Editorial: Bush is weaving his spell

Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001 | 9:03 a.m.

President Bush's charm offensive is in overdrive. Last week he spoke to both House and Senate Democrats at their strategy retreats, earning kudos from many Democrats for his willingness to show up at their partisan gathering. The fence-mending by the new president is earning him plaudits from politicians and pundits, almost creating "Bush fever." But the chattering class shouldn't forget that Bush's coziness hasn't softened his conservative agenda, ranging from taxes to the environment. For example, on Monday the Bush administration announced that it would delay for two months the Clinton administration's ban on road-building and logging in a third of the national forests. Bush's decision, though, is out of step with the wishes of the majority of Americans who want to protect the environment from the timber and mining industries.

If he wants to reverse the policy by rulemaking, there will have to be extensive hearings, an arduous task. So some leaders of the Republican-controlled Congress want Bush to work with them and pass legislation that could quickly erase the rules. Jim Hansen, chairman of the House Resources Committee, has even gone so far to call the Clinton logging policy "one of the most egregious abuses by the Clinton administration." Despite the Utah Republican's protest, the logging plan was sensible and will preserve environmentally sensitive lands for future generations.

Many of the members of Congress who support ending the Clinton logging policy are from the Mountain West states, a region that Bush easily carried in the presidential election. While many of these states' rural residents rely on grazing and mining for their livelihood, Bush should understand that the West's character isn't easy to pigeonhole. For instance, despite its open spaces, Nevada is essentially urban, with about four out of every five residents living in metropolitan areas. And those who live in urban areas overwhelmingly back pro-environment policies.

Bush's honeymoon with Congress will evaporate fast if he pushes a conservative agenda at odds with a public that wants to see moderate policies adopted. In that vein, the new president should back off plans to roll back the Clinton administration's ban on logging and road building in many parts of national forests.