Thanks for bringing this topic up Dave...It certainly deserves more thorough investigation. I intend to spend some time reading about this prior to a knee jerk reaction. The partisan nature of the debate is unfortunate as it takes away from focus on the problem.

I think there is a backlash in the country right now against what is perceived as extreme environmental restrictions that go way beyond what is necessary in many cases. For example, the gas price rise we are seeing is in no small part due to a shortage of gasoline refining capacity here in the US. There has not been a refinery built in over 15 years due to environmental protest. In California the restrictions are so severe that they have experienced huge energy price problems and wild fires that destroyed massive residential areas.

I am all for stopping unnecessary exploitation of resources that destroys the fragile environment but I am not for the mentality that says "hands off" just because we say so. I think we should start looking at the population explosion and uncontrolled immigration just as hard as we look at ways to stop all development.