As President Bush tours the country touting progress in our bid to discover alternative sources of energy, he is criticized by environmental groups for not going far enough. They urge the administration to consider greater fuel—efficiency standards for cars and increases in the car gas tax to force consumers to alter their driving habits.

This betrays their socialist mindset which seeks to use government to control economic activity as well as people's behavioral patterns. I have previously touched on how this mindset operates, drawing on my experience of socialism and showing how unrepentant communists like Gorbachev have become ardent environmentalists in the post Soviet era.

Never fall for environmentalists' rhetoric but look at the consequences of their actions — which are always to expand, in one way or another, the State, in order to control some aspect of society. The efforts of environmental activists are not about the environment, but about increasing governmental power. The environment is but an excuse.

Vasko Kohlmayer   2 21 06