Fencing a dangerous sport for Chertoff

There’s one thing the famed Homeland Security Mexican Border Fence is keeping out these days: wacky weed.
And it looks like top leaders of the Bush administration are smoking plenty of it.
What else would explain Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff’s remarks yesterday about how good for the environment hundreds of miles of fences would be between the United States and Mexico.
He said illegal immigrants sneaking into the United States through Arizona and Texas are terrible litter bugs and the billion-dollar fence will save many a desert from their candy wrappers and piles of doody.
"Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas," Chertoff said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment."
Really?
Since when has ANYONE in this administration shown so much concern for the environment that they would lose sleep over litter?
This is the administration that would rather turn the country into one giant Texas rather than slow the development of oil, gas and coal.
This is the administration that will stop at nothing in its quest to get at oil in the Alaskan wilderness.
This is the administration that gave up coyly looking the other way at giant polluters and outright fights environmentalists in court to shut them up.
This is the administration that has taken greenhouse gas cases to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to keep the government from regulating industries that may well end human life on Earth.
And now all of a sudden the Bush team is wringing its hands over stray pop cans?
Straighten out immigration laws by providing work visas and we can keep the garbage out of the desert and save taxpayers a few billions dollars by making it so people don’t have to sneak into the country.
Dave Perry is editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or dlperry@aurorasentinel.com.