If you can't redact 'em, eliminate 'em

Ah, yes, ol' George just keeps coming up with those doozies. Remember the scandal when it was revealed that Bush administration officials were redacting the scientific reports on the environment, etc., to conform to what the administration wanted? Politicization of science and perversion of editing á la Stalin--check out the 138-page report (PDF).

Well, now, Bush has proposed simply eliminating the scientific review process for the Endangered Species Act altogether. Much simpler. As reported by the Washington Post:

The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.

But Sarah Palin ought to like this travesty:

The new rules would also limit the impact of the administration's decision in May to list the polar bear as threatened with extinction because of shrinking sea ice.

Isn't this just loverly?