Environment Blog

This year, the environmental community is making protection of the environmental budget one of its top "priorities." The lobbyist for the Washington Environmental Council told the Associated Press, "Many of these programs are close to being decimated."

Unfortunately, they haven't always been so careful about setting priorities, supporting budget expenditures in the past that were more about politics than environmental benefit.

This year, the environmental community is making protection of the environmental budget one of its top "priorities." The lobbyist for the Washington Environmental Council told the Associated Press, "Many of these programs are close to being decimated."

Unfortunately, they haven't always been so careful about setting priorities, supporting budget expenditures in the past that were more about politics than environmental benefit.

Facing budget cuts this session, the environmental community has some stark language for what lies ahead:

While acknowledging the need to sustain critical health, education and social service needs, environmentalists say natural resource agencies have already taken more than their share of cuts -- and there's not much room to reduce further.

Last summer during the BP oil spill, the chairman of BP was criticized when he said he wanted to protect the "small people" from the spill's impacts. Now the Afternoon Jolt at Publicola is advocating something similar.