There is a 5 to 4 conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. And in Texas, with the exception of a small Democrat majority in the Texas House, all state offices are Republican. Republicans have won the battle of ideas regarding free markets, free trade, entrepreneurship, privatization, globalization etc. etc. Now, a former Coca-Cola executive, Vicente Fox, is President of Mexico. At the same time, however, environmentalism has never before now been such a powerful political force in the world.
Green parties flourish everywhere in major nations.
To put it simply, the stakes are high and the political margin of error very slim. Vice President Cheney just raised the bet with his nuclear power proposal. It was Mexican opposition that finally killed the dump in Sierra Blanca. Then Texas Governor George W. Bush did not want to run for president with that around his neck. Indeed, the entire Republican Party now breaks out in abrazos and mi casa es su casa at the least provocation.