A few problems with your assertions

"For example, America in general has terrible public transportation..." We have a decentralized population for which public transportation simply won't work well. In addition, Our country spans thousands of miles. You cannot compare small countries and ultra-dense cities with the vastness of America.

"...but if we fixed this 'problem', the oil industry would lose billions." How so? We would ramp up the use and manufacturing of thousands of buses and trains consuming MORE fossil fuels in the process. If we are so short-sighted, why aren't we doing this?

"The federal government refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol for fear the regulation 'would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States.'"

Let's first be clear about who didn't ratify it and the quantity of Senators who voted: 98 opposed, none in favor. This was also a democratically controlled Senate, but votes clearly went across party lines. Second, would you rather have unemployment at 10-15% because we ratified a treaty that punished the United States and let other developing countries pollute at an increased rate? Thirdly let's talk about the current effects of the treaty: no countries have managed to reduce their levels of pollution below the standards set. So, how exactly has this treaty benefited ANYONE?

"It is unfair to label environmentalists as fanatics when business lobbyists insist with equal certainty that human behavior doesn't impact the environment - obvious nonsense. (See "Changes on the Way" in the July 10 edition of The Battalion)."

Uh. No one made that claim. No reasonable person can possibly make that assertion.

"The 'cult' of environmentalism is just a reaction to the cult of wealth that controls American politics."

So environmentalism is only a reaction to people being wealthy in America? Don't cheapen your cause, if you believe so much in it.

"True, large business owners would pay the most to make America more environmentally safe, but everyone suffers when weather patterns shift or global temperatures rise a few degrees."

This assertion has hardly been proven true. Let's go with the Hurricane predictors as an example, "Hurricanes will rise in intensity just like Katrina!" When was the last major storm to hit the U.S.? How many hurricanes have made landfall? Weather patterns shift all the time and yes people are affected, but not to the extent you imagine, and certainly not the fault of humans.

"America belongs to all of its citizens and our politicians should not sell our clean air and fresh water to turn a profit."

No, America IS its citizens. "We the people..." So we can't sell clean water? We can't make a profit? We have some of the cleanest water on earth, but it will never be enough until...what? As for our clean air, yeah, sure. We have some areas with smog and some areas with clean air. So we need to reduce car emissions, right? Wrong. Most polluted air in Texas originates in Mexico. On top of that, the coal power plants (which produce nearly 95% less emissions than 50 years ago) put us over the EPA limit for air pollution. What is your proposed solution for that? I recommend nuclear power: no emissions other than water vapor...but I guess you would have a problem with that too.