt large livestock feeding operations from having to report air pollution emissions from animal waste.
Land use. The Bureau of Land Management published a final rule in
the Federal Register on Nov. 18 that would open up about 2 million acres of public land in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to oil shale development. The rule is scheduled to take effect Jan. 17.