Sagebrush Rebel: Reagan's Battle with Environmental Extremists and Why It Matters Today - Hardcover

Pendley, William Perry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1621571564 ISBN 13: 9781621571568

Publisher: Regnery, 2013

Synopsis

The fascinating story of how Ronald Reagan, self-proclaimed "sagebrush rebel," took his revolutionary energy policies to Washington and revitalized the American economy.

Governor Reagan, with his unbridled faith in American ingenuity, creativity, and know-how and his confidence in the free-enterprise system, believed the United States would transcend” the Soviet Union. To do so, however, President Reagan had to revive and revitalize an American economy reeling from a double-digit trifecta (unemployment, inflation, and interest rates), and he knew the economy could not grow without reliable sources of energy that America had in abundance.

The environmental movement was in its ascendancy and had persuaded Congress to enact a series of well-intentioned laws that posed threats of great mischief in the hands of covetous bureaucrats, radical groups, and activist judges. A conservationist and an environmentalist, Ronald Reagan believed in being a good steward. More than anything else, however, he believed in people; specifically, for him, people were part of the ecology as well. That was where the split developed.

William Perry Pendley, a former member of the Reagan administration and author of some of Reagan's most sensible energy and environmental policies, tells the gripping story of how Reagan fought the new wave of anti-human environmentalists and managed to enact laws that protected nature while promoting the prosperity and freedom of man saving the American economy in the process.

About this title

From the Author:

In Sagebrush Rebel, Reagan's Battle with Environmental Extremists and Why It Matters Today (Regnery, 2013), I noted that "Reagan foresaw that the Soviet Union would collapse of its own weight, and he no doubt thought that the radical environmental movement--'environmental extremists,' as he called them--would share that fate. Unfortunately, the latter has not happened--yet.  That is not to say that Reagan failed in his toe-to-toe battles with environmental groups, their allies in Congress, and the media. In the 1980s, Reagan deprived these extremists of the aura of inevitability, invincibility, and infallibility with which they had  been cloaked for almost two decade....  When they said they spoke for the planet and the needs of all living things not human, he responded that he spoke for the dream of the American people and for unborn generations to be free and prosperous. Reagan countered the religious mysticism that drives the radical environmental movement with his own deep religious faith, which insists on the preeminence of human life.... [H]e exposed the childishness of radical environmentalists, who are incapable of being satisfied, always demand their own way, and, like the tyrants they are, never bring anything to the negotiating table--not even their good will or a sense of fair play.  As Reagan succinctly put it in 1983, 'I do not think they will be happy until the White House looks like a bird's nest.'"   Oddly, "what allowed environmental extremists to continue to get their way was the economic recovery for which Reagan was responsible....  The demands by environmental groups for restrictions, limits, or land closures, which in tougher times would have resulted in a harsh economic burden, could be absorbed by [Reagan's] constantly growing economy....  No more.  For twenty-five years, Gallup has asked people whether the economy or the environment is more important, and the environment has consistently out-polled the economy. In 2009, however, the lines crossed for the first time; those polled said the economy is more important.  Given the state of the economy, the outlook for the future, and the intractable demands of the environmental movement, the lines may never cross again....  Ronald Reagan, I am confident, will turn out to have been right about the future of radical environmentalism."From Summary Judgment:  25 Years of Condemning Treachery, Tyranny, and Injustice (MSLF, 2015)

From the Back Cover:

• "Sagebrush Rebel is one of the most important, insightful, and inspirational books about Ronald Reagan's domestic policies since An American Life by President Reagan himself."-- Edwin Meese III , Ronald Reagan's attorney general
• "Reagan battled Carter's War on the West and confronted Big Green head on.  We must take up Reagan's fight to preserve the American way of life.  Sagebrush Rebel shows us how.  Buy it now!"-- Michelle Malkin, syndicated columnist, bestselling author, and Fox News contributor
• "Sagebrush Rebel illuminates a forgotten Reagan war--not with the Soviets but environmental extremists."-- Paul Kengor, professor of political science at Grove City College and author of The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism and The Judge: William P. Clark, Ronald Reagan's Top Hand
• "Ronald Reagan was a gifted leader who understood how to inspire the American people while substantively addressing the challenges we faced.  His legacy deserves to be remembered and studied.  And William Perry Pendley does so again in his latest book."-- Jim Webb, assistant secretary of defense and secretary of the navy in the Reagan administration; former U.S. senator from Virginia
• "Ronald Reagan--a life-long conservationist and environmentalist--believed people are part of the ecosystem.  That was heresy to those whom Reagan called 'environmental extremists,' so they lie about his record.  The truth is in Sagebrush Rebel."-- Mark R. Levin, radio talk show host and author of Liberty and Tyranny

William Perry Pendley was born and raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming, received a B.A. and M.A. from George Washington University, earned a law degree from the University of Wyoming College of Law, and served as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.  He was a lawyer to a U.S. Senator and to a Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, served as a senior official in the Reagan administration, and engaged in the private practice of law in the Washington, D.C. area.  Since 1989, he has led Mountain States Legal Foundation.  He is the author of four books: It Takes a Hero (Free Enterprise Press, 1993), War on the West (Regnery, 1994), Warriors for the West (Regnery, 2006), and Sagebrush Rebel (Regnery, 2013).  Since 1990, he has written a hard-hitting monthly column, Summary Judgment.  His writings have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Post, Washington Times, USA Today, Cow Country, Landman, Loggers World, Miners News, and many other publications across the country.  He appears often on radio and television to discuss legal and public policy issues of the day. He and his wife live in Colorado.

About this edition

• Publisher: Regnery
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1621571564
• ISBN 13: 9781621571568
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256