GOP's Earth Day

Just hours after Earth Day, George Bush took a bike ride on the Clara Burgess Trail, with views of California's Coachella Valley and Little San Bernardino Mountains. The problem: he was pedaling through prime sheep-mating turf:

Jim Foote, acting manager of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, said the Clara Burgess trail is also among those monument managers ask people to avoid part of the year to prevent disrupting endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep.

The trail is one of about 10 in the monument under a "voluntary avoidance" program. People are asked to stay off the Clara Burgess trail from Jan. 1 to June 30 during the sheep lambing season, he said.

It was uncertain Sunday night if White House organizers accompanying President Bush knew about the "voluntary avoidance" program.

More Earth Day fun! The House Resources Committee's Earth Day website must've taken content cues from the Republican majority: decrying "'sky is falling' sensationalism of environmental activists [that] lead people to falsely believe that our environment is getting worse when it's actually getting better," the taxpayer-funded site includes a section on "big business," which isn't about how corporations are working to improve the environment, but derides key environmental organizations for the salaries their execs receive. And, oh yes, there's more.