The "Give Phil Cooney a Face" Photo Challenge

The latestis a scientific analysis of the impact of cattle grazing on public lands that has been falsified -- leading to a relaxation of grazing rules. The study -- paid for with taxpayer dollars -- originally said that the new grazing rules would have “a significant adverse impact” on wildlife. Enter an as-yet-unidentified Dept. of Interior re-write man and -- presto! -- the report suddenly said that the new rules would be “beneficial to animals”. I don’t have my thesaurus handy, but I’m pretty sure “adverse” and “beneficial” are not synonyms.
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The latest environmental atrocity is a scientific analysis of the impact of cattle grazing on public lands that has been falsified -- leading to a relaxation of grazing rules. The study -- paid for with taxpayer dollars -- originally said that the new grazing rules would have “a significant adverse impact” on wildlife. Enter an as-yet-unidentified Dept. of Interior re-write man and -- presto! -- the report suddenly said that the new rules would be “beneficial to animals”. I don’t have my thesaurus handy, but I’m pretty sure “adverse” and “beneficial” are not synonyms.

Apparently we're in the midst of a trend: faceless bureaucrats whitewashing science. Moles tinkering in the engine room. Termites in the attic. Deployed by Very Big Business to rewrite regulations to their financial benefit -- natural resources be damned.

I think it is high time we saw pictures of these faceless criminals. The New York Times has been trying to find one of Mr. Philip “Exxon” Cooney, but to no avail. So here's my offer: a hundred bucks and a set of Curb DVD’s for the first person who can deliver the identifying snapshot from the Cooney family vacation at Yellowstone!

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