John McCain has got a grudge against grizzly bears: on the stump and in campaign ads he's been lashing out at a "wasteful" federal study of grizzly-bear DNA. I've posted some thoughts over at Political Climate:
In reality, as the Washington Post reported yesterday, the study in question had a more useful purpose: Testing DNA from tree-rubs is the only way to assess the grizzly population. With bear numbers at a mere three percent of their historic levels, the tests provided vital data on whether preservation efforts under the Endangered Species Act were up to snuff– and helped ensure that federal conservation funds were directed to where they would do the most good.McCain’s camp now says the senator didn’t mean to say the bear project was unworthy, but only that it shouldn’t have been funded as a pork project. That’s disingenuous: Calling the study “a waste of money” seems pretty unambiguous. Either way, the question remains: Why pick out an environmental project for special criticism? There were plenty of other projects to choose from: Lawmakers have ploughed through a quarter-trillion dollars of pork since 1991, sending home $10.8 billion in defense projects and $2.4 billion in homeland security projects in 2007 alone.
More here.
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