Dick, you see, as head of the House Resource Committee, is in charge of the committee overseeing the care of our environment. Things like poor endangered Fairy Shrimp or some of our national parks and coastlines. Lately, Dick has been getting into the news a lot over new environmental rules he's trying to establish. Like allowing off-shore drilling (no scientific evidence that drilling hurts the environment). Or selling off naming rights to several national parks and slapping ads on park vehicles (the budget has to be cut somehow, you know). Or telling fellow committee members that no wilderness proposal would be considered unless it allows for some sort of "mechanized access."
But his biggest claim to fame these days is trying to rewrite the Endangered Species Act. Of course, you might think that this is all crazy talk and that nobody would take any of this seriously, but then again, it's entirely possible to go to museums these days and be told that dinosaurs were on Noah's Ark and only died out thousands of years ago. Crazy is the new sane.