Spacious Skies
So, I have good news and I have bad news.

Bad News
President Bush introduced legislation called the "Clear Skies Inititiative" to congress back in February, and it's now going through hearings in the House & Senate. It's billed as a revision to the Clean Air Act of 1970 that intended to reduce air pollution, but, the reality is that it actually increases the amount of toxins that power plants are allowed to introduce into the atmosphere. And it doesn't even get into the fact that the President has altered EPA regulations so that old polluting power plants that receive upgrades no longer need to be reviewed for environmental safety after receiving new equipment.

Good News
Not content to just run a campaign to help him become the next President of the United States, Howard Dean is now seeking to use his new-found political supporters as a grass-roots lobby group. His campaign is encouraging everyone on their ever-growing network to sign a petition to the White House demanding them to stop the Clear Skies Initiative.

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but this sounds unprecedented to me. I've NEVER heard of a candidate pushing his supporters to get directly involved in the legislative process.

Granted, for a president who says he thinks making policy decisions based on public opinion is as distasteful as listening to a focus group, a doubt a petition alone will sway our commander-in-chief. But, somehow, I doubt that this is the end of it. Brilliant.