The enviro wackos were pissed at Al Gore and voted for Nader, so that doesn't meany anything. The wackos are pissed that we are not moving ahead with Kyoto, but they are too dumb to realize that Kyoto doesn't even reduce greenhouse gas emmissions, but just shifts wealth from the US/Japan to other countries including the EU. Bush was good on Kyoto, but is now setting up the debate so that it is lost in the future. The enviro whackos are still pissed. We can pontificate on this until the cows come home, but Bush has positioned himself on this issue and the enviro whackos are pissed because they can't bash him with this issue, IMHO.
I know, I know, it's not "principle" and that is what the NYT focused on. They focused on dividing the base and it looks like Drudge, Rush, and Hannity took the bait hook, line, and sinker.
Thank God they are in "entertainment" and not in the real world of politics.
BTW, I will give the New York Times credit for knowing which buttons to push to create a controversy and divide the base from thin air.