The morning after the elections, Carl Pope and Deb Callahan, heads of the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters respectively, held a jubilant conference call with the press: “The message from yesterday’s election comes down to two words – environment wins. Voters supported those committed to protecting our environment,” began Callahan. “The nation’s […]
Politics
Posted inOctober 28, 1996: Has big money doomed direct democracy?
Has big money doomed direct democracy?
The history of initiatives is the history of the rise and fall of contentment with, and trust in, representative government.
Posted inOctober 28, 1996: Has big money doomed direct democracy?
How citizens make laws
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. * An initiative is a proposed law or resolution placed on the ballot as the result of a petition drive among registered voters. It is then voted on by the electorate. * A referendum is a decision by the legislature that is put to […]
Posted inOctober 28, 1996: Has big money doomed direct democracy?
Should city slickers dictate to trappers?
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this essay appears as a sidebar to a feature article, “Western hunters debate ethics tooth and claw.” Editor’s note: Under the banner of People Allied With Wildlife, more than 1,000 volunteers fanned out across Colorado earlier this year to drum up support for a constitutional amendment that […]
Posted inOctober 28, 1996: Has big money doomed direct democracy?
She works to save the past
Longtime HCN subscriber Ann Phillips finds herself drawn time and again back to a place that many experience as timeless: southeastern Utah. There, with one hand, she tries to record archaeological sites before they vanish; with the other, she works to prevent them from vanishing. The educational consultant turned archaeologist came through Paonia recently with […]
Posted inOctober 28, 1996: Has big money doomed direct democracy?
Congress’ 11th-hour moment of maturity…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the end, and just barely, the Congress of the United States decided to act like grown-ups, creating or expanding about 100 pieces of national parkland around the country, as they intended. But because so many of its members had acted like children, they also “passed’ – well, they caused to be […]
Posted inOctober 28, 1996: Has big money doomed direct democracy?
… comes after two years of arrested development
You might call the 104th Congress a roller-coaster ride for environmental legislation: Conservative Republicans began by attempting to weaken or dismantle many of the nation’s strongest environmental laws, attaching many of their proposals as “riders” on the backs of appropriations bills. But the Congress concluded by rejecting virtually all of the more radical measures, and […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Nevada: Who hates nuclear waste most?
Nevada’s two congressional districts seem a lot like Mutt and Jeff: Covering two-tenths of 1 percent of the state’s land mass but containing half its population, the 1st Congressional District encompasses Las Vegas. The other 99.8 percent of the state is the 2nd Congressional District. In a tight race for the Las Vegas seat are […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Brown air could lead to greener state politics
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. Even though Republican Gov. Fife Symington is facing a trial next March for bank fraud, Arizona Republicans say they don’t anticipate a backlash in the upcoming elections. Of the six U.S. House seats now held by Republicans, only the 6th District seat is competitive. Republicans […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Moderates may gain in most conservative state
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. The Idaho Legislature – considered the most conservative assembly in the West – probably won’t change too dramatically this election. Democrats are hoping to double their seats, but even if they do, they’ll still hold barely a third of the Senate and less than half […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
A green state could return to its roots
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. With the possibility of winning another U.S. Senate seat and four out of five House seats, no other state in the West holds greater promise for Democrats than Oregon. Democrats won an early victory in the state last January, when Ron Wyden defeated Republican Gordon […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Greens prune their message to win the West’s voters
The glow from his laptop computer turns the young man’s face pale green. On the screen is a labyrinthine database: street names, women’s ages, voting records. The bearded activist says that this technology could change the outcome of many of the West’s elections. “First we took the member lists for the environmental groups in the […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Indian gamblers target green lawmakers
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. It’s not sagebrush rebels who have environmentalists and their candidates on the run in New Mexico this election – it’s Native American gambling interests. Angered by the state Legislature’s refusal to sign gaming compacts, some tribes have thrown considerable resources into campaigns to defeat key […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Colorado’s status quo holds firm
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. Other than the showdown between Strickland and Allard, most of Colorado’s congressional races are all but over, according to most analysts. The 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Pat Schroeder will likely remain in the hands of a liberal Democrat and a woman […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Public-lands issues loom large in November
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. A hot election issue this year in Wyoming is the fate of the state’s 3.6 million-acre school trust lands, which generate money for the public school system. The Legislature approved the sale of some 35,000 acres in 1995, despite well-attended protests. Primary results show little […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Colorado: Environment wielded like a hammer in tight Senate race
To hear the candidates tell it, the U.S. Senate race in Colorado is between two guys named “Strickland-the-Lobbyist” and “Allard-Gingrich.” “Allard-Gingrich” votes with the Republican congressional leadership 92 percent of the time, generally to dehydrate rivers, clear-cut forests and sell public lands to private developers. “Strickland-the-Lobbyist” talks pretty green, but has been paid quite well […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
The body politic may edge to the left
WASHINGTON, D.C. – If only they had as much imagination as gamblers, politicians here could be singing the lament of Harry the Horse and Nicely Nicely in “Guys and Dolls”: “Where’s the action? Where’s the game? Gotta have the game or we’ll die from shame.” There’s supposed to be a game going on here. The […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Utah: A liberal wilderness lover may prevail
Until Enid Greene Waldholtz’s nationally televised five-hour cry-a-thon about her no-good husband Joe, Utah’s 2nd Congressional District race didn’t look to be the battleground it’s become. But when Republican Waldholtz dropped out of her re-election race because of the soap opera-like disintegration of her marriage, it opened the door for one of Utah’s most colorful […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
A “down time” for Utah environmentalists
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. With the possible exception of Democrat Ross Anderson, Utah won’t field many surprises this November. The state’s lone Democrat, Rep. Bill Orton, is expected to hold on to his seat in the 3rd Congressional District, even though Democrats fare poorly in Utah. Polls show Orton’s […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
A conservative legislature may move to the middle
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. When the Montana Legislature last met in 1995 (they meet every other year), the Republican majority weakened many environmental laws, including water quality regulations that protected the state’s clear streams and rivers. “They (the Republican legislature) angered every demographic group for one reason or another,” […]