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,

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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.

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So with hydrocarbons,
we had an average of 13,140.

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Yeah.

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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.

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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.

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(Darling) I\'d hitch up
the snowmobile trailer

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and drive across America.

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I\'d go look
for other rule changes,

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and I\'d figure out
why President Bush

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brought back the two-stroke

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even if I had to drive all
the way back to Washington, D.C.

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[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

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when he changed
that snowmobile regulation?

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A little predeparture research
turned up the following facts:

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A new snowmobile
stock off the showroom floor

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goes 120 miles per hour.

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Decapitation is one
of the leading causes of death

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on a snowmobile.

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And the only nearby expert
on snowmobiles

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lives in San Francisco.

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So my journey to find out
answers will start here.

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1.6 million snowmobiles
registered in the U.S.

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New snowmobile:
$8,000.

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U.S. sales:
about $1 billion a year.

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Snowmobile industry,

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1/4 the size
of the bicycle industry.

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Not exactly General Motors
calling in favors.

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So how could snowmobiles
influence national policy?

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Once in San Francisco,
I went to see Sean Smith.

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He works for an organization
called The Blue Water Network.

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(Smith) You can drive a modern
automobile about 100,000 miles

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and produce
the same amount of pollution

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as driving
this machine for a day.

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So you\'re talking -

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a lot of pollution\'s
coming out of these machines.

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(Darling) I don\'t think Sean
likes my snowmobile.

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He griped that two-stroke
snowmobile engines like mine

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had been scheduled
for phase out starting in 2000.

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And when
the Bush Administration came in,

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they loosened
and relaxed those standards

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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.

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Secondly, we\'re meeting
new air quality standards

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by fixing some old regulations
that weren\'t working very well.

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I think they\'re going to find

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there\'s going to be
less regulation...

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less regulation burdening them.

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(Darling) What was it
about the two-stroke

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that the previous regulations
wanted to cure anyway?

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(Smith) A two-stroke engine has a piston
that will go up and down.

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And there\'s only two strokes
in a complete revolution.

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So the fuel comes in
to the chamber,

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but at the same time,
the exhaust is being allowed

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to come out as well.

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So up to 1/3
of that fuel that goes in

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also goes out with the exhaust.

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Now, unlike your automobile;

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that has four complete
movements of the piston.

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So when you\'re getting
the fuel injected,

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you\'re not having the exhaust
at the same time.

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We\'re just basically saying,

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you should put
the cleanest types of engines

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on the market now
into your machines.

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And we know they can do it

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because of the Clean
Snowmobile Challenge,

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which is held every year.

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This is college
engineering students

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that spend
a couple hundred bucks

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and convert current snowmobiles

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into low-polluting
high-performance machines.

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And if college students
can do it,

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surely the billion-dollar
snowmobile industry can do it.

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(Darling)
Although Sean could explain

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what a two-stroke did,

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he didn\'t have a clue
about why President Bush

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changed that rule.

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I\'ve got a lot of,
you know, theories.

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(Darling)
Theories?

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I had to go think about this.

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Why didn\'t Sean, the expert,

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know why that rule had changed?

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He gets paid
to know these things.

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Since I found no one
able to present science

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that justified
resurrecting the two-stroke,

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it seemed fair to ask,

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how legitimate
is any deregulation?

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Does deregulation
protect the public interest?

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Because the snowmobile trail
had gone cold,

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I had to look around for another
environmental rule change,

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something nearby,

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something that might reveal
some clues about deregulation.

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And sure enough,

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right there in San Francisco,

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I heard people
talk about a rule change

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that had recently hit
the fishing fleet.

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So I headed north
to check it out.

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Big changes had taken place

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up on the California/Oregon border

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on a big river called the Klamath.

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In this remote corner
of America,

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President Bush
and his top advisor, Karl Rove,

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had personally intervened
in a 100-year-old feud

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over how much water
should flow down this one river.

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Why would a thorny biological
question 100 years in the making

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be of sudden
presidential interest?

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Right here, where the Klamath
meets the Pacific Ocean,

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a guy told me that this river
produces more salmon

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than any other river
on the West Coast,

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except for the Sacramento
and the Columbia.

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(Willson) My wife said
she married a fish, you know?

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She puts up with it.

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I live right up here.

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And I was born right there.

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This fishing hole
coming up right down here

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is my great-uncle\'s
fishing hole.

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It was passed down
through the generations.

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(Darling)
Tribes like the Yurok Indians

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have lived on the river\'s fish
for centuries.

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Until the early 1900s,

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a million adult salmon
returned each fall

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to spawn in the Klamath River.

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(Fletcher)
Our fishermen,

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they have a need
for fish year-round.

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Our families
don\'t have grocery stores

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and other things
readily available

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on certain portions
of our reservation.

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We got some of
the highest unemployment rates

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and underemployment rates
in the state of California.

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(Darling) But the number of fish
on the Klamath River

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had declined sharply,
threatening the livelihood

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of both tribal
and commercial fishermen.

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Ever since
they put them dams in,

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boom, our fish population

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started dropping,
dropping, dropping, dropping.

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(Darling) The fishermen
and the Indians

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complained that these dams
had recently cut more deeply

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into their livelihoods.

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New regulations
by President Bush

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had sharpened a conflict

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with people
on the other side of those dams.

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It takes most of a day to drive
a couple hundred miles

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on the windy road
up to the source of this river

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and the home of the 200,000-acre
Klamath Irrigation Project.

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(Keppen) The Klamath Project was
constructed almost 100 years ago.

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It specifically says,

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\"We\'re going to store this water
to be beneficially applied for irrigation,\"

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which really reflected
the national conscious at the time,

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which was, \"We want to expand
and settle the West.\"

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(Darling) Settlers were offered farms
here in the high desert

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thanks to a series of dams.

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Some dams generate electricity,

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while others,
here at the river\'s source,

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divert water to this
massive irrigation project.

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(Bair) My granddad came here
from Innsbruck, Austria,

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in around 1909 because he heard
there was water and land.

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Pre-project, there wouldn\'t
have been a canal here.

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We would probably be
looking at sage brush,

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jack rabbits,
and that would\'ve been it.

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Without water,
there is no agriculture.

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(Darling)
And that\'s the rub.

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Rain and snow to fully supply
the irrigation system

00:12:47.633 --> 00:12:49.133
and the fish in the river

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only occurs three
out of every ten years.

00:12:53.933 --> 00:12:58.300
By 2001, severe drought
threatened some Klamath fish

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already on
the endangered species list.

00:13:01.333 --> 00:13:04.467
(Keppen) Basically culminated
in this disaster, 2001,

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in a critically dry year.

00:13:06.133 --> 00:13:08.567
For the first time in 97 years,

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the government said,
\"Irrigators, no water.\"

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(Bair) Emotional impacts
of the water shutoff were huge.

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Two of my board members
who went bankrupt,

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another guy
who died of a heart attack,

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who, his wife says it was due

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because of the stress
of the water crisis.

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(Darling)
Defiant farmers used chainsaws

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to open the head gates
of this irrigation canal.

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During this whole conflict,

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we didn\'t have any violence.

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And we certainly had
opportunities for that.

00:13:34.400 --> 00:13:36.600
We could just as well
have stormed those structures

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and took over management.

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(man) Let them know that
this water\'s more important

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than a little suckerfish.

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(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

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to turn down
the spigot a little bit?

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(Keppen) Right, so what have the tribes
done to ratchet back?

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What?

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Have they cut back on their
harvests or anything like that?

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(Fletcher) I think you can put a value
on a sack of potatoes.

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You can put a value
on a pound of fish.

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You can\'t put a value

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on the Yurok tribe\'s
reliance on fish.

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Ag has an opportunity
to go elsewhere.

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We don\'t.

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We can\'t.

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We aren\'t.

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(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.