Two elderly Western Shoshone sisters, the Danns, put up a heroic fight…
A Snowmobile For George
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
A Snowmobile for George is a rambunctious road trip that collects the stories of fishermen, cowboys and firemen who have had to face the consequences of environmental deregulation by the Bush Administration. Started by a question about the filmmaker's own used two-stroke snowmobile engine, this trip steadily reveals the political strategy and rationale behind a massive sell-off of public resources.
But if close ties between corporations and the Bush White House don't surprise you, the film's approach may. A Snowmobile for George begins modestly as a one-man, one-machine road film that simply asks why rules to clean up a smoky off-road machine got shelved. With no presumption of guilt or blame, filmmaker Todd Darling tows his family snowmobile across the United States and persists in asking that question. The film's humble point of departure gives little hint as to its ultimate destination. What starts off as a personal quest gradually morphs as this journey takes the viewer to the sites of more serious environmental change.
These sites include a fish die-off on the Klamath River on the California-Oregon border, coal bed methane extraction (fracking) on a ranch in Wyoming, 2-stroke snowmobiles in Yellowstone, and the respiratory problems faced by firemen who worked at Ground Zero. The common thread among these stories is deregulation - the notion that common citizens benefit when 'the government gets off their back.' But the film uncovers how the Administration worked efficiently to match up the goals of select industries with the political demands of the White House at the expense of the little guy.
'This is a fitting testimony to a sick era in American politics.' Bill McKibben, Educator, Environmentalist, Author, The End of Nature and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
'A Snowmobile for George clearly points out how anti-environmental Bush's approach to politics has been, in benefiting only society's rich and powerful interests sympathetic to industry and development.The documentary was a powerful statement about the far-reaching hand of Washington politics into the grass-root areas of American life, and how difficult it has been under the Bush Administration to protect the environment in a situation where the Administration was staffed so heavily with persons who were asked to work on environmental policy, who had previously been attached to the oil industry or, at the very least, were openly sympathetic to anti-environmental values.' Dr. Byron W. Daynes, Professor of Political Science, Brigham Young University, co-Author, American Politics and the Environment, and White House Politics and the Environment: Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush (forthcoming)
'A Snowmobile for George is a graphic, compelling, and sometimes heart-wrenching depiction of the damage that results to people and the environment when government officials elevate corporate interests over the public interest. This is a cautionary tale with a powerful and timely message: elections matter. This film provides an excellent teaching tool to explore the uses and abuses of government authority in the context of how our environmental laws and policies are actually administered on the ground. Hopefully it will inspire greater vigilance on the part of citizens and more responsible behavior on the part of our elected officials.' Patrick Parenteau, Professor of Law, Senior Counsel, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, Vermont Law School
'An entertaining, insightful, and informative documentary...At heart, the film is about the politics of environmental deregulation and its effects on the American public, and as such it offers a trenchant critique of the conservative Bush agenda and how it was put into effect. This is one of the most original and interesting films in years on U.S. environmental politics and policy.' Michael E. Kraft, Professor and Chair, Political Science, Professor, Public and Environmental Affairs, Professor, Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
'An engaging and richly informative investigation of the clash between those who love the environment and those who treat it as a disposable item in the corporate plunder-for-profit system. Composed with perception, irony, and humor, A Snowmobile for George is something to really see. It reminds us that the ecological struggle is also very much a political struggle.' Michael Parenti, author, Contrary Notions and The Culture Struggle
'Although Bush is no longer in Washington, his legacy remains, and A Snowmobile for George offers a harsh inventory of the former president's actions. Highly recommended.' Video Librarian
Voted one of 'Top 10 Environmental Documentaries of 2009...[An] eye-opening movie about the enormous consequences that can occur just from one small rule change.' Mother Nature Network
'An eye-catching and provocative film...sheds an opinionated light on the sophisticated electoral calculus behind many of today's headlines.' The Portland Tribune
'With Sindy, his snowmobile, in tow, [Todd Darling] documents the devastating impact of deregulation on the environment, including wildlife endangerment in California, water depletion in Wyoming, and asbestos contamination in post-9/11 New York City. Refreshingly unpretentious and even-keeled, Darling interviews everyday ranchers, fishermen, and firemen, listening to opponents and proponents of Bush's policies alike. He truly hits his stride by exposing Federal conflicts of interest and illuminating the political power play behind the scenes.' San Francisco Bay Guardian
'A far-reaching, clearly drawn examination of the environmental policy of the Bush administration...Darling exposes a chilling disregard on the part of this administration not only for the environment but for citizens.' Chris Honore, Ashland Daily Tidings
'There are some odd coincidences to the timeliness of A Snow Mobile for George, but it's not so much about snowmobiles, or the ranchers and energy industry in Dick Cheney's Wyoming. It's about the question of government regulation.' Will Coviello, New Orleans Gambit
'Snappy and droll...the footage accompanying the opening credits is absurdly hilarious.' Stan Hall, The Oregonian
'Preferring pluck over political preachy-ness, Darling's method should connect with both lefties and conservatives.' Matt Kettman, Santa Barbara Independent
'A visually beautiful and well-crafted doc about the evils of deregulation. Structured like a personal essay, Darling goes from wondering about the reinstatement of 2-stroke snowmobile engines in national parks, to a wider case about the Bushies slavish service to corporate giants. Subtle, sly and funny, except when it's horrifying...Terrific movie.' KBOO FM Radio
Citation
Main credits
Darling, Todd (film producer)
Darling, Todd (film director)
Darling, Todd (screenwriter)
Goldberg, Missy (film producer)
Dratch, Howard (film producer)
Phillips, Stan (film producer)
Other credits
Camera, Scott Simper [and 5 others]; editors, Todd Darling, Tom Siiter, Mary Kate Willett; music, Ross Godfrey.
Distributor subjects
American Democracy; American Studies; Anthropology; Business Practices; Environment; Environmental Justice; Ethics; Fisheries; Geography; Government; Health; Humanities; Law; Natural Resources; Oceans and Coasts; Political Science; Pollution; Rivers; Science, Technology, Society; Sociology; Technology; Toxic ChemicalsKeywords
WEBVTT
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[tranquil electronic music]
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♪ ♪
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(Darling)
How did I end up here,
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floating backwards down a river,
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20 miles from a road
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and even further
from electricity?
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It all began in a cabin
in California
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with a mystery about a machine.
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And it ended
on the other side of America
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with a letter.
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[upbeat country music]
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♪ ♪
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I\'m calling about
the snowmobile for sale.
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(man) It starts right up.
It\'s never been crashed.
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And you say,
\"It\'s never been crashed.\"
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Well, that\'s a good sign.
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Just about every winter,
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our place in the mountains
gets snowed in.
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And without a snowplow
scheduled until spring,
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one of these machines
can start to look pretty good.
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So a couple years ago,
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I decided to buy the family
a snowmobile.
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[snowmobile rumbling]
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About the time I decided
to buy a snowmobile,
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a government agency
decided to do away
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with the most common
snowmobile engine,
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called the two-stroke.
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But then the same agency,
just a short time later,
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brought it back.
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Baffled by the quick shuffle
of regulation and deregulation,
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I was pleased to hear
this reassurance.
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(Bush)
Vote for me.
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I\'m for clean air
and clean water.
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I\'m for setting high standards
based upon science,
00:02:11.700 --> 00:02:13.633
based upon reality.
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(Darling)
So after a brief road test,
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I bought one.
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The speed\'s a blast,
a little air, a thrill.
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The kids were happy,
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and everybody liked
the cattle baron hood ornament.
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But when the machine
actually came to a stop,
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a couple of issues
caught up to us.
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(all)
Ew.
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(Darling)
\"Dad,\" my son asked,
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\"was it a good idea to buy
such a smoky machine?\"
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His question got me to thinking
about that rule change.
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Why did President Bush
change that rule anyway?
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No one I asked knew.
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Curious about
this new snowmobile,
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I decided to tune my machine up
and get a smog check.
00:03:06.100 --> 00:03:10.267
So with hydrocarbons,
we had an average of 13,140.
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Yeah.
00:03:11.333 --> 00:03:13.267
And a car has 500?
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And what do I have?
13,140.
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Yeah, it\'s a little bit high.
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- A little bit high?
- Yeah, actually, real high.
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(Darling)
Let\'s do some math.
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Snowmo,
13,500 parts per million.
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Normal car, 500.
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So my two-stroke pollutes
27 times more than a car.
00:03:36.600 --> 00:03:39.000
Why did President Bush
bring back an engine
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that pollutes 27 times
more than a car
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to operate on our
most pristine forest lands?
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Unable to answer this question,
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I woke up one morning
with an idea.
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Go find out
why that rule changed.
00:03:54.933 --> 00:03:57.233
(Darling) I\'d hitch up
the snowmobile trailer
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and drive across America.
00:03:59.733 --> 00:04:01.733
I\'d go look
for other rule changes,
00:04:01.767 --> 00:04:03.767
and I\'d figure out
why President Bush
00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:05.600
brought back the two-stroke
00:04:05.633 --> 00:04:10.133
even if I had to drive all
the way back to Washington, D.C.
00:04:10.167 --> 00:04:13.133
[hard rock music]
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♪ ♪
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(Fat Mike)
♪ Johnny has a problem ♪
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♪ Johnny\'s out of control ♪
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♪ He had a TV party ♪
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♪ With the kids
in the black hole ♪
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♪ Stealing people\'s mail ♪
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♪ And lynching
the landlord ♪
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♪ Things to do
when angry, young, and bored ♪
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♪ ♪
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(Darling) Behind this mystery
lies one key question:
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Did President Bush
protect the public interest
00:05:00.933 --> 00:05:04.267
when he changed
that snowmobile regulation?
00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:08.767
A little predeparture research
turned up the following facts:
00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:12.467
A new snowmobile
stock off the showroom floor
00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:15.400
goes 120 miles per hour.
00:05:15.433 --> 00:05:18.133
Decapitation is one
of the leading causes of death
00:05:18.167 --> 00:05:19.867
on a snowmobile.
00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:25.300
And the only nearby expert
on snowmobiles
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lives in San Francisco.
00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:30.933
So my journey to find out
answers will start here.
00:05:32.400 --> 00:05:37.400
1.6 million snowmobiles
registered in the U.S.
00:05:37.433 --> 00:05:41.100
New snowmobile:
$8,000.
00:05:41.133 --> 00:05:44.733
U.S. sales:
about $1 billion a year.
00:05:44.767 --> 00:05:46.100
Snowmobile industry,
00:05:46.133 --> 00:05:49.800
1/4 the size
of the bicycle industry.
00:05:49.833 --> 00:05:54.167
Not exactly General Motors
calling in favors.
00:05:54.200 --> 00:06:00.167
So how could snowmobiles
influence national policy?
00:06:00.200 --> 00:06:04.500
Once in San Francisco,
I went to see Sean Smith.
00:06:04.533 --> 00:06:09.367
He works for an organization
called The Blue Water Network.
00:06:09.400 --> 00:06:12.500
(Smith) You can drive a modern
automobile about 100,000 miles
00:06:12.533 --> 00:06:14.100
and produce
the same amount of pollution
00:06:14.133 --> 00:06:15.500
as driving
this machine for a day.
00:06:15.533 --> 00:06:16.900
So you\'re talking -
00:06:16.933 --> 00:06:20.233
a lot of pollution\'s
coming out of these machines.
00:06:20.267 --> 00:06:23.300
(Darling) I don\'t think Sean
likes my snowmobile.
00:06:23.333 --> 00:06:26.467
He griped that two-stroke
snowmobile engines like mine
00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:29.800
had been scheduled
for phase out starting in 2000.
00:06:29.833 --> 00:06:32.233
And when
the Bush Administration came in,
00:06:32.267 --> 00:06:34.133
they loosened
and relaxed those standards
00:06:34.167 --> 00:06:36.667
and will allow
much dirtier machines
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to still run in America.
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(Darling) President Bush
didn\'t favor regulations
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as a means to solve problems.
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I support the deregulation
of electricity.
00:06:46.833 --> 00:06:48.900
Secondly, we\'re meeting
new air quality standards
00:06:48.933 --> 00:06:52.500
by fixing some old regulations
that weren\'t working very well.
00:06:52.533 --> 00:06:53.667
I think they\'re going to find
00:06:53.700 --> 00:06:55.833
there\'s going to be
less regulation...
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less regulation burdening them.
00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:01.533
(Darling) What was it
about the two-stroke
00:07:01.567 --> 00:07:05.633
that the previous regulations
wanted to cure anyway?
00:07:05.667 --> 00:07:09.133
(Smith) A two-stroke engine has a piston
that will go up and down.
00:07:09.167 --> 00:07:11.967
And there\'s only two strokes
in a complete revolution.
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:13.833
So the fuel comes in
to the chamber,
00:07:13.867 --> 00:07:16.400
but at the same time,
the exhaust is being allowed
00:07:16.433 --> 00:07:17.500
to come out as well.
00:07:17.533 --> 00:07:20.433
So up to 1/3
of that fuel that goes in
00:07:20.467 --> 00:07:22.367
also goes out with the exhaust.
00:07:22.400 --> 00:07:23.900
Now, unlike your automobile;
00:07:23.933 --> 00:07:26.167
that has four complete
movements of the piston.
00:07:26.200 --> 00:07:28.267
So when you\'re getting
the fuel injected,
00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:32.067
you\'re not having the exhaust
at the same time.
00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:33.833
We\'re just basically saying,
00:07:33.867 --> 00:07:35.600
you should put
the cleanest types of engines
00:07:35.633 --> 00:07:38.567
on the market now
into your machines.
00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:40.400
And we know they can do it
00:07:40.433 --> 00:07:42.333
because of the Clean
Snowmobile Challenge,
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which is held every year.
00:07:44.133 --> 00:07:45.633
This is college
engineering students
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that spend
a couple hundred bucks
00:07:47.167 --> 00:07:50.233
and convert current snowmobiles
00:07:50.267 --> 00:07:53.133
into low-polluting
high-performance machines.
00:07:53.167 --> 00:07:54.900
And if college students
can do it,
00:07:54.933 --> 00:07:58.433
surely the billion-dollar
snowmobile industry can do it.
00:07:58.467 --> 00:08:00.367
(Darling)
Although Sean could explain
00:08:00.400 --> 00:08:03.000
what a two-stroke did,
00:08:03.033 --> 00:08:05.167
he didn\'t have a clue
about why President Bush
00:08:05.200 --> 00:08:07.133
changed that rule.
00:08:07.167 --> 00:08:09.867
I\'ve got a lot of,
you know, theories.
00:08:12.133 --> 00:08:14.433
(Darling)
Theories?
00:08:14.467 --> 00:08:16.467
I had to go think about this.
00:08:17.833 --> 00:08:19.433
Why didn\'t Sean, the expert,
00:08:19.467 --> 00:08:21.633
know why that rule had changed?
00:08:21.667 --> 00:08:25.333
He gets paid
to know these things.
00:08:25.367 --> 00:08:28.567
Since I found no one
able to present science
00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:31.300
that justified
resurrecting the two-stroke,
00:08:31.333 --> 00:08:33.267
it seemed fair to ask,
00:08:33.300 --> 00:08:36.500
how legitimate
is any deregulation?
00:08:36.533 --> 00:08:40.367
Does deregulation
protect the public interest?
00:08:40.400 --> 00:08:42.700
Because the snowmobile trail
had gone cold,
00:08:42.733 --> 00:08:46.100
I had to look around for another
environmental rule change,
00:08:46.133 --> 00:08:47.500
something nearby,
00:08:47.533 --> 00:08:51.300
something that might reveal
some clues about deregulation.
00:08:51.333 --> 00:08:53.400
And sure enough,
00:08:53.433 --> 00:08:55.267
right there in San Francisco,
00:08:55.300 --> 00:08:58.233
I heard people
talk about a rule change
00:08:58.267 --> 00:09:01.667
that had recently hit
the fishing fleet.
00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:04.033
So I headed north
to check it out.
00:09:07.567 --> 00:09:09.633
Big changes had taken place
00:09:09.667 --> 00:09:12.300
up on the California/Oregon border
00:09:12.333 --> 00:09:14.533
on a big river called the Klamath.
00:09:16.867 --> 00:09:19.067
In this remote corner
of America,
00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:22.333
President Bush
and his top advisor, Karl Rove,
00:09:22.367 --> 00:09:25.900
had personally intervened
in a 100-year-old feud
00:09:25.933 --> 00:09:29.067
over how much water
should flow down this one river.
00:09:31.267 --> 00:09:35.467
Why would a thorny biological
question 100 years in the making
00:09:35.500 --> 00:09:38.367
be of sudden
presidential interest?
00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:45.333
Right here, where the Klamath
meets the Pacific Ocean,
00:09:45.367 --> 00:09:48.100
a guy told me that this river
produces more salmon
00:09:48.133 --> 00:09:50.633
than any other river
on the West Coast,
00:09:50.667 --> 00:09:53.233
except for the Sacramento
and the Columbia.
00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:02.000
(Willson) My wife said
she married a fish, you know?
00:10:04.367 --> 00:10:07.033
She puts up with it.
00:10:07.067 --> 00:10:09.500
I live right up here.
00:10:09.533 --> 00:10:11.567
And I was born right there.
00:10:13.033 --> 00:10:15.733
This fishing hole
coming up right down here
00:10:15.767 --> 00:10:20.133
is my great-uncle\'s
fishing hole.
00:10:20.167 --> 00:10:22.733
It was passed down
through the generations.
00:10:27.967 --> 00:10:30.067
(Darling)
Tribes like the Yurok Indians
00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:33.100
have lived on the river\'s fish
for centuries.
00:10:35.233 --> 00:10:37.600
Until the early 1900s,
00:10:37.633 --> 00:10:40.033
a million adult salmon
returned each fall
00:10:40.067 --> 00:10:42.800
to spawn in the Klamath River.
00:10:45.367 --> 00:10:46.567
(Fletcher)
Our fishermen,
00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:48.433
they have a need
for fish year-round.
00:10:48.467 --> 00:10:50.933
Our families
don\'t have grocery stores
00:10:50.967 --> 00:10:52.967
and other things
readily available
00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.400
on certain portions
of our reservation.
00:10:55.433 --> 00:10:57.567
We got some of
the highest unemployment rates
00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.700
and underemployment rates
in the state of California.
00:11:03.433 --> 00:11:05.700
(Darling) But the number of fish
on the Klamath River
00:11:05.733 --> 00:11:08.933
had declined sharply,
threatening the livelihood
00:11:08.967 --> 00:11:12.500
of both tribal
and commercial fishermen.
00:11:12.533 --> 00:11:14.800
Ever since
they put them dams in,
00:11:14.833 --> 00:11:17.100
boom, our fish population
00:11:17.133 --> 00:11:20.033
started dropping,
dropping, dropping, dropping.
00:11:20.067 --> 00:11:21.767
(Darling) The fishermen
and the Indians
00:11:21.800 --> 00:11:25.100
complained that these dams
had recently cut more deeply
00:11:25.133 --> 00:11:27.400
into their livelihoods.
00:11:27.433 --> 00:11:29.700
New regulations
by President Bush
00:11:29.733 --> 00:11:31.300
had sharpened a conflict
00:11:31.333 --> 00:11:35.867
with people
on the other side of those dams.
00:11:35.900 --> 00:11:38.633
It takes most of a day to drive
a couple hundred miles
00:11:38.667 --> 00:11:41.733
on the windy road
up to the source of this river
00:11:41.767 --> 00:11:47.933
and the home of the 200,000-acre
Klamath Irrigation Project.
00:11:47.967 --> 00:11:51.400
(Keppen) The Klamath Project was
constructed almost 100 years ago.
00:11:51.433 --> 00:11:53.467
It specifically says,
00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:57.867
\"We\'re going to store this water
to be beneficially applied for irrigation,\"
00:11:57.900 --> 00:12:00.933
which really reflected
the national conscious at the time,
00:12:00.967 --> 00:12:04.367
which was, \"We want to expand
and settle the West.\"
00:12:04.400 --> 00:12:07.300
(Darling) Settlers were offered farms
here in the high desert
00:12:07.333 --> 00:12:09.067
thanks to a series of dams.
00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:11.967
Some dams generate electricity,
00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.100
while others,
here at the river\'s source,
00:12:14.133 --> 00:12:17.433
divert water to this
massive irrigation project.
00:12:19.400 --> 00:12:22.567
(Bair) My granddad came here
from Innsbruck, Austria,
00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:27.433
in around 1909 because he heard
there was water and land.
00:12:27.467 --> 00:12:30.067
Pre-project, there wouldn\'t
have been a canal here.
00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:32.933
We would probably be
looking at sage brush,
00:12:32.967 --> 00:12:37.167
jack rabbits,
and that would\'ve been it.
00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:41.467
Without water,
there is no agriculture.
00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:43.733
(Darling)
And that\'s the rub.
00:12:43.767 --> 00:12:47.600
Rain and snow to fully supply
the irrigation system
00:12:47.633 --> 00:12:49.133
and the fish in the river
00:12:49.167 --> 00:12:52.167
only occurs three
out of every ten years.
00:12:53.933 --> 00:12:58.300
By 2001, severe drought
threatened some Klamath fish
00:12:58.333 --> 00:13:01.300
already on
the endangered species list.
00:13:01.333 --> 00:13:04.467
(Keppen) Basically culminated
in this disaster, 2001,
00:13:04.500 --> 00:13:06.100
in a critically dry year.
00:13:06.133 --> 00:13:08.567
For the first time in 97 years,
00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:11.433
the government said,
\"Irrigators, no water.\"
00:13:13.433 --> 00:13:16.167
(Bair) Emotional impacts
of the water shutoff were huge.
00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.033
Two of my board members
who went bankrupt,
00:13:18.067 --> 00:13:19.600
another guy
who died of a heart attack,
00:13:19.633 --> 00:13:20.767
who, his wife says it was due
00:13:20.800 --> 00:13:22.300
because of the stress
of the water crisis.
00:13:22.333 --> 00:13:24.833
(Darling)
Defiant farmers used chainsaws
00:13:24.867 --> 00:13:28.200
to open the head gates
of this irrigation canal.
00:13:28.233 --> 00:13:29.867
During this whole conflict,
00:13:29.900 --> 00:13:31.867
we didn\'t have any violence.
00:13:31.900 --> 00:13:34.367
And we certainly had
opportunities for that.
00:13:34.400 --> 00:13:36.600
We could just as well
have stormed those structures
00:13:36.633 --> 00:13:38.433
and took over management.
00:13:38.467 --> 00:13:41.067
(man) Let them know that
this water\'s more important
00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:44.367
than a little suckerfish.
00:13:44.400 --> 00:13:46.267
(Darling)
The search for snowmobile clues
00:13:46.300 --> 00:13:48.200
had led me to a conflict
00:13:48.233 --> 00:13:52.133
where the middle ground
had been pretty well drained.
00:13:52.167 --> 00:13:54.667
But doesn\'t that really mean
that everybody has got
00:13:54.700 --> 00:13:56.500
to turn down
the spigot a little bit?
00:13:56.533 --> 00:14:01.400
(Keppen) Right, so what have the tribes
done to ratchet back?
00:14:01.433 --> 00:14:02.800
What?
00:14:02.833 --> 00:14:06.400
Have they cut back on their
harvests or anything like that?
00:14:06.433 --> 00:14:09.067
(Fletcher) I think you can put a value
on a sack of potatoes.
00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:11.567
You can put a value
on a pound of fish.
00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.333
You can\'t put a value
00:14:13.367 --> 00:14:16.633
on the Yurok tribe\'s
reliance on fish.
00:14:16.667 --> 00:14:19.333
Ag has an opportunity
to go elsewhere.
00:14:19.367 --> 00:14:20.433
We don\'t.
00:14:20.467 --> 00:14:21.867
We can\'t.
00:14:21.900 --> 00:14:23.867
We aren\'t.
00:14:26.033 --> 00:14:28.000
(Keppen) The local community
ultimately got the attention
00:14:28.033 --> 00:14:30.733
of the Bush administration.
00:14:30.767 --> 00:14:33.567
They made allegations
that because Karl Rove,
00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:35.400
an advisor to President Bush,
00:14:35.433 --> 00:14:38.133
had been out in Oregon in 2002
00:14:38.167 --> 00:14:41.200
and had met
with the folks from the basin,
00:14:41.233 --> 00:14:45.667
that somehow he had influenced
policy from on high.
00:14:47.367 --> 00:14:50.100
(Hamburger) End of 2001,
the beginning of 2002,
00:14:50.133 --> 00:14:53.033
Karl Rove had his eye
on the state of Oregon.
00:14:53.067 --> 00:14:55.107
And an incumbent senator
by the name of Gordon Smith
00:14:55.133 --> 00:14:56.333
was thought to be in trouble
00:14:56.367 --> 00:14:58.833
in this battleground state
of Oregon.
00:14:58.867 --> 00:15:01.933
Karl Rove,
at the beginning of 2002,
00:15:01.967 --> 00:15:03.600
had just returned
with the President
00:15:03.633 --> 00:15:05.433
from a trip to Oregon.
00:15:05.467 --> 00:15:08.100
(woman) Members of Oregon\'s
congressional delegation
00:15:08.133 --> 00:15:10.033
bent the president\'s ear
on his way here.
00:15:10.067 --> 00:15:13.067
(Bush) They\'re deeply concerned
about the fact that
00:15:13.100 --> 00:15:17.533
parts of your state
are not being treated very well.
00:15:17.567 --> 00:15:19.333
(Hamburger)
Returning from this trip,
00:15:19.367 --> 00:15:21.067
Karl Rove flew back
to Washington
00:15:21.100 --> 00:15:24.200
and, the next morning,
made his way to a meeting
00:15:24.233 --> 00:15:26.267
of Interior Department managers.
00:15:26.300 --> 00:15:28.733
These are the political
appointees, about 50 of them,
00:15:28.767 --> 00:15:33.767
who run the Interior Department
in any given administration.
00:15:33.800 --> 00:15:35.667
(Darling)
Among those listening to Rove
00:15:35.700 --> 00:15:38.267
is a guy named Neal McCaleb.
00:15:38.300 --> 00:15:39.533
A political appointee
00:15:39.567 --> 00:15:41.167
like the others in the audience,
00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:44.300
McCaleb was in the midst
of negotiating a settlement
00:15:44.333 --> 00:15:48.300
between the tribes and the farmers
on the Klamath River.
00:15:48.333 --> 00:15:51.367
(Hamburger) Rove shows to them
a PowerPoint presentation.
00:15:51.400 --> 00:15:54.667
The entire focus
is electoral politics.
00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:59.267
(Darling) The Interior Department sits right
on top of this collision over Klamath water.
00:15:59.300 --> 00:16:02.133
It monitors the health
of the fish in the river,
00:16:02.167 --> 00:16:04.033
the well-being
of the tribes,
00:16:04.067 --> 00:16:08.167
and Interior also operates
the irrigation system.
00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:11.067
(Hamburger) Karl Rove pays
particular attention to Oregon,
00:16:11.100 --> 00:16:12.867
and he makes
a couple of references
00:16:12.900 --> 00:16:17.033
to the need to remember our base
or support our base.
00:16:17.067 --> 00:16:20.233
Neal McCaleb said that the words
that Karl Rove uttered that day,
00:16:20.267 --> 00:16:21.933
simple references
to the Klamath,
00:16:21.967 --> 00:16:23.733
the need to support our base,
00:16:23.767 --> 00:16:26.267
had, his phrase was,
\"a chilling effect\"
00:16:26.300 --> 00:16:30.867
on our efforts to try
to negotiate a solution.
00:16:30.900 --> 00:16:34.400
One meeting is an opportunity
to see the very practical,
00:16:34.433 --> 00:16:36.900
strategic mind
of Karl Rove at work,
00:16:36.933 --> 00:16:40.033
in which he\'s saying, \"We want
to win an election in Oregon.
00:16:40.067 --> 00:16:42.100
\"What do we need to do
to mobilize our base,
00:16:42.133 --> 00:16:43.867
to get them out there
and be supportive?\"
00:16:43.900 --> 00:16:45.467
Short-term:
divert the water.
00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:47.467
(crowd)
Let the water flow.
00:16:47.500 --> 00:16:49.300
Let the water flow.
00:16:49.333 --> 00:16:51.000
(Darling)
But in order to do that,
00:16:51.033 --> 00:16:54.467
the folks at Interior
had to recalculate
00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:57.200
how much water a fish needs.
00:16:57.233 --> 00:16:59.667
We have an initial go-ahead
00:16:59.700 --> 00:17:01.233
from the Fish
and Wildlife Service
00:17:01.267 --> 00:17:03.333
and the National Marine
Fishery Service
00:17:03.367 --> 00:17:06.433
to begin delivering water.
00:17:06.467 --> 00:17:08.333
(Darling)
Armed with this new regulation,
00:17:08.367 --> 00:17:10.133
two cabinet-level secretaries
00:17:10.167 --> 00:17:12.667
and Oregon\'s embattled
Republican senator
00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:15.800
arrive in Klamath Falls.
00:17:15.833 --> 00:17:16.967
(woman)
With every turn,
00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.600
a long-fought battle
for water is won.
00:17:20.633 --> 00:17:22.467
(Smith)
I think today is the day
00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:25.300
when we establish
the principle of balance.
00:17:25.333 --> 00:17:29.167
(woman) A balance Interior Secretary
Gale Norton hopes to achieve
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.233
when Mother Nature
isn\'t so kind.
00:17:32.267 --> 00:17:34.467
Even without
a biological opinion,
00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:36.033
farmers in the basin this year
00:17:36.067 --> 00:17:39.100
can expect a full allocation
of water.
00:17:40.933 --> 00:17:44.300
(Darling) The farmers breathed
a sigh of relief.
00:17:44.333 --> 00:17:46.633
But the drought persisted.
00:17:46.667 --> 00:17:48.367
Water levels
in the river dropped
00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.167
as scientists continued
to warn Interior officials
00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:53.400
of potential catastrophe.
00:17:53.433 --> 00:17:56.000
We pleaded with them
to give us some more water.
00:17:56.033 --> 00:17:57.967
We told them that we had
these tens of thousands
00:17:58.000 --> 00:17:59.667
of adult Chinook salmon,
00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:02.133
a fairly decent run
predicted to come back to the river
00:18:02.167 --> 00:18:04.833
and that these fish are going to have
to put boots on
00:18:04.867 --> 00:18:06.467
to climb over
the river\'s riffles.
00:18:06.500 --> 00:18:08.167
There just wasn\'t
going to be enough water
00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:10.133
to get the fish upstream.
00:18:10.167 --> 00:18:12.733
And they refused
to give us more water.
00:18:18.800 --> 00:18:20.067
(O\'Rourke)
We danced that year.
00:18:20.100 --> 00:18:22.933
And we had
our ceremonial dances.
00:18:22.967 --> 00:18:25.067
And towards the end
of the dances,
00:18:25.100 --> 00:18:27.267
the children that was playing
along the river
00:18:27.300 --> 00:18:29.133
and that was
swimming down there -
00:18:29.167 --> 00:18:34.033
and then they started noticing
fish were starting to float by.
00:18:34.067 --> 00:18:38.633
And so they said, well, they saw
a lot of dead fish go by.
00:18:40.267 --> 00:18:41.467
(man)
I didn\'t want to go see it.
00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:45.500
To me, it would be
pretty sad to...
00:18:45.533 --> 00:18:48.400
see all that fish
dead like that, you know?
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.667
(Willson)
Made the community sick.
00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:53.833
Made me sick.
00:18:53.867 --> 00:18:55.467
Whole run of fish, you know?
00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:59.000
God knows how many hatchlings
would\'ve came from that, you know?
00:19:02.600 --> 00:19:06.000
It\'s really hard to...
00:19:06.033 --> 00:19:11.000
hard to put into words
how a guy feels when you see
00:19:11.033 --> 00:19:16.500
all the fish, a resource...
00:19:16.533 --> 00:19:18.133
gone.
00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:22.767
(Norton)
Trying to evaluate the science
00:19:22.800 --> 00:19:26.400
to make sure that
we are providing the water
00:19:26.433 --> 00:19:28.567
and the habitat for the fish.
00:19:28.600 --> 00:19:30.967
At the same time,
we\'re meeting our obligations
00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:35.000
to the human beings
that depend on that water.
00:19:35.033 --> 00:19:37.700
It\'s never an exact science.
00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:44.033
(Darling) Which group of human beings
is Secretary Norton talking about,
00:19:44.067 --> 00:19:48.167
the ones who irrigate potatoes
or the ones who fish?
00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:51.700
(Fletcher) After repeated pleas
to the Bureau of Reclamation
00:19:51.733 --> 00:19:53.667
to put more water
down the river,
00:19:53.700 --> 00:19:56.133
we experienced
the largest fish kill
00:19:56.167 --> 00:19:58.200
in the history
of the United States.
00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:08.200
(Hamburger) They were lighting cigars
in the private quarters
00:20:08.233 --> 00:20:10.800
of the White House
on election night 2002.
00:20:10.833 --> 00:20:12.633
And the call from Oregon
00:20:12.667 --> 00:20:16.800
and Gordon Smith\'s victory
was very much a part of it.
00:20:16.833 --> 00:20:20.133
And it\'s something that Karl Rove
had, in a sense, earned.
00:20:20.167 --> 00:20:23.233
And it meant that
the Bush agenda could go forward
00:20:23.267 --> 00:20:28.233
unfettered by a Democratic-controlled
House of Congress.
00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:35.200
(Darling) A federal judge agreed with
state and Yurok biologists
00:20:35.233 --> 00:20:37.300
that the generous
irrigation allotments
00:20:37.333 --> 00:20:40.567
led to the fish die-off.
00:20:40.600 --> 00:20:44.267
In 2006, the annual run of salmon
returning to the river
00:20:44.300 --> 00:20:47.500
dropped to a fraction of normal.
00:20:47.533 --> 00:20:50.433
700 miles of Pacific coast
had to be closed
00:20:50.467 --> 00:20:52.500
to most salmon fishing.
00:20:52.533 --> 00:20:55.867
And scores of fishermen
went bust.
00:20:55.900 --> 00:20:57.667
The farmers needed water,
00:20:57.700 --> 00:21:01.100
and the tribes needed
to defend their resource.
00:21:01.133 --> 00:21:03.233
But politics
seems to have blocked
00:21:03.267 --> 00:21:07.300
the government\'s role of wise judge.
00:21:07.333 --> 00:21:09.567
Votes.
00:21:09.600 --> 00:21:11.133
It was all about votes.
00:21:14.333 --> 00:21:16.400
We\'re all human beings.
00:21:16.433 --> 00:21:18.600
We all got to live
on this planet.
00:21:18.633 --> 00:21:22.333
We could all live together
if they were smarter
00:21:22.367 --> 00:21:25.033
with their use of their water -
I mean, our water.
00:21:25.067 --> 00:21:27.533
[chuckles]
00:21:27.567 --> 00:21:29.300
(Hamburger)
While you\'re doing this, Todd,
00:21:29.333 --> 00:21:30.867
I wanted to tell you one thing:
00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:33.733
And that is that we had heard
at this same Rove meeting
00:21:33.767 --> 00:21:37.400
that there was also a discussion
or a reference to snowmobiles.
00:21:37.433 --> 00:21:38.667
(Darling)
Oh, yeah?
00:21:38.700 --> 00:21:40.467
You know, you had a twofer
with snowmobiles.
00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:43.567
You mobilize the base of these -
the guys who ride snowmobiles.
00:21:43.600 --> 00:21:44.800
Are you a snowmobile rider?
00:21:44.833 --> 00:21:46.933
I gather you are
if you\'re towing one, right?
00:21:50.567 --> 00:21:52.967
(Darling) I left the coast range
and headed east
00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:54.167
to the Sierra Nevada
00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:58.000
and the ancestral home
of my snowmobile,
00:21:58.033 --> 00:22:00.100
Lake Tahoe.
00:22:08.467 --> 00:22:10.200
Those rule changes
on the Klamath
00:22:10.233 --> 00:22:14.900
hadn\'t exactly drawn the Indians
and farmers close together.
00:22:14.933 --> 00:22:17.067
Did draining
the political middle ground
00:22:17.100 --> 00:22:20.500
have anything to do with
bringing back the two-stroke?
00:22:20.533 --> 00:22:23.967
Luckily, I found a guy active
in snowmobile politics
00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:26.167
who was also willing
to pass along some tips
00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:28.600
about riding my new machine.
00:22:28.633 --> 00:22:31.733
(Fischer) One thing that\'s very important
about snowmobiling:
00:22:31.767 --> 00:22:34.667
speed is your friend.
00:22:34.700 --> 00:22:35.833
Always remember that.
00:22:35.867 --> 00:22:37.567
Speed is your friend.
00:22:37.600 --> 00:22:39.833
(Darling)
This is Wayne.
00:22:39.867 --> 00:22:42.133
He\'s the president
of the local snowmobile club.
00:22:42.167 --> 00:22:44.667
Next time, a little bit more
and a little bit more
00:22:44.700 --> 00:22:46.233
till you got a feel for it.
00:22:46.267 --> 00:22:49.267
Last year, I snowmobiled
27 days a year.
00:22:49.300 --> 00:22:52.833
But I will probably spend
another 40 to 60 days
00:22:52.867 --> 00:22:55.233
on snowmobile activities.
00:22:55.267 --> 00:22:57.367
And what
really kind of gripes me is,
00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:00.733
we\'ve given up tons of areas
for snowmobiling already.
00:23:00.767 --> 00:23:03.600
And we\'re being squeezed down
all the time.
00:23:03.633 --> 00:23:06.467
So what gives the cross-country skiers,
the snowshoers,
00:23:06.500 --> 00:23:11.433
the right to tell us
we can\'t snowmobile?
00:23:11.467 --> 00:23:15.100
Oh, you\'re coming down that hill
about 60, 70 miles an hour.
00:23:15.133 --> 00:23:16.367
And then you got little jumps.
00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:19.100
And all of a sudden, you go,
boom, and you jump up over.
00:23:19.133 --> 00:23:21.067
It\'s all kinds of fun.
00:23:21.100 --> 00:23:24.800
The track right here will go
about 110, 120 miles an hour.
00:23:24.833 --> 00:23:27.033
And it doesn\'t get
any moisture up in here.
00:23:27.067 --> 00:23:29.233
And it\'ll melt
right to that thing.
00:23:29.267 --> 00:23:30.567
(Darling)
Wow.
00:23:30.600 --> 00:23:33.200
I guess the guys
in the machines going 60
00:23:33.233 --> 00:23:36.033
feel okay
with the skiers and sleds.
00:23:36.067 --> 00:23:40.000
But apparently,
the feeling is not mutual.
00:23:40.033 --> 00:23:42.600
Wayne admits his side
doesn\'t swing too many votes
00:23:42.633 --> 00:23:44.200
in Lake Tahoe.
00:23:44.233 --> 00:23:48.067
And he blames science
for being used as a smokescreen.
00:23:48.100 --> 00:23:50.000
(Fischer)
And like Yellowstone,
00:23:50.033 --> 00:23:54.367
they use pollution and noise
as a way to shut down snowmobiling.
00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:56.467
And I would guarantee you,
00:23:56.500 --> 00:23:57.700
a million bucks,
00:23:57.733 --> 00:24:01.300
if I came out with a sled
that made no noise,
00:24:01.333 --> 00:24:03.167
no pollution,
they would still say,
00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:05.567
\"Oh, no, we don\'t want
motorized vehicles in there.\"
00:24:05.600 --> 00:24:08.600
So we have now driven
a stake in the ground that says,
00:24:08.633 --> 00:24:10.600
\"We\'re not going to lose
one more square inch
00:24:10.633 --> 00:24:14.333
of real estate
to nonmotorized sports.\"
00:24:14.367 --> 00:24:16.600
We want to maintain
our right to ride.
00:24:20.100 --> 00:24:21.233
(Schwartz)
A few days ago,
00:24:21.267 --> 00:24:23.667
I was cross-country skiing
near my house.
00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:26.133
And snowmobile tracks
were everywhere.
00:24:26.167 --> 00:24:28.233
And we didn\'t hear the noise,
no big deal.
00:24:28.267 --> 00:24:30.000
But you could
really smell the gas,
00:24:30.033 --> 00:24:31.667
the fumes, on the snow.
00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:35.133
Two-stroke engine puts out
a lot more power per unit weight
00:24:35.167 --> 00:24:36.900
than a four-stroke engine.
00:24:36.933 --> 00:24:38.533
That\'s why
there\'s so much interest
00:24:38.567 --> 00:24:40.600
in keeping
two-strokes going.
00:24:40.633 --> 00:24:42.767
I ride
a four-stroke motorcycle,
00:24:42.800 --> 00:24:44.633
and it\'s every bit
as powerful and fast
00:24:44.667 --> 00:24:46.267
as any two-stroke
I\'ve ever ridden.
00:24:46.300 --> 00:24:49.500
I don\'t think there\'s a need
for a two-stroke engine anymore.
00:24:49.533 --> 00:24:52.100
Like my brand-new sled now,
it\'s an 800.
00:24:52.133 --> 00:24:55.000
I get ten-plus miles
to the gallon.
00:24:55.033 --> 00:24:58.800
On my old one,
I was lucky to get around six.
00:24:58.833 --> 00:25:04.033
They\'re using what pollution
we do out today and noise as the issue.
00:25:04.067 --> 00:25:06.867
They just want
their own agenda, period.
00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:08.867
It\'s a battle
that\'ll go on forever.
00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:11.633
So we have to stop now
00:25:11.667 --> 00:25:13.300
and don\'t give in anymore.
00:25:13.333 --> 00:25:15.167
We want to maintain
our right to ride.
00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:16.600
Okay, well, we\'ll see you then.
00:25:16.633 --> 00:25:20.933
(Darling) We\'ll see you, Wayne.
Thanks a lot.
00:25:23.533 --> 00:25:26.667
Wayne got pretty worked up
about the right to ride.
00:25:28.800 --> 00:25:30.200
A right to drive?
00:25:30.233 --> 00:25:34.033
I\'m not sure
that\'s in the Constitution.
00:25:34.067 --> 00:25:36.867
But he did give me
my next destination:
00:25:36.900 --> 00:25:38.900
Yellowstone.
00:25:40.900 --> 00:25:42.300
Going east through Reno,
00:25:42.333 --> 00:25:45.533
I looked up the organization
that Wayne doesn\'t like.
00:25:45.567 --> 00:25:48.767
The leader wasn\'t shy
about her observations either.
00:25:48.800 --> 00:25:50.200
(Ferrell)
How much did it cost you?
00:25:50.233 --> 00:25:51.667
For the snowmobile
and the trailer,
00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:53.033
it was 2,200 bucks.
00:25:53.067 --> 00:25:55.700
(Ferrell)
You know, you could buy
00:25:55.733 --> 00:25:59.700
so many skis and snowshoes
for $2,200.
00:25:59.733 --> 00:26:01.800
What\'s this doing
to your gas mileage?
00:26:01.833 --> 00:26:03.900
And by the way, what is
your gas mileage on that?
00:26:03.933 --> 00:26:06.600
I hope you don\'t hurt
your back lifting.
00:26:06.633 --> 00:26:08.800
I happened to hurt my back too.
00:26:08.833 --> 00:26:12.867
(Darling) She got even meaner
when we put the camera away.
00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:15.067
She told me my horns
weren\'t big enough.
00:26:16.933 --> 00:26:21.700
I headed out across Nevada
and into a snowstorm.
00:26:24.467 --> 00:26:29.167
Woke up in a place so remote,
it doesn\'t get radio reception.
00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:31.833
It struck me that,
like the people on the Klamath
00:26:31.867 --> 00:26:34.267
who needed access
to public resources,
00:26:34.300 --> 00:26:37.333
Wayne and his posse
need access to public land
00:26:37.367 --> 00:26:41.267
in order to ride
their private machines.
00:26:41.300 --> 00:26:44.567
So how much smoke and noise
these snowmobiles create
00:26:44.600 --> 00:26:47.467
does sound like a matter
of public interest.
00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:51.767
And according to my smog check,
they create a lot.
00:26:54.967 --> 00:26:58.567
How did snowmobiles succeed
over other interest groups
00:26:58.600 --> 00:27:00.233
on public lands?
00:27:07.833 --> 00:27:11.067
Some folks
have a one-word answer:
00:27:11.100 --> 00:27:13.100
fun.
00:27:22.233 --> 00:27:24.033
Well, you\'re
in West Yellowstone, Montana,
00:27:24.067 --> 00:27:27.833
and it\'s the weekend
of the World Snowmobile Expo.
00:27:31.133 --> 00:27:33.167
Today we\'re hoping
that we\'re going to go out there
00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:37.133
and saw everybody up
on the racetrack.
00:27:37.167 --> 00:27:38.400
It\'s all in fun, you know?
00:27:38.433 --> 00:27:39.467
It\'s a good time.
00:27:55.933 --> 00:27:58.700
(man) These guys are literally
running their motors
00:27:58.733 --> 00:28:00.200
on the very ragged edge.
00:28:00.233 --> 00:28:02.967
And it is not uncommon for them
to see them completely go off
00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:04.433
like a hand grenade out there,
00:28:04.467 --> 00:28:06.367
just because they\'re
running so much horsepower
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:07.667
through these little motors.
00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:09.700
It\'s not the nitrous
that\'s dangerous.
00:28:09.733 --> 00:28:12.800
It\'s the extra fuel that
the nitrous allows you to run
00:28:12.833 --> 00:28:14.567
that\'s dangerous.
00:28:22.567 --> 00:28:25.967
(Darling) While the Anaconda Team
sawed them up on the quarter mile,
00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:28.267
the Holiday Inn
at West Yellowstone
00:28:28.300 --> 00:28:29.533
packed them into the expo...
00:28:29.567 --> 00:28:31.100
All Goodyear belting.
00:28:31.133 --> 00:28:33.567
About 62 mile an hour.
00:28:33.600 --> 00:28:36.100
(Darling) From garage inventors
to major manufacturers.
00:28:36.133 --> 00:28:38.200
(woman)
You clamp it down here.
00:28:38.233 --> 00:28:39.900
In the mountains,
where the snow gets deep
00:28:39.933 --> 00:28:41.300
and the hills get steep,
00:28:41.333 --> 00:28:46.700
the lightweight two-stoke engines
are the preferred engine right now.
00:28:46.733 --> 00:28:50.000
We may not be forced to go
to all four-stroke technology.
00:28:52.267 --> 00:28:54.067
(Darling)
The races and the expo
00:28:54.100 --> 00:28:56.300
wouldn\'t be happening
in West Yellowstone
00:28:56.333 --> 00:28:57.733
if not for this guy,
00:28:57.767 --> 00:28:59.433
Clyde Seely.
00:28:59.467 --> 00:29:01.533
First, Clyde
is the managing partner
00:29:01.567 --> 00:29:04.400
of the hotel
where the event takes place.
00:29:04.433 --> 00:29:08.133
He owns a second motel
and the biggest restaurant in town.
00:29:08.167 --> 00:29:09.700
But more importantly,
00:29:09.733 --> 00:29:12.000
Clyde was the first person
in West Yellowstone
00:29:12.033 --> 00:29:15.600
to stay open for the winter
and to rent out snowmobiles.
00:29:15.633 --> 00:29:18.467
(Seely)
The winter of 1971, \'72,
00:29:18.500 --> 00:29:21.567
began to promote winter
in Yellowstone.
00:29:21.600 --> 00:29:23.600
I was the first to put together
00:29:23.633 --> 00:29:26.233
complete package
snowmobile tours.
00:29:26.267 --> 00:29:28.233
(Darling)
Clyde\'s rental fleet
00:29:28.267 --> 00:29:31.733
expanded to include
hundreds of snowmobiles,
00:29:31.767 --> 00:29:33.267
a bunch of snow coaches,
00:29:33.300 --> 00:29:35.800
and is the biggest rental
operation in the region.
00:29:35.833 --> 00:29:38.633
Few in town would dispute
Clyde\'s influence
00:29:38.667 --> 00:29:40.433
when it comes to snowmobiles.
00:29:40.467 --> 00:29:42.267
(Johnson)
We have 25% out there
00:29:42.300 --> 00:29:43.500
that are anti-snowmobile.
00:29:43.533 --> 00:29:46.333
You have 25%
that are pro-snowmobile,
00:29:46.367 --> 00:29:48.200
\"Just let us go.\"
00:29:48.233 --> 00:29:49.633
And then you got
the 50% in the middle
00:29:49.667 --> 00:29:50.700
that don\'t really care.
00:29:50.733 --> 00:29:52.800
You know,
let\'s just do our thing.
00:29:52.833 --> 00:29:55.367
(man)
No, I can\'t stand snowmobiles.
00:29:55.400 --> 00:30:00.167
My store has done worse the more
the snowmobilers have been here
00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:03.167
because they don\'t read, okay?
00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:04.733
Sell Playboy.
00:30:04.767 --> 00:30:08.700
The more that I get
average tourists here,
00:30:08.733 --> 00:30:11.333
they will buy books, yeah.
00:30:11.367 --> 00:30:13.433
Snowmobilers don\'t buy books.
00:30:13.467 --> 00:30:15.700
They buy booze.
00:30:15.733 --> 00:30:17.867
That doesn\'t help me.
00:30:19.633 --> 00:30:21.067
[laughs]
00:30:25.267 --> 00:30:27.900
(Darling) Yellowstone is the world\'s
first national park.
00:30:27.933 --> 00:30:32.000
Founded in 1872
by President Ulysses S. Grant,
00:30:32.033 --> 00:30:36.333
the vast acreage of the park
encompasses geothermal springs,
00:30:36.367 --> 00:30:42.167
rivers, geysers, grizzly bear,
bison, elk, and wolves.
00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:46.200
It\'s the most complete ecosystem
in the lower 48
00:30:46.233 --> 00:30:47.800
and is the first piece of land
00:30:47.833 --> 00:30:49.667
ever to be
so thoroughly protected
00:30:49.700 --> 00:30:55.000
by the regulations
of a representative democracy.
00:30:55.033 --> 00:31:00.200
By the \'90s, snowmobiles
in Yellowstone had taken off.
00:31:00.233 --> 00:31:01.733
Clyde did well,
00:31:01.767 --> 00:31:04.833
but he admits some problems.
00:31:04.867 --> 00:31:07.933
(Seely)
Yes, it got out of hand.
00:31:07.967 --> 00:31:09.800
It should never
have gone this far.
00:31:09.833 --> 00:31:12.500
There were about
1,300 snowmobiles
00:31:12.533 --> 00:31:15.000
that went through
this west gate.
00:31:15.033 --> 00:31:16.267
That\'s unacceptable.
00:31:16.300 --> 00:31:21.967
Now, the problem is that
the videos that have been taken
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:25.500
and the stereotype pictures
and the bad press
00:31:25.533 --> 00:31:29.033
that the environmentalist groups
have mustered
00:31:29.067 --> 00:31:33.500
showed this thing when
it really was out of control.
00:31:35.367 --> 00:31:37.033
(Sacklin)
The two-stroke snowmobiles,
00:31:37.067 --> 00:31:39.867
with their higher levels
of air pollution,
00:31:39.900 --> 00:31:43.533
resulted in our employees
experiencing health concerns:
00:31:43.567 --> 00:31:45.933
sore throats, headaches.
00:31:45.967 --> 00:31:47.267
Employees requested,
00:31:47.300 --> 00:31:49.733
and they were fitted for,
respirators.
00:31:52.933 --> 00:31:56.233
(Darling) The restrictions Clyde feared
arrived in 2000,
00:31:56.267 --> 00:31:58.733
excluding snowmobiles
from Yellowstone
00:31:58.767 --> 00:32:02.633
in favor of
multi-passenger snow coaches.
00:32:02.667 --> 00:32:05.400
The industry quickly sued
the Interior Department.
00:32:05.433 --> 00:32:07.467
(man) I\'m afraid that
if the environmentalists win
00:32:07.500 --> 00:32:09.067
and lock us out of the park,
00:32:09.100 --> 00:32:10.967
that it\'s going
to continue to happen
00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:14.067
in other parts of the country,
in other areas.
00:32:14.100 --> 00:32:16.400
And it could be the end
of outdoor recreation
00:32:16.433 --> 00:32:18.867
as we know it
with outdoor power equipment.
00:32:20.333 --> 00:32:22.100
(Darling)
The ban never took effect.
00:32:22.133 --> 00:32:24.233
The Interior Department
settled out of court
00:32:24.267 --> 00:32:26.233
with the snowmobile industry.
00:32:26.267 --> 00:32:28.567
Despite recommendations
from ten years\' worth
00:32:28.600 --> 00:32:29.867
of scientific studies,
00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:33.367
snowmobiles stayed in the park.
00:32:33.400 --> 00:32:36.400
The snowmobile industry
had flexed its muscle.
00:32:38.367 --> 00:32:41.333
But, hey,
I\'m along for the ride.
00:32:41.367 --> 00:32:45.367
So about dawn, we got up to enjoy
some minus 17-degree weather...
00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:46.700
We\'re ready?
00:32:46.733 --> 00:32:50.333
(Darling) And rent some snowmobiles
from Clyde.
00:32:50.367 --> 00:32:52.867
You see, one concession
made by the industry
00:32:52.900 --> 00:32:55.700
now kept two-strokes
out of Yellowstone
00:32:55.733 --> 00:32:59.467
and corrals the rest
into guided groups.
00:32:59.500 --> 00:33:02.667
Thus my two-stroke snowmobile
was required to spend the day
00:33:02.700 --> 00:33:06.867
by itself, alone...
00:33:06.900 --> 00:33:09.300
in a parking lot.
00:33:12.500 --> 00:33:14.033
Once inside the park,
00:33:14.067 --> 00:33:16.900
it didn\'t take long
to meet up with bison.
00:33:16.933 --> 00:33:19.500
Waking up to a 20-below dawn,
00:33:19.533 --> 00:33:23.133
the buffalo
weren\'t moving too fast.
00:33:23.167 --> 00:33:26.100
This is the last wild herd
of bison in the world.
00:33:26.133 --> 00:33:28.233
And as long
as it stays in the park,
00:33:28.267 --> 00:33:30.233
they can roam free.
00:33:32.667 --> 00:33:40.467
(Seely) Wildlife is accustomed
to motorized vehicles.
00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:43.133
The forest is there
also for recreation.
00:33:43.167 --> 00:33:48.933
It\'s not just
for growing trees and squirrels.
00:33:48.967 --> 00:33:51.733
(Sacklin) Winter is the most stressful
time of the year for wildlife,
00:33:51.767 --> 00:33:53.367
especially in a place
like Yellowstone,
00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:55.933
with our cold winters
and deep snow.
00:33:55.967 --> 00:33:58.633
When animals are put under
additional stress
00:33:58.667 --> 00:34:01.867
by human recreational activity,
it can sometimes mean
00:34:01.900 --> 00:34:04.500
that animal might not survive
the winter.
00:34:11.767 --> 00:34:13.333
(Darling)
Around mile 40,
00:34:13.367 --> 00:34:15.867
the sound of the machine
got to me.
00:34:19.833 --> 00:34:22.967
It didn\'t look like the animals
cared for it all that much.
00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:24.567
Despite the best efforts
of guides,
00:34:24.600 --> 00:34:29.167
we did witness the machines
causing the animals to run.
00:34:29.200 --> 00:34:30.767
(Bailey)
I\'m a snowmobiler still,
00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:32.833
and I would hate
not being able to go out
00:34:32.867 --> 00:34:36.367
to the places that I do now.
00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:39.700
But because you have a vehicle
that can go everywhere,
00:34:39.733 --> 00:34:41.867
does that mean
you can go everywhere?
00:34:41.900 --> 00:34:43.033
I don\'t think so.
00:34:43.067 --> 00:34:45.900
There needs to be places
that are off-limits.
00:34:48.900 --> 00:34:50.167
(Darling)
Back in town,
00:34:50.200 --> 00:34:53.100
Clyde had rented a meeting room
to a group of skiers
00:34:53.133 --> 00:34:54.467
who\'d come to protest
00:34:54.500 --> 00:34:56.500
the snowmobile\'s victory
in Yellowstone.
00:34:56.533 --> 00:35:00.200
(Michael) And so when they see
that situation being shrunk,
00:35:00.233 --> 00:35:03.067
even if it\'s 7,500 acres here
for skiers,
00:35:03.100 --> 00:35:06.533
even that, they go, \"Well,
this is the beginning of the end.
00:35:06.567 --> 00:35:09.400
They\'re trying to get us off
of public lands.\"
00:35:09.433 --> 00:35:11.100
And that\'s not true.
00:35:13.500 --> 00:35:14.633
(Darling)
The next morning,
00:35:14.667 --> 00:35:17.367
Sarah\'s group
set up a picket line.
00:35:17.400 --> 00:35:19.667
They want the Park Service
to adopt the results
00:35:19.700 --> 00:35:21.467
of its own studies
00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:24.700
and ban snowmobiles
inside Yellowstone
00:35:24.733 --> 00:35:27.633
in favor of snow coaches.
00:35:27.667 --> 00:35:32.267
It wasn\'t too long before
Clyde marched out on foot.
00:35:32.300 --> 00:35:35.400
He went straight up
to the main organizer.
00:35:35.433 --> 00:35:37.567
Clyde preferred to take on Sarah
in front of the cameras.
00:35:37.600 --> 00:35:39.133
(Michael)
And you\'re the mayor, right?
00:35:39.167 --> 00:35:40.567
(Seely)
Oh, no.
00:35:40.600 --> 00:35:43.233
(Michael) No? Oh, maybe
you\'re just the boss.
00:35:43.267 --> 00:35:46.567
(Darling) She was staying
in one of his motels.
00:35:46.600 --> 00:35:48.100
They could\'ve met in the lobby.
00:35:48.133 --> 00:35:51.367
(Michael) It\'s difficult to be
a part of the park
00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:53.133
with this kind of a noise.
00:35:53.167 --> 00:35:59.333
I agree that
it has been a problem.
00:35:59.367 --> 00:36:02.400
(man) Why in the world do you
have to choose Old Faithful
00:36:02.433 --> 00:36:05.733
and West Yellowstone
when you can go anywhere?
00:36:05.767 --> 00:36:07.933
You can park along the road
and go on thousands
00:36:07.967 --> 00:36:11.300
and thousands of miles
of logging roads.
00:36:11.333 --> 00:36:13.700
(Seely)
Yellowstone is the reason
00:36:13.733 --> 00:36:17.033
that we have people come
from Atlanta, Georgia,
00:36:17.067 --> 00:36:21.000
come here to come and go
into the park in the wintertime.
00:36:21.033 --> 00:36:22.467
Well, there are
clearly other ways
00:36:22.500 --> 00:36:23.800
to get people into the park
00:36:23.833 --> 00:36:25.833
than two-stroke
and four-stroke -
00:36:25.867 --> 00:36:26.967
Sure, there are.
00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:28.367
Sure, there is.
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:29.400
(Darling)
Sure.
00:36:29.433 --> 00:36:31.333
300 people traveled a long way
00:36:31.367 --> 00:36:33.967
to get up before dawn
in subzero weather
00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:35.567
to send a message.
00:36:35.600 --> 00:36:37.000
But the message is that,
00:36:37.033 --> 00:36:40.267
despite meager scientific evidence
to back his position,
00:36:40.300 --> 00:36:43.233
it was Clyde\'s folks
who set policy.
00:36:43.267 --> 00:36:44.733
You sure you\'re not the mayor?
00:36:44.767 --> 00:36:46.600
I thought you were the mayor.
00:36:46.633 --> 00:36:48.900
You were the top guy
around here.
00:36:48.933 --> 00:36:50.600
(Seely)
Well, I\'m not the mayor.
00:36:50.633 --> 00:36:52.467
So in a very real way,
00:36:52.500 --> 00:36:54.267
if the Bush administration
persists here
00:36:54.300 --> 00:36:57.133
with keeping snowmobiles
in Yellowstone,
00:36:57.167 --> 00:36:59.100
we\'re starting
to see the dimming
00:36:59.133 --> 00:37:02.567
of a great American idea,
a generous idea
00:37:02.600 --> 00:37:05.967
of giving to future generations
what we enjoy today
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:08.900
in the way of a park
that just can\'t be duplicated
00:37:08.933 --> 00:37:10.933
anywhere else in the world.
00:37:13.200 --> 00:37:15.367
(Darling)
That isn\'t how Clyde sees it.
00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:17.967
He\'s helped turn out
a counterdemonstration.
00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:19.133
And that organization
00:37:19.167 --> 00:37:21.533
has blanketed the town
with leaflets.
00:37:21.567 --> 00:37:24.767
Every time one of Sarah\'s people
got on camera,
00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:28.167
a snowmobiler was there
to disrupt the interview.
00:37:28.200 --> 00:37:32.233
Clyde calls those who support
the scientific conclusions of the parks
00:37:32.267 --> 00:37:34.100
\"extremists.\"
00:37:34.133 --> 00:37:36.233
(man) I think as long as George Bush
stays president,
00:37:36.267 --> 00:37:38.567
we\'ll have favorable reports
00:37:38.600 --> 00:37:41.233
and favorable access
to the park.
00:37:41.267 --> 00:37:43.333
And still,
the Bush administration
00:37:43.367 --> 00:37:46.967
is insisting on keeping
snowmobiles in Yellowstone.
00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:49.300
Why?
00:37:49.333 --> 00:37:51.700
We can\'t figure it out.
00:37:54.033 --> 00:37:55.400
(Darling)
Here in Yellowstone,
00:37:55.433 --> 00:38:00.333
polarization had been rewarded
with policy.
00:38:00.367 --> 00:38:01.700
Did that lawsuit settle
00:38:01.733 --> 00:38:05.400
just because snowmobilers
voted for President Bush?
00:38:05.433 --> 00:38:08.033
Well, I was headed to Wyoming,
00:38:08.067 --> 00:38:13.100
a place where just about
everybody had voted for him.
00:38:13.133 --> 00:38:16.167
So we were getting ready to leave
Yellowstone National Park.
00:38:16.200 --> 00:38:17.800
I got a phone call
from a rancher
00:38:17.833 --> 00:38:21.200
out in Sheridan, Wyoming.
00:38:21.233 --> 00:38:23.067
It seems
that he\'s having some trouble
00:38:23.100 --> 00:38:25.200
with an oil company.
00:38:25.233 --> 00:38:27.900
Hmm, oil companies, huh?
00:38:39.500 --> 00:38:41.200
(Smith)
Is that four-wheel drive?
00:38:41.233 --> 00:38:42.500
We\'ll stop at my sister\'s,
00:38:42.533 --> 00:38:44.133
and we\'ll drop that trailer off.
00:38:44.167 --> 00:38:45.967
Kind of cross the hills up here.
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.767
Get in there
before it thaws out.
00:38:48.800 --> 00:38:50.267
My name is George Smith.
00:38:50.300 --> 00:38:52.467
I\'m a landowner
in Sheridan County,
00:38:52.500 --> 00:38:54.333
east of the Big Horn
mountain range.
00:38:54.367 --> 00:38:56.367
Emmett, get in back.
00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:01.700
Well, most of this property
is all, you know, for cattle.
00:39:01.733 --> 00:39:03.000
Everybody raises cattle.
00:39:03.033 --> 00:39:07.133
And I have for a long time.
00:39:07.167 --> 00:39:08.767
And there\'s coal -
00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:12.333
seven layers of coal
underneath all this property.
00:39:12.367 --> 00:39:15.633
And this coal has got this gas,
methane gas,
00:39:15.667 --> 00:39:21.333
that they call,
trapped in these layers.
00:39:21.367 --> 00:39:23.533
Ten years ago,
you could stand out here
00:39:23.567 --> 00:39:25.667
and you could hear a pin drop,
00:39:25.700 --> 00:39:29.233
\'cause there was some deer
and antelope running around.
00:39:29.267 --> 00:39:31.733
But nowadays,
I don\'t know what happened
00:39:31.767 --> 00:39:33.767
to my deer and my antelope.
00:39:33.800 --> 00:39:36.533
Every time I come out here,
I don\'t see any, so...
00:39:36.567 --> 00:39:39.133
I don\'t know
what happened to them.
00:39:39.167 --> 00:39:41.133
(Darling)
Just a few years ago,
00:39:41.167 --> 00:39:43.700
someone figured out a way
to extract methane
00:39:43.733 --> 00:39:45.367
from underneath the coal.
00:39:45.400 --> 00:39:49.400
And now a natural gas boom
has exploded
00:39:49.433 --> 00:39:52.900
on Wyoming range land.
00:39:52.933 --> 00:39:54.167
Armed with federal leases,
00:39:54.200 --> 00:39:58.200
oil companies have rolled
uninvited onto private land
00:39:58.233 --> 00:40:01.633
and have drilled thousands
of natural gas wells in Wyoming
00:40:01.667 --> 00:40:03.800
in the past six years.
00:40:03.833 --> 00:40:06.933
How they do it
is slicker than snot.
00:40:06.967 --> 00:40:10.167
And they got some
pretty tricky guys out there
00:40:10.200 --> 00:40:12.233
called land men.
00:40:12.267 --> 00:40:14.167
And they come along
and sweet-talk you
00:40:14.200 --> 00:40:15.567
and give you this big story.
00:40:15.600 --> 00:40:17.800
And, boy,
soon as their lips are moving,
00:40:17.833 --> 00:40:19.833
they\'re lying.
00:40:21.900 --> 00:40:23.700
And I\'ve had
several land men tell me this:
00:40:23.733 --> 00:40:28.433
\"Well, you like it or not,
we\'re coming on your place.\"
00:40:28.467 --> 00:40:30.467
And they did.
00:40:33.333 --> 00:40:35.933
They have the right to come in
and drill and use my property
00:40:35.967 --> 00:40:40.767
and abuse it,
whether they ask me or not.
00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:42.433
And of course,
you got the power lines
00:40:42.467 --> 00:40:43.867
that come in overhead now
00:40:43.900 --> 00:40:48.867
and these compressor stations
that suck the gas out.
00:40:48.900 --> 00:40:51.233
Of course,
you can probably hear that.
00:40:51.267 --> 00:40:52.733
Sounds like an airport,
00:40:52.767 --> 00:40:56.367
all the time, never quits.
00:40:56.400 --> 00:41:00.333
Some neighbors down the road
got caught shooting at them.
00:41:00.367 --> 00:41:02.067
But it didn\'t stop them.
00:41:02.100 --> 00:41:05.367
They just keep right on going.
00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:07.967
And you can hear them pumps
running over there.
00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:10.167
And that\'s sucking
that water out, I suppose.
00:41:10.200 --> 00:41:12.500
There goes an air release valve
00:41:12.533 --> 00:41:14.000
out of the gas lines
00:41:14.033 --> 00:41:17.733
and water lines they got
buried all over this country.
00:41:17.767 --> 00:41:19.933
What happened
to the silence, you know?
00:41:19.967 --> 00:41:21.967
It used to be quiet out here.
00:41:24.267 --> 00:41:25.733
I didn\'t have
any kind of agreement,
00:41:25.767 --> 00:41:27.833
no compensation, no nothing.
00:41:27.867 --> 00:41:30.033
They just come in here
and did what they wanted to do,
00:41:30.067 --> 00:41:32.233
didn\'t ask me
diddly-doo.
00:41:34.600 --> 00:41:37.067
(Darling) The battle between ranchers
and oil companies
00:41:37.100 --> 00:41:40.767
starts with some quirks
in Wyoming history.
00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:42.300
First, there\'s a loophole
00:41:42.333 --> 00:41:45.100
in the deeds
of most ranchers\' homesteads.
00:41:45.133 --> 00:41:48.567
100 years ago, homesteads
gave ranchers ownership
00:41:48.600 --> 00:41:51.100
to just the surface rights
of their land.
00:41:51.133 --> 00:41:54.533
The mineral rights to whatever
was beneath the surface
00:41:54.567 --> 00:41:57.500
stayed with
the federal government.
00:41:57.533 --> 00:42:00.700
So if you purchased the land
from the government back then,
00:42:00.733 --> 00:42:03.333
you only bought
the top of the land.
00:42:03.367 --> 00:42:05.267
The federal
Department of the Interior
00:42:05.300 --> 00:42:08.100
controlled everything
below the surface,
00:42:08.133 --> 00:42:12.167
like coal or oil
or any other mineral.
00:42:12.200 --> 00:42:17.567
(Morrison) People who own the land
have essentially no rights.
00:42:17.600 --> 00:42:20.667
Right now, we\'re not even
fighting over \"if.\"
00:42:20.700 --> 00:42:22.867
We\'re fighting over
how the development happens
00:42:22.900 --> 00:42:24.467
on people\'s land.
00:42:27.800 --> 00:42:30.400
(Darling) Jill told me that
the oil and gas companies
00:42:30.433 --> 00:42:33.800
regard the 25,000-square-mile
Powder River Basin
00:42:33.833 --> 00:42:37.633
as the Saudi Arabia
of coalbed methane gas,
00:42:37.667 --> 00:42:41.100
a view that makes
some ranchers nervous.
00:42:41.133 --> 00:42:47.600
(Morrison) There are around 14,000,
15,000 producing wells.
00:42:47.633 --> 00:42:50.967
And they\'re going to add
about another 30,000 or 35,000,
00:42:51.000 --> 00:42:53.633
they say,
over the next ten years.
00:42:53.667 --> 00:42:55.800
(Darling)
They punch a hole in the ground.
00:42:55.833 --> 00:42:58.467
And now, how do they
actually extract natural gas?
00:42:58.500 --> 00:42:59.633
(Smith)
Well, that\'s a big -
00:42:59.667 --> 00:43:02.667
a big issue with this
coalbed methane is,
00:43:02.700 --> 00:43:04.600
they\'ve got to pump
so much water
00:43:04.633 --> 00:43:06.833
out of this ground
to get to the gas,
00:43:06.867 --> 00:43:09.767
\'cause the water
is what holds the gas down.
00:43:12.067 --> 00:43:16.300
(Morrison) The principal byproduct
of coalbed methane production
00:43:16.333 --> 00:43:18.700
is water, fresh water.
00:43:18.733 --> 00:43:20.533
In fact, we\'re pumping out
00:43:20.567 --> 00:43:23.933
over a million barrels
of water a day.
00:43:27.900 --> 00:43:29.300
Was it Will Rogers who said,
00:43:29.333 --> 00:43:30.333
\"Whiskey\'s for drinking.
00:43:30.367 --> 00:43:32.400
Water\'s for fighting.\"
00:43:32.433 --> 00:43:35.667
When you come to the west,
00:43:35.700 --> 00:43:38.433
water is everything.
00:43:38.467 --> 00:43:44.267
We\'re throwing away enough water
for 50,000 people for 259 years.
00:43:46.900 --> 00:43:49.867
(Darling) Pulling that much water
out of the ground alarmed scientists
00:43:49.900 --> 00:43:53.667
at the Environmental Protection Agency
for several reasons.
00:43:53.700 --> 00:43:56.000
But their warnings
crashed head-on
00:43:56.033 --> 00:43:58.800
with political appointees
at the Interior Department,
00:43:58.833 --> 00:44:01.767
who had already approved
oil company plans
00:44:01.800 --> 00:44:03.933
to extract the water.
00:44:03.967 --> 00:44:06.167
(Sloane) The Environmental
Protection Agency
00:44:06.200 --> 00:44:08.067
was prepared to give
its worst review,
00:44:08.100 --> 00:44:10.700
to say that this is
environmentally unacceptable.
00:44:10.733 --> 00:44:12.100
(Darling)
Back in Washington,
00:44:12.133 --> 00:44:14.467
news of the scientists\'
objections over water
00:44:14.500 --> 00:44:17.400
irritated a top Bush appointee,
00:44:17.433 --> 00:44:19.600
the second-in-command
at the Interior Department,
00:44:19.633 --> 00:44:20.967
Steven Griles.
00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:24.467
So Griles sent a memo
to the deputy administrator
00:44:24.500 --> 00:44:28.033
trying to pressure her into changing
the environmental impact analysis
00:44:28.067 --> 00:44:29.567
and issuing it right away.
00:44:29.600 --> 00:44:34.000
(Darling) Griles followed up the memo
with a phone call.
00:44:34.033 --> 00:44:37.700
The EPA dropped their criticism.
00:44:37.733 --> 00:44:40.233
The pace
of drilling skyrocketed,
00:44:40.267 --> 00:44:44.367
and water suddenly flooded
the dry Wyoming landscape.
00:44:47.100 --> 00:44:48.233
(Smith)
Most of these houses
00:44:48.267 --> 00:44:50.867
that are within earshot
of all this drilling,
00:44:50.900 --> 00:44:54.200
they\'ve lost their wells
and their waters to their houses.
00:45:00.733 --> 00:45:04.167
(Darling) We then drove south
to visit the Landrys.
00:45:04.200 --> 00:45:05.900
Like many Wyoming ranchers,
00:45:05.933 --> 00:45:10.333
they live about 20 miles
from the nearest paved road.
00:45:10.367 --> 00:45:11.733
(woman)
What\'s her name?
00:45:11.767 --> 00:45:13.600
- Marty.
- Marty.
00:45:13.633 --> 00:45:14.767
(woman)
Hi, Marty.
00:45:14.800 --> 00:45:16.467
(Darling) What happened
with your well?
00:45:16.500 --> 00:45:19.200
(Beverly Landry)
We drilled it 34 years ago.
00:45:19.233 --> 00:45:21.733
It produced
about 50 gallons a minute.
00:45:21.767 --> 00:45:25.967
And it furnished water
to all the pastures
00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:27.700
and to our house here.
00:45:27.733 --> 00:45:30.500
And then it was gone.
00:45:30.533 --> 00:45:33.667
Second day of September of 2002,
00:45:33.700 --> 00:45:38.233
and turned the water on,
and there wasn\'t any.
00:45:38.267 --> 00:45:39.733
And I came up here and looked,
00:45:39.767 --> 00:45:42.700
and it had quit flowing.
00:45:42.733 --> 00:45:47.767
The closest pumping well
was four miles from our place.
00:45:47.800 --> 00:45:50.400
And they went on up
in the Powder River Valley.
00:45:50.433 --> 00:45:54.267
And there were 61 wells
that were pumping submersibly
00:45:54.300 --> 00:45:56.833
at the time
that our well quit flowing.
00:45:56.867 --> 00:45:58.300
A fellow from Marathon,
00:45:58.333 --> 00:46:02.200
the company that had
all the wells to the north of us,
00:46:02.233 --> 00:46:04.467
they said, \"Not our fault.
00:46:04.500 --> 00:46:06.500
Can\'t help you.\"
00:46:15.500 --> 00:46:16.867
(Darling)
Down in Casper,
00:46:16.900 --> 00:46:18.500
the Wyoming
Oil and Gas Commission
00:46:18.533 --> 00:46:22.800
decides many disputes
related to petroleum exploration.
00:46:22.833 --> 00:46:24.067
The Landrys\' assumptions
00:46:24.100 --> 00:46:27.433
do not convince
Commission Director Don Liqwertz.
00:46:27.467 --> 00:46:31.800
(Liqwertz) I personally don\'t think
that coalbed methane drilling
00:46:31.833 --> 00:46:33.567
damaged the Landry water well.
00:46:33.600 --> 00:46:36.467
The nearest wells
were 4 1/2 miles away.
00:46:36.500 --> 00:46:39.567
We think it\'s extremely unlikely
that that caused it.
00:46:39.600 --> 00:46:44.600
The drought may have had
a big effect on that artesian well.
00:46:44.633 --> 00:46:47.167
(Darling)
What does a person do out here
00:46:47.200 --> 00:46:51.300
if they don\'t have water
coming out the tap?
00:46:51.333 --> 00:46:55.467
You hope you have good
neighbors, that we did.
00:46:55.500 --> 00:46:58.767
And we hauled water
in gallon jugs.
00:46:58.800 --> 00:47:00.833
They brought water in a big tank
00:47:00.867 --> 00:47:03.600
and put in our horse tank
out here.
00:47:03.633 --> 00:47:04.933
And we would go to Buffalo
00:47:04.967 --> 00:47:06.900
whenever we needed
to wash clothes.
00:47:06.933 --> 00:47:11.200
We\'ve been hauling water
for 17 months and 10 days.
00:47:11.233 --> 00:47:12.633
(Liqwertz)
When I met the Landrys -
00:47:12.667 --> 00:47:14.733
and I said,
\"Well, I think it\'s unfortunate
00:47:14.767 --> 00:47:18.933
\"that an 80-year-old couple,
and one of you being crippled,
00:47:18.967 --> 00:47:20.767
doesn\'t have a source of water
in your house.\"
00:47:20.800 --> 00:47:22.967
(Darling)
If you were the Landrys,
00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:26.033
and within
a half dozen miles from you,
00:47:26.067 --> 00:47:28.767
60 wells were pumping water
out of the ground
00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:31.133
at the same level
your well was drilled to...
00:47:31.167 --> 00:47:32.700
If you\'re in the same coal...
00:47:32.733 --> 00:47:34.067
(Darling)
800 feet.
00:47:34.100 --> 00:47:36.133
Then it\'s different.
00:47:36.167 --> 00:47:38.967
It may have happened
4 1/2 miles away.
00:47:48.400 --> 00:47:49.900
(Darling)
The Landrys\' well went dry
00:47:49.933 --> 00:47:52.333
just five months
after Griles\' pressure
00:47:52.367 --> 00:47:54.667
eliminated
the water regulations.
00:47:54.700 --> 00:47:57.767
As more people
in the Powder River Basin
00:47:57.800 --> 00:48:00.100
started to lose their water,
00:48:00.133 --> 00:48:02.500
Jill Morrison
looked up the résumé
00:48:02.533 --> 00:48:04.800
of President Bush\'s appointee.
00:48:04.833 --> 00:48:08.667
(Morrison) Deputy Secretary
of the Interior Steven Griles
00:48:08.700 --> 00:48:14.133
is a former lobbyist
for many of these oil and gas companies
00:48:14.167 --> 00:48:17.233
that are doing coalbed
methane development in Wyoming.
00:48:20.067 --> 00:48:22.500
(Darling) The Inspector General
at the Interior Department
00:48:22.533 --> 00:48:23.933
launched an investigation
00:48:23.967 --> 00:48:25.733
into possible conflict
of interest
00:48:25.767 --> 00:48:28.433
between Griles
and his former clients.
00:48:28.467 --> 00:48:31.733
The investigation found
that Griles had numerous meetings
00:48:31.767 --> 00:48:33.400
with those former clients,
00:48:33.433 --> 00:48:36.500
despite a pre-appointment promise
not to do so.
00:48:36.533 --> 00:48:37.900
In one case,
00:48:37.933 --> 00:48:40.433
Griles took the top honchos
from the Interior Department
00:48:40.467 --> 00:48:43.867
in charge of petroleum leases
to a barbecue
00:48:43.900 --> 00:48:46.733
with oil and gas executives.
00:48:46.767 --> 00:48:48.433
Interior Secretary Norton
00:48:48.467 --> 00:48:51.600
declined to send a report
to prosecutors.
00:48:51.633 --> 00:48:53.367
Drilling continued.
00:48:55.600 --> 00:48:59.400
(Morrison) So now we have,
with the coalbed methane extraction,
00:48:59.433 --> 00:49:00.933
a double problem.
00:49:00.967 --> 00:49:04.267
We\'re depleting our freshwater
aquifers that we use
00:49:04.300 --> 00:49:05.733
and drying up
people\'s water wells.
00:49:05.767 --> 00:49:08.500
And the companies
are dumping it on the surface
00:49:08.533 --> 00:49:10.800
and into the creeks and rivers.
00:49:10.833 --> 00:49:13.767
And it\'s killing
the native vegetation
00:49:13.800 --> 00:49:16.000
and destroying the soil.
00:49:16.033 --> 00:49:17.633
They don\'t know
what to do with the water
00:49:17.667 --> 00:49:19.367
because they\'re not
in the water business.
00:49:19.400 --> 00:49:21.067
They\'re in the oil
and gas business.
00:49:28.133 --> 00:49:30.600
(Schwartz) Yeah, Todd,
this is Ed Swartz in Gillette.
00:49:30.633 --> 00:49:32.933
Monday morning, the 16th,
will be fine.
00:49:39.267 --> 00:49:42.867
Take U.S. Highway 14-16.
00:49:42.900 --> 00:49:46.267
Follow it about 11 1/2 miles
00:49:46.300 --> 00:49:50.967
from where the speed limit sign
goes up to 55 miles an hour.
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:52.500
You have to watch on the right,
00:49:52.533 --> 00:49:54.933
and you kind of come up
to a little bitty raise
00:49:54.967 --> 00:49:56.200
before you get there.
00:49:56.233 --> 00:49:57.233
It\'s a red gravel road.
00:49:57.267 --> 00:50:00.400
Follow it 10.5 miles.
00:50:00.433 --> 00:50:02.300
Two houses in the same yard.
00:50:02.333 --> 00:50:03.567
Mine is the second one.
00:50:03.600 --> 00:50:05.167
Hope that\'ll help you.
00:50:05.200 --> 00:50:07.500
Later.
00:50:07.533 --> 00:50:11.333
My grandpa started
homesteading from 1904 on.
00:50:11.367 --> 00:50:14.100
I\'m the third generation,
and my son is fourth,
00:50:14.133 --> 00:50:17.800
and his kids are the fifth generation
on this ranch.
00:50:17.833 --> 00:50:19.933
In fact, this is our 100th year.
00:50:22.733 --> 00:50:24.200
Come on, old girls.
00:50:24.233 --> 00:50:25.467
Well, come on.
00:50:25.500 --> 00:50:29.900
Considering that this is a dry,
semi-arid country,
00:50:29.933 --> 00:50:33.000
maximum 15 inches rainfall
a year -
00:50:33.033 --> 00:50:35.500
and we\'ve been able
to survive on it really well
00:50:35.533 --> 00:50:39.400
until they started dumping
that high-sodium methane water down here.
00:50:39.433 --> 00:50:40.933
And I can\'t irrigate with it.
00:50:40.967 --> 00:50:42.600
Over a period of time,
00:50:42.633 --> 00:50:45.133
it will cause those soils
to turn into things
00:50:45.167 --> 00:50:46.933
that are as hard as concrete.
00:50:46.967 --> 00:50:50.000
And you\'ll probably never grow
anything on it again.
00:50:50.033 --> 00:50:53.300
So you could drink it
and you could use it for your livestock,
00:50:53.333 --> 00:50:55.433
but if you happen to irrigate -
00:50:55.467 --> 00:50:57.300
clay soil, when it dries up,
00:50:57.333 --> 00:51:00.200
it\'ll create
a very hard crust of ground.
00:51:00.233 --> 00:51:01.367
It\'s almost like concrete.
00:51:01.400 --> 00:51:03.533
And water
can\'t get down through it,
00:51:03.567 --> 00:51:07.500
and so the plants die.
00:51:07.533 --> 00:51:10.100
This is dead,
in the bottom of the creek here,
00:51:10.133 --> 00:51:12.133
which used to be
about chest deep
00:51:12.167 --> 00:51:13.633
in this broom grass.
00:51:13.667 --> 00:51:16.400
And cattle would be in here
eating this stuff all winter long.
00:51:16.433 --> 00:51:18.633
Our desirable grasses are gone.
00:51:18.667 --> 00:51:19.667
We get down here,
00:51:19.700 --> 00:51:23.167
and we get into some of these
nasty old coarse grasses
00:51:23.200 --> 00:51:25.900
that cattle
just don\'t like to eat.
00:51:25.933 --> 00:51:26.933
You take that grass.
00:51:26.967 --> 00:51:27.967
That\'s slough grass.
00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:29.267
It\'s rough.
It\'s coarse.
00:51:29.300 --> 00:51:30.567
You break that up in your hand,
00:51:30.600 --> 00:51:32.533
and you\'ll get splinters
on your hand out of that.
00:51:32.567 --> 00:51:34.867
And what do you think a cow\'s tongue
is going to feel like?
00:51:34.900 --> 00:51:37.000
And this was
the very best soil I ever had.
00:51:37.033 --> 00:51:38.433
And it had
the most moisture on it.
00:51:38.467 --> 00:51:43.033
It\'s - the very best grasses
I used to have was in this creek.
00:51:43.067 --> 00:51:45.567
They brought in -
oh, it\'s the second-in-command
00:51:45.600 --> 00:51:49.833
of our Bureau of Land Management
district office in Buffalo, Wyoming.
00:51:49.867 --> 00:51:53.033
And he testified under oath
00:51:53.067 --> 00:51:56.500
that it was my mismanagement
of the irrigation on this ranch
00:51:56.533 --> 00:51:59.367
is what has caused
the desirable vegetation
00:51:59.400 --> 00:52:01.033
in my creeks to die.
00:52:01.067 --> 00:52:03.833
There hasn\'t been any irrigation
00:52:03.867 --> 00:52:06.333
in the last four years
because of the drought.
00:52:06.367 --> 00:52:10.167
The only water that\'s been here
has been methane water.
00:52:10.200 --> 00:52:12.233
But he testified
it was my mismanagement.
00:52:12.267 --> 00:52:15.067
And that\'s a damned lie.
00:52:15.100 --> 00:52:18.267
And it bothers me when
people in position of authority
00:52:18.300 --> 00:52:22.600
will be so enamored with
the financial ramifications of this
00:52:22.633 --> 00:52:25.200
that they will totally ignore
the environment.
00:52:31.167 --> 00:52:33.700
(Hamburger) The White House
was on a campaign
00:52:33.733 --> 00:52:35.333
to provide
drilling opportunities
00:52:35.367 --> 00:52:37.833
for as much land in the west
as they could.
00:52:37.867 --> 00:52:39.767
Tired of the roadblocks
00:52:39.800 --> 00:52:41.833
that would get in the way
of issuing a permit,
00:52:41.867 --> 00:52:44.767
the White House pulled in
this special office,
00:52:44.800 --> 00:52:49.533
the White House Office
of Energy Permit Expediting,
00:52:49.567 --> 00:52:53.633
which would bird-dog every permit
that had been slowed or delayed
00:52:53.667 --> 00:52:56.033
or even those
that were just in the pipeline
00:52:56.067 --> 00:52:58.367
to find out what was going on.
00:52:58.400 --> 00:53:01.600
Energy companies, we found,
could write the White House saying,
00:53:01.633 --> 00:53:05.300
\"Hey, my permit
to drill in New Mexico
00:53:05.333 --> 00:53:06.433
\"is not being approved.
00:53:06.467 --> 00:53:07.933
What the heck\'s going on?\"
00:53:07.967 --> 00:53:10.567
And the White House Office
of Energy Permit Expediting
00:53:10.600 --> 00:53:13.767
would make a call
or sometimes even a personal visit
00:53:13.800 --> 00:53:18.767
out to these once obscure offices
of the federal government.
00:53:18.800 --> 00:53:20.600
(Fix) You know,
it seems like President Bush
00:53:20.633 --> 00:53:21.900
is basically an oil and gas man.
00:53:21.933 --> 00:53:25.800
It seems like
he\'s promoting oil and gas.
00:53:25.833 --> 00:53:28.400
You know, and we,
as farmers and ranchers,
00:53:28.433 --> 00:53:32.200
you know, it seems like
we\'re kind of getting left out here.
00:53:32.233 --> 00:53:34.667
(Hamburger) And what\'s unique,
historically, we believe,
00:53:34.700 --> 00:53:36.533
is not that politics intervene
00:53:36.567 --> 00:53:38.733
in executive branch
decision-making
00:53:38.767 --> 00:53:40.400
but that it intervenes
at a level
00:53:40.433 --> 00:53:45.700
that goes so deep
into the sort of routine,
00:53:45.733 --> 00:53:48.300
almost day-to-day functioning
of an administration,
00:53:48.333 --> 00:53:50.967
of an executive branch,
of a cabinet agency.
00:53:58.333 --> 00:54:00.733
(Swartz)
We\'re gonna be here forever,
00:54:00.767 --> 00:54:02.267
if we can still make a living.
00:54:02.300 --> 00:54:03.767
But the methane\'s
going to be here.
00:54:03.800 --> 00:54:05.240
They\'re going to sack up
their money,
00:54:05.267 --> 00:54:06.533
and they\'re
going to take it back
00:54:06.567 --> 00:54:08.867
to wherever
that company headquarters is,
00:54:08.900 --> 00:54:11.567
and, oh, boy, the stockholders
are going to be happy.
00:54:11.600 --> 00:54:13.733
And of course, that\'s what
this United States is about
00:54:13.767 --> 00:54:16.700
is the free enterprise system.
00:54:16.733 --> 00:54:20.067
But you aren\'t
doing things right,
00:54:20.100 --> 00:54:24.433
whether you\'re in the oil business
or the gas business
00:54:24.467 --> 00:54:25.567
or the ranching business,
00:54:25.600 --> 00:54:28.200
if what you do
harms your neighbor.
00:54:31.333 --> 00:54:32.700
(Fix)
We\'ve got to win this battle.
00:54:32.733 --> 00:54:35.833
We can\'t lose it,
because if we let them
00:54:35.867 --> 00:54:37.867
destroy our soil
and destroy our land,
00:54:37.900 --> 00:54:40.167
destroy our property,
00:54:40.200 --> 00:54:42.033
what do we have left in America
00:54:42.067 --> 00:54:44.733
if we destroy our heartland?
00:54:49.800 --> 00:54:51.333
(Darling)
Dry water wells,
00:54:51.367 --> 00:54:52.867
uninvited drilling rigs,
00:54:52.900 --> 00:54:54.333
disappearing antelope,
00:54:54.367 --> 00:54:56.133
noisy compressor stations;
00:54:56.167 --> 00:54:58.167
the rapid industrialization
00:54:58.200 --> 00:55:01.000
of this essential
American landscape
00:55:01.033 --> 00:55:04.400
needed some comment
directly from the oil companies.
00:55:04.433 --> 00:55:05.433
I made some calls.
00:55:05.467 --> 00:55:07.200
Yeah, hi,
is Sandy Andrew there, please?
00:55:07.233 --> 00:55:08.633
Yeah, Paul Weditz, please?
00:55:08.667 --> 00:55:11.167
Is he going to be
back today or is he...
00:55:11.200 --> 00:55:12.800
Hi, Sandy, my name -
00:55:12.833 --> 00:55:16.467
I would like to hear back
from someone.
00:55:16.500 --> 00:55:17.800
I made more calls.
00:55:17.833 --> 00:55:19.400
He\'ll be out till Monday?
00:55:19.433 --> 00:55:22.967
Every company I went to
turned me down,
00:55:23.000 --> 00:55:25.500
large and small.
00:55:25.533 --> 00:55:28.033
(Bryce) Whether private property owners
are being hurt
00:55:28.067 --> 00:55:30.500
by the coalbed methane issue
00:55:30.533 --> 00:55:32.533
really doesn\'t figure
into the equation.
00:55:32.567 --> 00:55:35.000
They are
completely marginalized.
00:55:35.033 --> 00:55:37.067
And the dangerous part
about it is that
00:55:37.100 --> 00:55:40.667
what we are seeing then
is the ultimate blurring
00:55:40.700 --> 00:55:43.467
between America\'s
corporate interests
00:55:43.500 --> 00:55:46.433
and America\'s
government interests.
00:55:46.467 --> 00:55:48.133
(man)
Well, I sure wish this outfit...
00:55:48.167 --> 00:55:50.967
(Darling) The first chance I had to speak
directly to an oil company
00:55:51.000 --> 00:55:54.867
came when Marathon/Penaco
came back onto George\'s land.
00:55:54.900 --> 00:55:57.567
(man) I\'ve already told
this camera crew,
00:55:57.600 --> 00:56:01.133
because they do not have
hard hats and steel-toed shoes
00:56:01.167 --> 00:56:04.500
and flame-retardant -
and monitors,
00:56:04.533 --> 00:56:07.733
they need to stay back off -
where the brush -
00:56:07.767 --> 00:56:10.333
at least 75 to 100 feet
away from the well.
00:56:10.367 --> 00:56:12.300
So are you telling me
I cannot go any closer -
00:56:12.333 --> 00:56:13.500
No, I\'m not telling you.
00:56:13.533 --> 00:56:15.533
I\'m asking if they would
while they were filming.
00:56:15.567 --> 00:56:18.567
Okay, they have permission to go
wherever they want on this property.
00:56:18.600 --> 00:56:20.200
You guys have
to make it safe for me.
00:56:20.233 --> 00:56:21.333
Right, I understand that.
00:56:21.367 --> 00:56:22.467
This is my property.
00:56:22.500 --> 00:56:24.800
You can wear hard hats
and do whatever you want.
00:56:24.833 --> 00:56:27.400
But you will make it safe for me
and anybody else I want out here
00:56:27.433 --> 00:56:28.767
to come out here.
00:56:28.800 --> 00:56:31.967
Do you think you\'ll
want them closer than that?
00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:33.967
They can go
wherever they want out here.
00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:35.733
(man) Okay, well, Brian,
I don\'t know.
00:56:35.767 --> 00:56:37.800
That\'s a situation
I don\'t know anything about.
00:56:40.433 --> 00:56:42.700
(Smith) Here we are out here
as a private property owner,
00:56:42.733 --> 00:56:45.000
and we don\'t have
any rights whatsoever.
00:56:45.033 --> 00:56:47.200
You think I want to be
partners with this?
00:56:47.233 --> 00:56:50.500
So here,
they\'re tilting up the rig now.
00:56:50.533 --> 00:56:51.933
And I don\'t want this.
00:56:51.967 --> 00:56:53.500
This can\'t ever be replaced.
00:57:01.633 --> 00:57:04.333
How would you feel if somebody
come in and knock down your garage
00:57:04.367 --> 00:57:05.700
or tore half of your house up
00:57:05.733 --> 00:57:08.333
to get a drill rig in there
into your backyard
00:57:08.367 --> 00:57:10.933
and drill for gas and oil?
00:57:10.967 --> 00:57:15.200
That\'s basically
what\'s going on right here.
00:57:15.233 --> 00:57:20.233
And I don\'t think much of America
would stand for that.
00:57:20.267 --> 00:57:22.267
That\'s not freedom.
00:57:29.533 --> 00:57:32.867
(man)
♪ The man who stole the water ♪
00:57:32.900 --> 00:57:36.533
♪ will swim forevermore. ♪
00:57:36.567 --> 00:57:43.233
♪ But he\'ll never reach the land
on that golden shore. ♪
00:57:43.267 --> 00:57:47.767
♪ Dig a hole in the ground ♪
00:57:47.800 --> 00:57:50.733
♪ straight down to hell ♪
00:57:50.767 --> 00:57:58.767
♪ till there ain\'t no more water
in the well, well, well. ♪
00:57:59.267 --> 00:58:02.400
(Darling) When I left Wyoming
to head east,
00:58:02.433 --> 00:58:04.767
I had to ask myself,
00:58:04.800 --> 00:58:06.733
\"What could these ranchers do
00:58:06.767 --> 00:58:08.567
\"when the President
of the United States
00:58:08.600 --> 00:58:11.133
\"installs a task force
in the White House
00:58:11.167 --> 00:58:17.400
to help a powerful business
send oil rigs uninvited onto their land?\"
00:58:17.433 --> 00:58:20.000
I mean, what could they do?
00:58:20.033 --> 00:58:21.500
What could I do?
00:58:23.367 --> 00:58:25.000
What could I do?
00:58:28.500 --> 00:58:33.367
Like most depressed Americans,
I went shopping.
00:58:33.400 --> 00:58:37.267
First, I got
my snowmobile a name, Sindy.
00:58:37.300 --> 00:58:39.333
That\'s it.
00:58:39.367 --> 00:58:41.833
(Darling)
Super Sport Sindy.
00:58:41.867 --> 00:58:43.867
Next, I got bigger horns.
00:58:46.033 --> 00:58:50.100
Discovered they weren\'t
freeway friendly.
00:58:50.133 --> 00:58:54.833
I figure I\'ll use this set
for around town.
00:58:54.867 --> 00:58:57.767
But the shopping
just didn\'t do it.
00:58:57.800 --> 00:59:00.867
Not even the charms
of early March in North Dakota
00:59:00.900 --> 00:59:03.400
could dislodge this question.
00:59:03.433 --> 00:59:06.700
If a president from Texas
can\'t watch out for cowboys
00:59:06.733 --> 00:59:10.733
when he rewrites the rules,
then what\'s going on here?
00:59:15.067 --> 00:59:17.133
Remember that
clean snowmobile contest
00:59:17.167 --> 00:59:19.000
I heard about in San Francisco?
00:59:19.033 --> 00:59:21.500
Well, when I stopped in
for a fill-up,
00:59:21.533 --> 00:59:24.367
I checked the internet
and discovered
00:59:24.400 --> 00:59:27.400
that it happens in March
in Michigan.
00:59:29.167 --> 00:59:32.867
That leaves me with
a convenient week in Minnesota,
00:59:32.900 --> 00:59:35.867
the hub
of the U.S. snowmobile industry.
00:59:38.533 --> 00:59:40.567
Snowmobiles
have been manufactured
00:59:40.600 --> 00:59:42.667
for about 50 years.
00:59:42.700 --> 00:59:45.600
Minnesota once had
a couple dozen companies making them.
00:59:45.633 --> 00:59:48.433
But by the \'90s,
that was down to two,
00:59:48.467 --> 00:59:52.267
while a third company
flourished up in Canada.
00:59:52.300 --> 00:59:54.367
I figured
the snowmobile manufacturers
00:59:54.400 --> 00:59:57.000
would be thrilled to talk
to an interested visitor,
00:59:57.033 --> 01:00:00.333
and maybe they could explain
why that rule got changed.
01:00:05.033 --> 01:00:07.033
But when I arrived
in Thief River Falls,
01:00:07.067 --> 01:00:09.167
the home of Arctic Cat,
01:00:09.200 --> 01:00:12.633
the reception was a bit frosty.
01:00:12.667 --> 01:00:15.067
When the guy from the plant
called me back,
01:00:15.100 --> 01:00:17.867
he told me that,
judging by my area code,
01:00:17.900 --> 01:00:21.067
I would be hostile
to snowmobiles.
01:00:21.100 --> 01:00:24.600
My area code, huh?
01:00:24.633 --> 01:00:26.567
So I headed south to Medina,
01:00:26.600 --> 01:00:31.100
home of Polaris,
the other U.S. manufacturer.
01:00:31.133 --> 01:00:33.033
They didn\'t bring up
my telephone number,
01:00:33.067 --> 01:00:36.667
but they did say that two weeks
was not enough notice.
01:00:38.300 --> 01:00:41.767
Sindy and I felt
the sting of rejection.
01:00:41.800 --> 01:00:44.400
The manufacturers
had failed to explain
01:00:44.433 --> 01:00:47.167
why President Bush
changed those snowmobile rules,
01:00:47.200 --> 01:00:49.900
and their silence
made that decision
01:00:49.933 --> 01:00:53.867
seem even more mysterious.
01:00:53.900 --> 01:00:55.000
I\'m headed northeast,
01:00:55.033 --> 01:00:57.467
to the Collegiate
Clean Snowmobile Contest
01:00:57.500 --> 01:01:01.600
on Michigan\'s Upper Peninsula
in the town of Houghton.
01:01:01.633 --> 01:01:03.733
The setting is ideal.
01:01:03.767 --> 01:01:06.867
Nearby Lake Superior
provides a steady supply
01:01:06.900 --> 01:01:10.167
of wind and snow
until late March.
01:01:10.200 --> 01:01:13.033
Snowmobiles flock to the area.
01:01:13.067 --> 01:01:15.033
Trails crisscross the region.
01:01:15.067 --> 01:01:18.200
And I met people who\'d
just gotten off their machine
01:01:18.233 --> 01:01:20.633
after 300 miles in one day.
01:01:25.233 --> 01:01:29.167
(Meldrum) This week, we\'re the host site
of the Clean Snowmobile Challenge.
01:01:29.200 --> 01:01:32.433
This is a collegiate
design series competition,
01:01:32.467 --> 01:01:33.800
where several universities
01:01:33.833 --> 01:01:36.833
compete to come up with
a responsible design
01:01:36.867 --> 01:01:41.467
for being clean and quiet
yet still exciting.
01:01:41.500 --> 01:01:43.267
(man)
Snowmobiles are really noisy,
01:01:43.300 --> 01:01:45.367
and they also do have
a lot of emissions,
01:01:45.400 --> 01:01:47.067
especially two-stroke models.
01:01:47.100 --> 01:01:48.433
We\'re gonna be the sleeper.
01:01:48.467 --> 01:01:51.033
We\'re hoping to do
real, real well this year.
01:01:51.067 --> 01:01:52.867
(man) I like to do
anything going fast,
01:01:52.900 --> 01:01:53.900
all with motors.
01:01:53.933 --> 01:01:55.067
I\'m a motorhead.
01:01:55.100 --> 01:01:57.500
I race snocross for Polaris
in the winters.
01:01:57.533 --> 01:01:59.367
And I\'m working with
the University of Idaho\'s
01:01:59.400 --> 01:02:01.367
Clean Snowmobile
Competition sled.
01:02:01.400 --> 01:02:03.067
We\'ve won the last two years.
01:02:06.033 --> 01:02:08.233
(Van Den) They\'d decided
they\'d taken the four-stroke
01:02:08.267 --> 01:02:09.467
about as far as they could.
01:02:09.500 --> 01:02:11.967
More of a challenge
is to clean up the two-stroke
01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:15.533
by using a direct injection.
01:02:15.567 --> 01:02:17.133
(Schroeder)
My name is Eric Schroeder.
01:02:17.167 --> 01:02:19.433
I am from the University
of Wisconsin, Madison,
01:02:19.467 --> 01:02:20.733
Clean Snowmobile Team.
01:02:20.767 --> 01:02:22.100
Grew up in Neenah, Wisconsin,
01:02:22.133 --> 01:02:23.967
so I\'m from
snowmobiling country.
01:02:24.000 --> 01:02:25.567
We use a powersys technology,
01:02:25.600 --> 01:02:27.600
very similar to the Prius
or the hybrid.
01:02:27.633 --> 01:02:28.700
The electric motor is there
01:02:28.733 --> 01:02:31.567
so the engine feels like
a big two-stroke,
01:02:31.600 --> 01:02:35.800
but it\'s actually a clean,
environmentally friendly four-stroke.
01:02:35.833 --> 01:02:37.500
We added a catalytic converter.
01:02:37.533 --> 01:02:40.700
We had 89% reduction
in hydrocarbons,
01:02:40.733 --> 01:02:43.200
99% in carbon monoxide.
01:02:43.233 --> 01:02:45.633
Really good for just putting
a catalytic converter on there.
01:02:45.667 --> 01:02:48.400
(Schroeder) Our sled features
an evaporative emissions system.
01:02:48.433 --> 01:02:50.200
And evaporative
emissions canisters
01:02:50.233 --> 01:02:52.333
have been required
on automobiles
01:02:52.367 --> 01:02:55.500
since about 1971.
01:02:55.533 --> 01:02:57.400
(Darling)
1971.
01:02:57.433 --> 01:03:00.300
Now, that\'s
cutting-edge technology.
01:03:00.333 --> 01:03:03.300
What\'s the industry been doing?
01:03:03.333 --> 01:03:04.767
(man) Let\'s see,
we lost Waterloo.
01:03:04.800 --> 01:03:07.500
We lost Buffalo, Michigan Tech,
01:03:07.533 --> 01:03:09.067
Idaho State too, I think.
01:03:09.100 --> 01:03:10.833
So I think we\'ve lost five.
01:03:10.867 --> 01:03:13.800
(Darling) Competition
churned on all week.
01:03:13.833 --> 01:03:16.233
By the end of it, Wisconsin,
with the hybrid engine,
01:03:16.267 --> 01:03:17.600
was the winner.
01:03:17.633 --> 01:03:19.800
Idaho\'s injected two-stroke
01:03:19.833 --> 01:03:23.200
finished well back in the pack.
01:03:23.233 --> 01:03:24.833
So let\'s stack the college kids
01:03:24.867 --> 01:03:28.033
up against what\'s required
of the snowmobile industry
01:03:28.067 --> 01:03:30.133
by the Bush administration.
01:03:30.167 --> 01:03:32.067
The industry fleet average
01:03:32.100 --> 01:03:36.867
was to cut emissions
by 30% by 2006
01:03:36.900 --> 01:03:40.000
and 50% by 2010.
01:03:40.033 --> 01:03:42.500
The college kids on a budget
01:03:42.533 --> 01:03:47.267
cut emissions overall by about 90%.
01:03:47.300 --> 01:03:50.967
Who tossed such a softball
to the industry?
01:03:51.000 --> 01:03:54.067
Turns out, that individual
in the Bush White House
01:03:54.100 --> 01:03:57.300
was in charge
of all federal regulations.
01:03:59.300 --> 01:04:01.267
(Hamburger) John Graham
came to this position
01:04:01.300 --> 01:04:05.200
and in some ways,
was a transformative figure.
01:04:05.233 --> 01:04:07.667
(Darling) The king of all rules
at this point
01:04:07.700 --> 01:04:11.500
was an ex-Harvard professor
named John Graham.
01:04:11.533 --> 01:04:16.400
He made his reputation
in the area of cost-benefit analysis.
01:04:16.433 --> 01:04:18.933
(Wallsten) It was controversial
from a consumer standpoint,
01:04:18.967 --> 01:04:21.533
but he wanted
a very systematic look at,
01:04:21.567 --> 01:04:22.900
you know, every regulation
01:04:22.933 --> 01:04:25.900
down to the point of where
it affected each industry
01:04:25.933 --> 01:04:27.600
and what the extra cost is
to that industry
01:04:27.633 --> 01:04:29.100
and whether it\'s worth it.
01:04:29.133 --> 01:04:31.667
(Darling) As the man who decides
if it\'s worth it,
01:04:31.700 --> 01:04:35.533
Graham literally had his hands
on every government regulation,
01:04:35.567 --> 01:04:37.333
from snowmobiles and fish
01:04:37.367 --> 01:04:39.933
to toy safety and pesticides.
01:04:39.967 --> 01:04:42.100
Graham emphasized business costs
01:04:42.133 --> 01:04:44.400
but discounted
science and resources
01:04:44.433 --> 01:04:46.367
to create
industry-friendly rules.
01:04:46.400 --> 01:04:47.833
(Hamburger)
And this sort of change
01:04:47.867 --> 01:04:50.267
literally rocked
the scientific staff
01:04:50.300 --> 01:04:54.967
of independent agencies
like the EPA and the FDA.
01:04:55.000 --> 01:04:58.600
If you have in place individuals
who are more inclined
01:04:58.633 --> 01:05:01.867
to put their emphasis
of the economic cost of the regulation
01:05:01.900 --> 01:05:03.800
or the cost
to industry of the regulations,
01:05:03.833 --> 01:05:05.633
you are going to have a bias
01:05:05.667 --> 01:05:08.067
or a pressure
on one side of the argument.
01:05:08.100 --> 01:05:10.233
And there\'s no question
that that happened here.
01:05:10.267 --> 01:05:11.667
Well, that\'s my man, Mike.
01:05:11.700 --> 01:05:13.967
He needs to sell
a few more machines.
01:05:18.733 --> 01:05:20.433
(Darling)
Did cost-benefit analysis
01:05:20.467 --> 01:05:22.533
account for
the snowmobile decisions?
01:05:22.567 --> 01:05:23.967
And if so,
01:05:24.000 --> 01:05:28.233
how far would President Bush
take this cost-benefit thing?
01:05:28.267 --> 01:05:32.000
After all, in each case,
someone gets the benefit,
01:05:32.033 --> 01:05:35.133
and somebody else pays the cost.
01:05:35.167 --> 01:05:38.033
If science always starts out
in second place,
01:05:38.067 --> 01:05:40.500
wouldn\'t that be
kind of dangerous?
01:05:40.533 --> 01:05:43.433
And if this is the measurement
he uses to write the rules,
01:05:43.467 --> 01:05:47.667
then how well does that work
in a life-threatening situation?
01:05:47.700 --> 01:05:49.133
Then it occurred to me,
01:05:49.167 --> 01:05:50.867
the experience of New Yorkers
01:05:50.900 --> 01:05:54.433
might test the safety
of cost-benefit analysis.
01:05:57.833 --> 01:06:00.733
A few weeks ago,
I was in Wyoming
01:06:00.767 --> 01:06:03.067
with four people
per square mile.
01:06:03.100 --> 01:06:06.633
Now I\'m in Manhattan
with 69,000.
01:06:28.700 --> 01:06:30.433
(McArdle)
On 9/11,
01:06:30.467 --> 01:06:33.233
we were racing down
the FDR Drive,
01:06:33.267 --> 01:06:36.433
and you could see a lot of smoke
coming out of the towers.
01:06:36.467 --> 01:06:39.533
And just as we pulled up
on West Street,
01:06:39.567 --> 01:06:42.567
the first tower had collapsed.
01:06:46.867 --> 01:06:49.367
(Gulak)
On September 11, 2001,
01:06:49.400 --> 01:06:51.300
I managed
to evacuate successfully,
01:06:51.333 --> 01:06:54.533
and I wasn\'t harmed.
01:06:54.567 --> 01:06:56.767
I was even spared seeing
some of the awful things
01:06:56.800 --> 01:07:00.533
that other people saw that day.
01:07:00.567 --> 01:07:02.467
(Dahl) We got there
just after the buildings
01:07:02.500 --> 01:07:03.900
had initially collapsed.
01:07:05.333 --> 01:07:07.600
And there was
still debris coming down
01:07:07.633 --> 01:07:09.600
all around Manhattan.
01:07:09.633 --> 01:07:11.200
(Bethea)
I knew what that rumble sound -
01:07:11.233 --> 01:07:13.700
and the tower\'s now coming down,
the second tower.
01:07:13.733 --> 01:07:16.400
It\'s like a major dust cloud.
01:07:16.433 --> 01:07:17.700
It\'s at a distance.
01:07:17.733 --> 01:07:19.600
It starts to get
closer and closer
01:07:19.633 --> 01:07:20.867
and closer and closer.
01:07:20.900 --> 01:07:23.200
And the next thing you know,
it was on top of you.
01:07:23.233 --> 01:07:25.067
You could not see
an inch in front of you.
01:07:25.100 --> 01:07:28.133
Not only could you not see,
you couldn\'t breathe also.
01:07:31.767 --> 01:07:35.567
(McArdle) When the upper floors started
dropping on top of each other,
01:07:35.600 --> 01:07:38.600
it almost was like
a giant jackhammer.
01:07:38.633 --> 01:07:42.233
And the concrete slabs
ended up turning into, like,
01:07:42.267 --> 01:07:44.267
a very, very fine powder.
01:07:46.333 --> 01:07:49.433
(Shufro)
This dust went into the interior
01:07:49.467 --> 01:07:51.933
of tens of thousands of apartments
01:07:51.967 --> 01:07:53.800
and businesses and so forth.
01:07:53.833 --> 01:07:55.667
And we started to think about,
01:07:55.700 --> 01:07:58.033
well, would could possibly be
in the dust?
01:07:58.067 --> 01:07:59.367
The cement particles.
01:07:59.400 --> 01:08:01.033
Gypsum sheetrock.
01:08:01.067 --> 01:08:03.600
There was 50,000 computers
in the World Trade Center.
01:08:03.633 --> 01:08:06.533
Every computer monitor
has several pounds of lead.
01:08:06.567 --> 01:08:08.067
Up to 90% fiberglass.
01:08:08.100 --> 01:08:10.633
Isocyanates
and tetrachloroethane.
01:08:10.667 --> 01:08:12.733
Polynuclear
aromatic hydrocarbons.
01:08:12.767 --> 01:08:14.733
The pH level was very alkaline,
01:08:14.767 --> 01:08:15.767
worse than ammonia.
01:08:15.800 --> 01:08:18.200
Benzene 40 times
the occupational limit.
01:08:18.233 --> 01:08:19.400
Mercury, cadmium.
01:08:19.433 --> 01:08:21.967
Silica, as well as asbestos.
01:08:22.000 --> 01:08:23.300
- Asbestos.
- Asbestos.
01:08:23.333 --> 01:08:24.333
Asbestos.
01:08:24.367 --> 01:08:26.167
I mean, 5,000 tons of asbestos
01:08:26.200 --> 01:08:27.733
was sprayed
on the first 40 stories
01:08:27.767 --> 01:08:29.133
of one of the towers.
01:08:29.167 --> 01:08:33.500
And the top 70 stories
pancaked down faster and faster
01:08:33.533 --> 01:08:36.600
until they hit
the bottom 40 stories,
01:08:36.633 --> 01:08:39.633
exploding the asbestos.
01:08:42.533 --> 01:08:44.000
(Markowitz)
For asbestos,
01:08:44.033 --> 01:08:48.467
there\'s no level of exposure
that you can have which is safe,
01:08:48.500 --> 01:08:50.867
in which
you will not develop cancer.
01:08:59.467 --> 01:09:00.633
(Darling)
Once in New York,
01:09:00.667 --> 01:09:04.000
I got a crash course
in asbestos.
01:09:04.033 --> 01:09:05.767
Scientists told me
minute amounts
01:09:05.800 --> 01:09:08.200
can cause terminal cancer.
01:09:08.233 --> 01:09:11.200
Dust left on the clothes
of asbestos miners
01:09:11.233 --> 01:09:15.133
has killed people
who did their laundry.
01:09:15.167 --> 01:09:16.633
So now we\'ve got tons of it,
01:09:16.667 --> 01:09:20.567
pulverized and spread
over Lower Manhattan,
01:09:20.600 --> 01:09:22.967
like a clever plot twist
by the terrorists,
01:09:23.000 --> 01:09:25.900
a ticking time bomb left behind.
01:09:25.933 --> 01:09:31.233
Surely the administration
would be all over this.
01:09:31.267 --> 01:09:33.967
I headed to Lower Manhattan
to meet Joel Kupferman,
01:09:34.000 --> 01:09:37.133
a lawyer
for the Firemen\'s Union.
01:09:37.167 --> 01:09:40.133
(Kupferman) I was caught
off of New York on 9/11.
01:09:40.167 --> 01:09:43.267
It took me three days
to get back to my neighborhood.
01:09:43.300 --> 01:09:44.667
When I first came out
of the subway,
01:09:44.700 --> 01:09:46.767
I noticed
a lot of people were coughing.
01:09:46.800 --> 01:09:48.600
I saw one or two people
spit up blood.
01:09:48.633 --> 01:09:50.233
And I knew
there was a problem here,
01:09:50.267 --> 01:09:51.533
despite what I heard
on the radio
01:09:51.567 --> 01:09:53.700
and what I saw
in the newspapers.
01:09:53.733 --> 01:09:56.800
(Darling) Joel told me that the
Environmental Protection Agency
01:09:56.833 --> 01:09:58.167
is supposed to take charge
01:09:58.200 --> 01:10:02.000
in the aftermath
of a terrorist attack.
01:10:02.033 --> 01:10:03.667
In the week following 9/11,
01:10:03.700 --> 01:10:06.233
the EPA put out
three press releases.
01:10:06.267 --> 01:10:08.333
Each one contained
words and phrases
01:10:08.367 --> 01:10:13.300
like \"reassuring\"
and \"the air is safe to breathe.\"
01:10:13.333 --> 01:10:15.767
(Dahl) I don\'t know
what air sampling they did,
01:10:15.800 --> 01:10:17.433
but they weren\'t where I was.
01:10:17.467 --> 01:10:19.867
(Gleason)
Every time you questioned it,
01:10:19.900 --> 01:10:21.133
you kept being told,
01:10:21.167 --> 01:10:23.433
\"Well, the EPA\'s telling us
the air\'s okay.
01:10:23.467 --> 01:10:25.233
It\'s within
acceptable limits.\"
01:10:25.267 --> 01:10:27.767
(Nadler)
And the administrator of the EPA
01:10:27.800 --> 01:10:30.167
started, within a couple
of days after 9/11,
01:10:30.200 --> 01:10:32.400
announcing that the air
was safe to breathe
01:10:32.433 --> 01:10:34.100
and the water to drink
01:10:34.133 --> 01:10:36.167
before there was any test data
01:10:36.200 --> 01:10:38.533
to show the truth or falsity
of that statement.
01:10:38.567 --> 01:10:40.133
And she continued saying it
01:10:40.167 --> 01:10:42.067
well after there was
plenty of test data
01:10:42.100 --> 01:10:43.567
that showed that it wasn\'t true.
01:10:46.067 --> 01:10:47.700
(Darling)
Here\'s what\'s at stake:
01:10:47.733 --> 01:10:49.633
the absence of EPA warnings
01:10:49.667 --> 01:10:51.667
means cleaning crews
and rescue workers
01:10:51.700 --> 01:10:53.633
are not required
to wear clothing
01:10:53.667 --> 01:10:57.633
adequate to protect them
from the toxic dust.
01:10:57.667 --> 01:11:01.667
Cleanup standards for offices
and apartments are lax.
01:11:01.700 --> 01:11:03.967
The potentially
affected population,
01:11:04.000 --> 01:11:05.467
the workers and residents,
01:11:05.500 --> 01:11:08.867
is over 200,000 people.
01:11:08.900 --> 01:11:11.600
How carefully did the
Environmental Protection Agency
01:11:11.633 --> 01:11:16.000
analyze the hazards
that face New York?
01:11:16.033 --> 01:11:17.733
EPA, at that time,
01:11:17.767 --> 01:11:21.233
was only using
common light microscopes.
01:11:21.267 --> 01:11:23.933
They were not using
electron microscopes.
01:11:25.667 --> 01:11:27.233
(Darling)
In high school science labs,
01:11:27.267 --> 01:11:30.567
students use light microscopes
to look at little creatures.
01:11:30.600 --> 01:11:33.033
Try using
the fine adjustment knob.
01:11:33.067 --> 01:11:35.267
(Darling) But to see
very tiny particles,
01:11:35.300 --> 01:11:37.867
like the pulverized dust
of 9/11,
01:11:37.900 --> 01:11:40.467
electron microscopes
are the way to go,
01:11:40.500 --> 01:11:43.500
hundreds of times more powerful
than the light microscopes.
01:11:46.067 --> 01:11:48.100
EPA asbestos investigators
01:11:48.133 --> 01:11:52.033
with electron microscopes
were in the Rockies on 9/11.
01:11:52.067 --> 01:11:54.567
Christy Whitman
had paid a visit to them
01:11:54.600 --> 01:11:58.733
just the week before
in Libby, Montana.
01:11:58.767 --> 01:12:00.767
They offered to come
to New York immediately.
01:12:00.800 --> 01:12:04.133
(Jenkins) There was a large conference call
September 12th.
01:12:04.167 --> 01:12:07.133
And they said,
\"Okay, we\'re ready to go.\"
01:12:07.167 --> 01:12:10.100
It was very abusive,
obscene language
01:12:10.133 --> 01:12:13.900
in the refusal by Region 2
out of New York City
01:12:13.933 --> 01:12:18.000
directed towards investigators
in Region 8.
01:12:20.800 --> 01:12:22.767
The building
over here on the left
01:12:22.800 --> 01:12:24.833
is the EPA building.
01:12:24.867 --> 01:12:28.400
And significant is, this building
was closed for a while.
01:12:28.433 --> 01:12:29.733
And there was
a whole controversy
01:12:29.767 --> 01:12:31.207
over how that building
was cleaned up
01:12:31.233 --> 01:12:33.500
and why they cleaned it up.
01:12:33.533 --> 01:12:36.067
They were contaminated
by these explosions.
01:12:36.100 --> 01:12:37.767
Did EPA call in OSHA
01:12:37.800 --> 01:12:39.967
with its out-of-date
visual microscopes,
01:12:40.000 --> 01:12:41.433
and if OSHA okayed the building,
01:12:41.467 --> 01:12:43.767
say, \"Fine, OSHA\'s cleared us;
let\'s go back to work\"?
01:12:43.800 --> 01:12:45.933
No, they did nothing
of the kind.
01:12:45.967 --> 01:12:48.333
They brought in a team
of top people
01:12:48.367 --> 01:12:50.567
with modern
electron microscopes,
01:12:50.600 --> 01:12:51.900
and they scrubbed that building
01:12:51.933 --> 01:12:53.767
and tested it
with electron microscopes
01:12:53.800 --> 01:12:56.700
until they knew
it was safe for them.
01:12:56.733 --> 01:12:59.033
They then turned
to every other office building
01:12:59.067 --> 01:13:00.567
in New York City and said,
01:13:00.600 --> 01:13:04.267
\"These electron microscopes
are only for us, not for you.\"
01:13:04.300 --> 01:13:08.533
For the rest of New York City,
EPA was only testing the dust
01:13:08.567 --> 01:13:13.333
using the light microscope,
not finding things,
01:13:13.367 --> 01:13:16.333
and thus telling people,
\"No problem.\"
01:13:16.367 --> 01:13:17.400
EPA knew.
01:13:22.267 --> 01:13:24.500
The EPA did not give
the people of New York
01:13:24.533 --> 01:13:26.467
complete information.
01:13:26.500 --> 01:13:29.567
It was surely not telling
all of the truth.
01:13:29.600 --> 01:13:31.467
It had put together
press releases
01:13:31.500 --> 01:13:33.200
that were more informative
01:13:33.233 --> 01:13:36.467
than those
that it ultimately released.
01:13:36.500 --> 01:13:39.200
It was the White House Council
on Environmental Quality -
01:13:39.233 --> 01:13:41.133
James Connaughton
is the chairman -
01:13:41.167 --> 01:13:44.567
having telephone conversations
in which they said to the EPA,
01:13:44.600 --> 01:13:46.367
\"You\'ve got
this warning about asbestos.
01:13:46.400 --> 01:13:47.433
\"Change it.
01:13:47.467 --> 01:13:49.333
Make it reassuring.\"
01:13:49.367 --> 01:13:51.233
And the EPA did.
01:13:51.267 --> 01:13:54.233
(Darling) Inspector General Tinsley
found an email exchange
01:13:54.267 --> 01:13:57.267
between Connaughton
at the White House and the EPA
01:13:57.300 --> 01:13:59.267
that debates the press releases.
01:13:59.300 --> 01:14:02.500
When Connaughton read
the following EPA passage...
01:14:02.533 --> 01:14:06.267
\"Recent samples of dust
show higher levels of asbestos
01:14:06.300 --> 01:14:07.833
in EPA tests,\"
01:14:07.867 --> 01:14:10.133
he altered the wording
to read...
01:14:10.167 --> 01:14:12.900
\"That ambient air quality
meets OSHA standards
01:14:12.933 --> 01:14:16.233
and, consequently, is not a cause
for public concern.\"
01:14:16.267 --> 01:14:18.933
And when presented
with the EPA warning...
01:14:18.967 --> 01:14:21.467
\"The concerns raised
by those samples
01:14:21.500 --> 01:14:23.800
\"would be for the workers
at the cleanup site
01:14:23.833 --> 01:14:27.267
and for those workers who might be
returning to their offices.\"
01:14:27.300 --> 01:14:30.100
Connaughton ordered
the removal of the warning
01:14:30.133 --> 01:14:32.300
in its entirety.
01:14:32.333 --> 01:14:33.400
We knew they were lies.
01:14:33.433 --> 01:14:34.733
We reported on those lies.
01:14:34.767 --> 01:14:36.267
The only thing
that we didn\'t know,
01:14:36.300 --> 01:14:37.633
or hadn\'t known,
01:14:37.667 --> 01:14:39.967
was the role of the White House
in telling the EPA to lie.
01:14:42.967 --> 01:14:46.267
(Darling) Connaughton had only been
on the job for three months.
01:14:46.300 --> 01:14:49.067
But he was a veteran
when it came to the EPA.
01:14:49.100 --> 01:14:52.000
Before the White House job,
he\'d worked as a lawyer
01:14:52.033 --> 01:14:55.433
fighting EPA attempts
to clean up toxic waste sites
01:14:55.467 --> 01:14:57.333
and was a partner in a law firm
01:14:57.367 --> 01:15:00.700
that lobbied
for the asbestos industry.
01:15:00.733 --> 01:15:02.967
One of his clients,
General Electric,
01:15:03.000 --> 01:15:04.567
actually leads the U.S.
01:15:04.600 --> 01:15:07.633
in the creation
of toxic superfund sites.
01:15:07.667 --> 01:15:10.833
Connaughton once wrote
a legal article entitled
01:15:10.867 --> 01:15:13.667
\"Defending Charges
of Environmental Crime:
01:15:13.700 --> 01:15:16.233
Growth Industry
of the \'90s.\"
01:15:16.267 --> 01:15:19.033
Now he\'s in charge
of Manhattan\'s safety.
01:15:21.667 --> 01:15:24.300
(McArdle) And I know they use
all of that mumbo jumbo
01:15:24.333 --> 01:15:26.833
that it was a terrorist event,
01:15:26.867 --> 01:15:29.633
it was nothing that we
ever planned for before,
01:15:29.667 --> 01:15:31.067
and that\'s really
a lot of baloney.
01:15:31.100 --> 01:15:33.333
I mean, we plan for natural
01:15:33.367 --> 01:15:35.300
and catastrophic disasters
all the time.
01:15:35.333 --> 01:15:37.900
They have training schools
all over the country for that.
01:15:37.933 --> 01:15:41.133
They had many opportunities
to correct their wrongdoing,
01:15:41.167 --> 01:15:42.167
and they didn\'t do it.
01:15:42.200 --> 01:15:43.367
They chose not to.
01:15:43.400 --> 01:15:45.433
(Nadler) The White House,
the governor, the mayor,
01:15:45.467 --> 01:15:48.367
they were all very intent
on getting back to normal
01:15:48.400 --> 01:15:50.367
as fast as possible
and then getting the economy,
01:15:50.400 --> 01:15:52.467
in particular,
Wall Street, running
01:15:52.500 --> 01:15:53.833
as fast as possible.
01:15:53.867 --> 01:15:55.900
They were worried
about the economic consequences.
01:15:55.933 --> 01:15:57.333
And I don\'t blame them for that.
01:15:57.367 --> 01:15:59.433
What I do blame them for
01:15:59.467 --> 01:16:01.600
is for completely
and totally subordinating
01:16:01.633 --> 01:16:04.567
the health of thousands
of New Yorkers
01:16:04.600 --> 01:16:07.100
and thousands of first responders
to that concern,
01:16:07.133 --> 01:16:09.067
as if that wasn\'t
important at all.
01:16:14.633 --> 01:16:16.567
(Darling) In the case
of the World Trade Center,
01:16:16.600 --> 01:16:19.467
the EPA dropped rules
that label any downed building
01:16:19.500 --> 01:16:22.533
with asbestos
a toxic waste site,
01:16:22.567 --> 01:16:25.333
despite the potential danger
to New Yorkers.
01:16:28.667 --> 01:16:30.667
(Gulak) Well, at first,
we worked from our homes.
01:16:30.700 --> 01:16:32.667
And the SEC
looked for office space.
01:16:32.700 --> 01:16:35.267
And they determined
to rent lease space
01:16:35.300 --> 01:16:36.367
in the Woolworth Building
01:16:36.400 --> 01:16:38.300
a block and a half
from Ground Zero.
01:16:38.333 --> 01:16:41.000
And what we saw
made us uncomfortable,
01:16:41.033 --> 01:16:43.433
because the offices
at the Woolworth Building
01:16:43.467 --> 01:16:46.200
had floating
yellow visible smoke.
01:16:46.233 --> 01:16:48.233
If you look at the photographs
from that day,
01:16:48.267 --> 01:16:51.600
you\'ll see
that this 57-story skyscraper
01:16:51.633 --> 01:16:56.367
is enveloped in the black cloud
almost to the very top.
01:16:56.400 --> 01:16:58.800
Immediately after going to work
at the Woolworth Building,
01:16:58.833 --> 01:17:02.467
I fell ill, and most
of my colleagues fell ill.
01:17:02.500 --> 01:17:05.433
CAT scans now show that I have
permanent lung damage.
01:17:05.467 --> 01:17:07.033
And I will carry,
to some extent,
01:17:07.067 --> 01:17:11.400
scars of this on my lungs
for the rest of my life.
01:17:11.433 --> 01:17:14.033
The issue of government
irresponsibility here
01:17:14.067 --> 01:17:16.833
is perhaps exposed
most painfully
01:17:16.867 --> 01:17:20.400
with regard to the firefighters
of New York City.
01:17:20.433 --> 01:17:25.367
These people
rode their fire trucks
01:17:25.400 --> 01:17:28.300
down to these
burning skyscrapers.
01:17:28.333 --> 01:17:29.800
They gave their lives
by the hundreds
01:17:29.833 --> 01:17:31.600
without looking back.
01:17:31.633 --> 01:17:34.167
And when the trucks came back
to the firehouses,
01:17:34.200 --> 01:17:37.567
they were no longer
full of firefighters,
01:17:37.600 --> 01:17:40.200
because hundreds of them
were dead.
01:17:40.233 --> 01:17:42.767
Instead, the trucks
were filled with asbestos.
01:17:46.400 --> 01:17:48.800
(Kupferman) They came up with
some legal reason -
01:17:48.833 --> 01:17:51.167
they disallowed
the firehouses to be cleaned up
01:17:51.200 --> 01:17:53.633
\'cause they claimed
it wasn\'t just purely a residence.
01:17:53.667 --> 01:17:57.167
It was a workplace
and a residence.
01:17:57.200 --> 01:17:59.667
(Darling) The official version
of the 9/11 science
01:17:59.700 --> 01:18:02.800
has become
complicated to maintain.
01:18:02.833 --> 01:18:06.900
In 2006, a 35-year-old
police detective died.
01:18:06.933 --> 01:18:10.267
A medical examiner ruled
his death a direct result
01:18:10.300 --> 01:18:12.800
of World Trade Center dust.
01:18:12.833 --> 01:18:18.200
But neither Mayors Giuliani
or Bloomberg buy those results.
01:18:18.233 --> 01:18:20.700
Federal officials
declined to be interviewed,
01:18:20.733 --> 01:18:22.533
citing pending lawsuits.
01:18:22.567 --> 01:18:25.567
Former EPA chief
Christy Todd Whitman
01:18:25.600 --> 01:18:30.000
told Congress that she based
her actions on professional advice.
01:18:30.033 --> 01:18:31.700
The most direct
White House response
01:18:31.733 --> 01:18:33.533
to the Inspector General\'s report
01:18:33.567 --> 01:18:37.500
was to give early retirement
to her top 30 investigators
01:18:37.533 --> 01:18:43.000
and close the public libraries
where EPA documents are stored.
01:18:43.033 --> 01:18:46.233
President Bush also granted
the EPA administrator
01:18:46.267 --> 01:18:52.133
authority to classify
the agency\'s information as secret.
01:18:52.167 --> 01:18:55.133
(Herbert) We\'ve seen more than 8,000 people
here at Mount Sinai
01:18:55.167 --> 01:18:56.833
in our screening program.
01:18:56.867 --> 01:19:02.733
And I\'m always troubled
when politics trumps public health
01:19:02.767 --> 01:19:05.667
and trumps interpretation
of scientific data.
01:19:05.700 --> 01:19:09.200
And I think that that\'s
what happened in this case.
01:19:09.233 --> 01:19:13.700
And it\'s likely to cause
some people their lives.
01:19:16.067 --> 01:19:20.700
(Dahl) January of \'03,
I was diagnosed with cancer,
01:19:20.733 --> 01:19:22.767
synovial sarcoma of the neck,
01:19:22.800 --> 01:19:23.967
hypopharynx,
01:19:24.000 --> 01:19:27.800
very rare type of sarcoma.
01:19:27.833 --> 01:19:29.833
I sat down with the union leader
01:19:29.867 --> 01:19:31.833
from our local
and Dr. Kelly,
01:19:31.867 --> 01:19:35.167
the chief medical officer
from the fire department,
01:19:35.200 --> 01:19:36.900
and said, \"I got this cancer.
01:19:36.933 --> 01:19:39.200
You know, we feel
it\'s from 9/11.\"
01:19:39.233 --> 01:19:44.367
And, you know, she could neither
agree or disagree with that.
01:19:44.400 --> 01:19:46.533
But she said,
\"Well, if you claim this
01:19:46.567 --> 01:19:49.100
\"as a 9/11-related injury
01:19:49.133 --> 01:19:50.900
\"and try to put it
through compensation
01:19:50.933 --> 01:19:53.600
\"because of the type
of cancer it is,
01:19:53.633 --> 01:19:55.600
\"by the time
they do something for you,
01:19:55.633 --> 01:19:58.967
you\'ll probably be dead.\"
01:19:59.000 --> 01:20:00.600
(Gleason)
President was on TV and said,
01:20:00.633 --> 01:20:02.433
\"All emergency workers
in the city of New York,
01:20:02.467 --> 01:20:04.467
report to work.\"
01:20:04.500 --> 01:20:05.933
It wasn\'t the governor.
01:20:05.967 --> 01:20:07.667
It wasn\'t the chief
of the department.
01:20:07.700 --> 01:20:09.333
It was the President
of the United States
01:20:09.367 --> 01:20:11.567
called us back to work
01:20:11.600 --> 01:20:15.000
and said we needed to step up.
01:20:15.033 --> 01:20:16.033
And we did.
01:20:16.067 --> 01:20:19.433
They called us heroes
on that day.
01:20:19.467 --> 01:20:20.600
And they praised us.
01:20:20.633 --> 01:20:22.500
And all the politicians
came down,
01:20:22.533 --> 01:20:24.233
and they said,
\"We will never forget.
01:20:24.267 --> 01:20:25.400
\"This was a tragedy.
01:20:25.433 --> 01:20:27.000
We\'re going
to take care of the people.\"
01:20:27.033 --> 01:20:28.433
And yet where are they now?
01:20:28.467 --> 01:20:32.100
Since I started
claiming this stuff,
01:20:32.133 --> 01:20:34.867
I\'ve run into more red tape
and obstacles
01:20:34.900 --> 01:20:37.300
than I care to really discuss.
01:20:37.333 --> 01:20:40.700
And I think back to when
the President of our country
01:20:40.733 --> 01:20:42.800
was standing there
on the pile saying,
01:20:42.833 --> 01:20:44.567
\"We\'re going
to take care of this.
01:20:44.600 --> 01:20:46.100
\"There\'s going to be
no red tape.
01:20:46.133 --> 01:20:47.700
\"We\'re going
to take care of everything.
01:20:47.733 --> 01:20:49.267
Everybody\'s going to be
taken care of.\"
01:20:49.300 --> 01:20:50.600
Well, guess what.
01:20:50.633 --> 01:20:52.500
We\'re not being taken care of.
01:20:58.133 --> 01:20:59.967
(man)
This is a public health tragedy,
01:21:00.067 --> 01:21:02.600
and it could\'ve been prevented.
01:21:02.633 --> 01:21:06.000
And the thousands of people
who were heroes, you know,
01:21:06.033 --> 01:21:08.733
have become martyrs.
01:21:14.300 --> 01:21:15.700
(Darling)
Would this be happening
01:21:15.733 --> 01:21:18.400
if the White House
had followed established rules
01:21:18.433 --> 01:21:22.000
for toxic hazards
at a downed building?
01:21:22.033 --> 01:21:23.800
The fact is, they didn\'t,
01:21:23.833 --> 01:21:25.767
nor did the executive branch
01:21:25.800 --> 01:21:28.500
observe the scientific rules
in Wyoming
01:21:28.533 --> 01:21:29.733
or on the Klamath
01:21:29.767 --> 01:21:32.733
or even on my snowmobile.
01:21:32.767 --> 01:21:36.100
What\'s the purpose
of this deregulation?
01:21:36.133 --> 01:21:38.400
Who does it serve?
01:21:38.433 --> 01:21:39.933
(Bryce)
It\'s always been a tug-of-war
01:21:39.967 --> 01:21:42.033
between how much regulation
is too much
01:21:42.067 --> 01:21:43.500
and how much is too little?
01:21:43.533 --> 01:21:46.367
What is the effect
of too little regulation?
01:21:46.400 --> 01:21:48.433
It\'s catastrophic.
01:21:48.467 --> 01:21:51.067
It\'s not just a little bit
of damage is done.
01:21:51.100 --> 01:21:53.100
A lot of damage is done.
01:21:55.133 --> 01:21:58.567
(Darling) I\'ve learned a lot on this trip
across America,
01:21:58.600 --> 01:22:01.600
but I still haven\'t figured out
why President Bush
01:22:01.633 --> 01:22:04.467
resurrected the two-stroke
snowmobile engine.
01:22:04.500 --> 01:22:07.700
And there\'s only
one place left to try,
01:22:07.733 --> 01:22:09.400
Washington, D.C.
01:22:09.433 --> 01:22:10.900
(man)
♪ More and more. ♪
01:22:10.933 --> 01:22:13.200
♪ They always want a little more
than they got. ♪
01:22:13.233 --> 01:22:15.200
♪ Never take a little
when they always take a lot. ♪
01:22:15.233 --> 01:22:17.267
♪ Get it, and they want more
\'cause they never stop. ♪
01:22:17.300 --> 01:22:19.767
(Darling)
But where do I find the clues?
01:22:19.800 --> 01:22:23.667
At the White House,
with people involved in what I\'ve seen?
01:22:23.700 --> 01:22:25.067
[phone line trilling]
01:22:25.100 --> 01:22:28.400
The case of Karl Rove
would be illustrative.
01:22:28.433 --> 01:22:30.333
(man) White House Office
of Media Affairs.
01:22:30.367 --> 01:22:34.067
(Darling) Hi, I sent a couple of faxes
to request interviews
01:22:34.100 --> 01:22:36.333
with Karl Rove.
01:22:36.367 --> 01:22:37.900
Karl was kind of busy.
01:22:37.933 --> 01:22:41.000
And I don\'t think it helped
that they said they lost my fax.
01:22:43.233 --> 01:22:44.600
But in some ways,
01:22:44.633 --> 01:22:47.367
the refusal by all these
Bush administration appointees
01:22:47.400 --> 01:22:51.667
to grant an interview
kind of did me a favor.
01:22:51.700 --> 01:22:55.000
With my questions about
the snowmobile still unanswered,
01:22:55.033 --> 01:22:57.667
I finally figured it out.
01:22:57.700 --> 01:23:01.167
To get around
these Washington barricades,
01:23:01.200 --> 01:23:03.833
I needed a lobbyist.
01:23:03.867 --> 01:23:05.133
I headed for K Street.
01:23:05.167 --> 01:23:07.167
(Brengel) This is kind of like
the action shot.
01:23:07.200 --> 01:23:09.233
(Darling) First one that would
actually talk to me
01:23:09.267 --> 01:23:13.100
was Kristen Brengel
from the Wilderness Society.
01:23:13.133 --> 01:23:15.867
She lobbies against snowmobiles
in Yellowstone
01:23:15.900 --> 01:23:18.367
and against
the two-stroke engine.
01:23:18.400 --> 01:23:20.700
And she told me
about her fellow lobbyist
01:23:20.733 --> 01:23:23.933
on the other side
of the table, Bill Horn.
01:23:23.967 --> 01:23:27.167
(Brengel) The lobbyist who works
on snowmobile issues, Bill Horn,
01:23:27.200 --> 01:23:30.467
he\'s a former Assistant Secretary
of the Interior,
01:23:30.500 --> 01:23:33.300
works for a very large
law firm in town.
01:23:33.333 --> 01:23:36.000
(Darling) I called Bill,
and he agreed to meet me.
01:23:36.033 --> 01:23:39.733
After 3,000 miles of driving,
pondering the question
01:23:39.767 --> 01:23:42.533
of why these snowmobile rules
got changed,
01:23:42.567 --> 01:23:45.267
to find this guy
and actually meet him
01:23:45.300 --> 01:23:47.667
kind of made me nervous.
01:23:47.700 --> 01:23:50.533
But finally,
I was getting somewhere.
01:23:50.567 --> 01:23:51.767
(Horn)
Name is Bill Horn,
01:23:51.800 --> 01:23:57.133
represent the International Snowmobile
Manufacturers Association.
01:23:57.167 --> 01:23:59.933
Kind of vaulted
into public attention
01:23:59.967 --> 01:24:01.333
when the Clinton administration
01:24:01.367 --> 01:24:04.300
essentially declared war
on the snowmobile community.
01:24:04.333 --> 01:24:06.867
And the industry
immediately filed suit
01:24:06.900 --> 01:24:09.467
in U.S. District Court
in Wyoming.
01:24:09.500 --> 01:24:10.567
This obviously showed up
01:24:10.600 --> 01:24:12.200
on the secretary\'s
radar screen as well.
01:24:12.233 --> 01:24:15.433
The Secretary of the Interior
used to work for him.
01:24:15.467 --> 01:24:17.367
And they go way back.
01:24:17.400 --> 01:24:20.233
Well, I had known the secretary
and some of the other folks
01:24:20.267 --> 01:24:22.333
from, you know, my days
having worked there before,
01:24:22.367 --> 01:24:25.433
and because much of my practice
has always revolved around
01:24:25.467 --> 01:24:28.600
public land and Park Service
and Interior Department issues,
01:24:28.633 --> 01:24:32.433
know the folks there from, you know,
down in the career ranks all the way up.
01:24:32.467 --> 01:24:37.767
(Brengel) And it\'s a wonder how this
very small, narrowly focused industry
01:24:37.800 --> 01:24:42.000
has got some unparalleled access
to this administration.
01:24:42.033 --> 01:24:45.733
(Darling) No doubt, the inside track
with the cabinet secretary
01:24:45.767 --> 01:24:47.733
didn\'t hurt Bill Horn\'s efforts.
01:24:47.767 --> 01:24:49.733
But the real stroke of genius
01:24:49.767 --> 01:24:52.533
may have been
Karl Rove\'s depreciation
01:24:52.567 --> 01:24:55.567
of grassroots organizations.
01:24:55.600 --> 01:24:59.333
(Horn) One of the reasons that
the snowmobile manufacturers
01:24:59.367 --> 01:25:00.700
have been effective has been,
01:25:00.733 --> 01:25:03.867
there\'s a wonderful
working relationship
01:25:03.900 --> 01:25:06.000
with the enthusiasts,
the user community,
01:25:06.033 --> 01:25:08.667
the folks who purchase
the product.
01:25:08.700 --> 01:25:10.600
The industry is very powerful,
01:25:10.633 --> 01:25:12.600
not only
in campaign contributions,
01:25:12.633 --> 01:25:15.833
but also \'cause
they set up a users\' group.
01:25:15.867 --> 01:25:17.233
(Darling)
Rove liked these groups
01:25:17.267 --> 01:25:20.733
but needed a way
to concentrate their impact.
01:25:20.767 --> 01:25:23.367
(Wallsten) There has been
a meticulous process,
01:25:23.400 --> 01:25:26.233
where the Republicans
have painstakingly constructed
01:25:26.267 --> 01:25:27.767
a series of advantages.
01:25:27.800 --> 01:25:29.333
(Darling)
Before 2006,
01:25:29.367 --> 01:25:31.933
conventional wisdom
in Washington was in awe
01:25:31.967 --> 01:25:33.500
of Republican advantages.
01:25:33.533 --> 01:25:36.633
They have
a stronger voter database.
01:25:36.667 --> 01:25:38.700
(Darling)
Then, in the 2006 election,
01:25:38.733 --> 01:25:42.500
Hamburger and Wallsten
made an important discovery:
01:25:42.533 --> 01:25:44.633
the Voter Vault.
01:25:44.667 --> 01:25:46.800
Karl Rove\'s computer team
had found a way
01:25:46.833 --> 01:25:51.167
to target individual voters
based on their shopping habits.
01:25:51.200 --> 01:25:52.633
Dubbed the \"Voter Vault,\"
01:25:52.667 --> 01:25:56.600
it uses data from credit card purchases
and product warranties
01:25:56.633 --> 01:25:58.767
to target
individual snowmobilers
01:25:58.800 --> 01:26:01.733
in desirable precincts.
01:26:01.767 --> 01:26:03.467
What matters most on this list
01:26:03.500 --> 01:26:06.267
is where the voter lives.
01:26:06.300 --> 01:26:08.733
Swing voters
who own snowmobiles,
01:26:08.767 --> 01:26:12.933
well, their addresses
became a hot commodity
01:26:12.967 --> 01:26:16.667
in competitive states
like Michigan.
01:26:16.700 --> 01:26:21.133
Turns out, I was the target
of one of those appeals too.
01:26:21.167 --> 01:26:25.000
I\'m on the Michigan Snowmobile
Association mailing list,
01:26:25.033 --> 01:26:27.000
and during the fall campaign,
01:26:27.033 --> 01:26:32.367
I got this letter pointing out
the importance of politics.
01:26:32.400 --> 01:26:35.367
You\'re assembling 51%
of the votes in a certain context,
01:26:35.400 --> 01:26:39.800
and you\'ve got 51 interests
all bringing 1% to the party.
01:26:39.833 --> 01:26:42.633
Which one was the pivotal one
that gave you the 51%?
01:26:42.667 --> 01:26:43.933
You can bet your dollars
01:26:43.967 --> 01:26:46.233
that every one of those 51
is volunteering,
01:26:46.267 --> 01:26:49.333
\"I\'m the one who put you over the top,
so you really owe me.\"
01:26:49.367 --> 01:26:50.367
I mean, um...
01:26:52.567 --> 01:26:54.200
(Darling)
Kind of genius.
01:26:54.233 --> 01:26:57.333
Polarized voters
are easier to manipulate.
01:26:57.367 --> 01:27:01.400
So the industry invents
a nonexistent right to ride.
01:27:01.433 --> 01:27:03.533
The user groups promote panic,
01:27:03.567 --> 01:27:06.867
while the manufacturers
turn their customers\' contact data
01:27:06.900 --> 01:27:08.400
over to the White House
01:27:08.433 --> 01:27:10.467
in exchange
for regulatory favors,
01:27:10.500 --> 01:27:13.633
like resurrecting
the smoky two-stroke.
01:27:13.667 --> 01:27:16.767
(Hamburger) Reaching this deep
into executive branch agencies
01:27:16.800 --> 01:27:20.500
to make decisions
that affect specific industries
01:27:20.533 --> 01:27:22.533
at this level is new.
01:27:22.567 --> 01:27:24.367
It\'s different
than we\'ve seen historically.
01:27:24.400 --> 01:27:28.833
And it\'s very much related
to Rove\'s vision
01:27:28.867 --> 01:27:30.967
of using the powers
and the apparatus
01:27:31.000 --> 01:27:33.567
of the federal government
to mobilize voter support.
01:27:36.300 --> 01:27:40.833
(Darling) That\'s why the snowmobile rules
got changed so fast.
01:27:40.867 --> 01:27:42.800
He didn\'t buy the science.
01:27:42.833 --> 01:27:45.300
He bought the votes.
01:27:45.333 --> 01:27:48.000
(Horn) Every interest group
in this country,
01:27:48.033 --> 01:27:51.533
every one that\'s got issues
involving Washington, D.C.,
01:27:51.567 --> 01:27:54.767
knows full well
that they need to be active.
01:27:54.800 --> 01:27:56.433
They need to be well organized.
01:27:56.467 --> 01:27:58.267
They need to make
their voice heard.
01:27:58.300 --> 01:28:00.667
And if you just
sit back and expect
01:28:00.700 --> 01:28:03.600
just somebody in elected office
or an appointed office
01:28:03.633 --> 01:28:06.967
to do the right thing
and act on your behalf,
01:28:07.000 --> 01:28:08.867
I think you\'re going
to wait a long time.
01:28:08.900 --> 01:28:10.533
You know,
as we talked earlier, you know,
01:28:10.567 --> 01:28:12.767
the world belongs
to those who show up.
01:28:15.033 --> 01:28:17.467
(Darling) Data mining
and regulatory favors
01:28:17.500 --> 01:28:21.233
combine to deliver a small
yet cohesive block of votes
01:28:21.267 --> 01:28:24.633
with brutal efficiency.
01:28:24.667 --> 01:28:27.167
Here\'s the recipe
for the political advantage
01:28:27.200 --> 01:28:30.567
they cooked up
in each place I visited.
01:28:30.600 --> 01:28:32.800
First, suppress the science,
01:28:32.833 --> 01:28:36.733
because if there is no data,
then there is no problem.
01:28:36.767 --> 01:28:39.033
Use the wrong microscope
in New York.
01:28:39.067 --> 01:28:41.133
Ignore the biologists
on the Klamath.
01:28:41.167 --> 01:28:44.133
Ditch the water quality
requirement in Wyoming.
01:28:44.167 --> 01:28:46.633
Toss the smog check
of the two-stroke.
01:28:46.667 --> 01:28:50.533
Each of these acts
removed the public\'s safeguard.
01:28:50.567 --> 01:28:52.900
Second, build political favors
01:28:52.933 --> 01:28:54.833
right into
government regulations
01:28:54.867 --> 01:28:57.200
with cost-benefit analysis,
01:28:57.233 --> 01:28:58.400
because in this method,
01:28:58.433 --> 01:29:01.233
corporate profits
outweigh science.
01:29:01.267 --> 01:29:02.833
And to make it sound legitimate,
01:29:02.867 --> 01:29:06.233
political appointees
at prestigious advisory groups
01:29:06.267 --> 01:29:08.167
vouch for the new rules.
01:29:08.200 --> 01:29:11.400
Bill Horn, chief lobbyist
for the snowmobile industry,
01:29:11.433 --> 01:29:14.033
now sits on
the National Academy of Science.
01:29:14.067 --> 01:29:16.767
(Darling)
Do you have scientific degrees?
01:29:16.800 --> 01:29:19.900
No, they invited me to join
a little over a year ago,
01:29:19.933 --> 01:29:24.767
and, you know, I sort of asked
the guy, I said, \"Me?\"
01:29:24.800 --> 01:29:26.233
(Darling)
And three,
01:29:26.267 --> 01:29:28.300
commercialize public resources.
01:29:28.333 --> 01:29:31.067
On a grand scale,
the Bush White House
01:29:31.100 --> 01:29:34.467
traded the public\'s land,
air, and water
01:29:34.500 --> 01:29:38.733
for key blocks of votes
and the loyalty of big business.
01:29:38.767 --> 01:29:42.533
Small wonder then that the number
of lobbyists in Washington, D.C.,
01:29:42.567 --> 01:29:44.600
doubled in the first six years
01:29:44.633 --> 01:29:47.433
of George W. Bush.
01:29:47.467 --> 01:29:49.567
(Hamburger) Of course,
it\'s always been political,
01:29:49.600 --> 01:29:52.833
but there has been a change,
a noticeable change,
01:29:52.867 --> 01:29:55.300
and one that damages
the functioning
01:29:55.333 --> 01:29:58.233
of the executive branch
and independent agencies
01:29:58.267 --> 01:30:03.367
that we depend on
for public health and safety.
01:30:03.400 --> 01:30:04.800
(Darling)
I got to go home.
01:30:04.833 --> 01:30:06.933
Yes, you do.
01:30:14.633 --> 01:30:18.500
(Darling) While my Sindy only modestly
hastens the Earth to warm,
01:30:18.533 --> 01:30:22.767
cross-country skiers to cough,
and buffalo to run,
01:30:22.800 --> 01:30:27.400
it was the other people
on this trip who really lost out.
01:30:27.433 --> 01:30:30.967
Less regulation didn\'t mean
more freedom for them.
01:30:31.000 --> 01:30:35.700
Their experience unravels
the myth of deregulation.
01:30:35.733 --> 01:30:38.433
Some corporation
got the benefit,
01:30:38.467 --> 01:30:41.433
and science and the public
paid the cost.
01:30:45.233 --> 01:30:47.800
The history of American
democratic capitalism
01:30:47.833 --> 01:30:52.367
is always the fight between
the strict laissez-faire side
01:30:52.400 --> 01:30:55.467
and the strict regulation side.
01:30:55.500 --> 01:30:58.633
So the problem under
George W. Bush has been
01:30:58.667 --> 01:31:01.167
that, essentially,
it\'s the Wild West
01:31:01.200 --> 01:31:02.200
for a lot of corporations.
01:31:02.233 --> 01:31:03.833
They\'re doing as they like.
01:31:03.867 --> 01:31:06.200
Business is essential
for democracy,
01:31:06.233 --> 01:31:08.533
but if business
isn\'t restrained,
01:31:08.567 --> 01:31:10.933
we go from democracy to fascism.
01:31:10.967 --> 01:31:13.800
And that\'s the danger
we face now.
01:31:20.267 --> 01:31:24.567
(Darling) This trip also brings me
a dilemma of historic magnitude.
01:31:24.600 --> 01:31:26.600
What am I going to do
with Sindy,
01:31:26.633 --> 01:31:30.833
my snowy desire gone bad?
01:31:30.867 --> 01:31:33.133
I could put her out to pasture.
01:31:33.167 --> 01:31:35.967
Nah, she probably
won\'t burn grass.
01:31:36.000 --> 01:31:42.433
Or maybe I could build her into
a monument in Crawford, Texas.
01:31:42.467 --> 01:31:43.733
Nah.
01:31:43.767 --> 01:31:45.600
People here,
they\'ve already suffered
01:31:45.633 --> 01:31:47.633
enough media exposure,
01:31:47.667 --> 01:31:53.367
used as backdrop for eight years\' worth
of presidential vacations.
01:31:53.400 --> 01:31:55.100
It wouldn\'t be right
to just dump Sindy
01:31:55.133 --> 01:31:56.667
on the side of the road.
01:31:56.700 --> 01:31:59.367
So I guess I\'ll head back
to California.
01:32:02.833 --> 01:32:06.400
This is the end of the trail
for Sindy.
01:32:06.433 --> 01:32:09.533
Washington may have balked
at removing two-stroke engines
01:32:09.567 --> 01:32:12.367
from jet skis, ATVs,
and motorbikes,
01:32:12.400 --> 01:32:16.300
but that doesn\'t prevent us
from doing it on our own.
01:32:16.333 --> 01:32:20.167
Yeah, hi, I\'d like to know
if you recycle old engines.
01:32:20.200 --> 01:32:23.067
I\'ve got a two-stroke
snowmobile engine
01:32:23.100 --> 01:32:25.467
I\'d like to take someplace
and, you know -
01:32:25.500 --> 01:32:26.500
You do recycling?
01:32:26.533 --> 01:32:27.533
That\'s great.
01:32:27.567 --> 01:32:28.933
Um, so now...
01:32:28.967 --> 01:32:32.567
But recycling alone
will not save our environment.
01:32:32.600 --> 01:32:34.333
That takes political will,
01:32:34.367 --> 01:32:37.667
probably built
from the ground up.
01:32:37.700 --> 01:32:41.233
Deregulation may have been
their top domestic priority.
01:32:41.267 --> 01:32:44.767
Certainly, until their wave
of deregulation is reversed,
01:32:44.800 --> 01:32:49.733
this man\'s presidency
will live on.
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 94 minutes
Date: 2008
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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