Quote Unquote - Abstract

Sierra, Sept, 2000

"Foreign secret services ... very actively use all sorts of ecological organizations. This is why such organizations will always be the focus of our attention."

--Vladimir Putin, then-chief of the Federal Security Service (formerly the KGB) and now Russia's president, in July 1999. In recent years, Russian whistleblowers have repeatedly embarrassed the military and its client industries with disclosures of environmental hazards.

"Environmentally friendly cars will soon cease to be optional."

--Fujio Cho, president of Toyota, when asked about increasing environmental regulation worldwide and technological advances such as the development of hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, in an interview reported by The New York Times in March.

"George W. Bush speaking on the environment is like Joseph Stalin talking on human rights."

--Nevada Senator Harry Reid (D), in response to the Texas governor's call for "commonsense conservationism" while visiting Lake Tahoe in June. Bush's brand of conservation (he does not use the word "environment") would rely on public/private partnerships, tax credits to landowners, and repeal of the estate tax.