When a liberal-bashing comment on my post about BP failing f***ing booming schooldrove me to ask why so many people hate environmentalists, BillW responded, as a former Republican voter, by pointing out we are being painted with a pretty broad brush. That got me thinking about politics. Because however much I try to keep my party political views at arms-length when writing about the environment, there's no doubt that the debate has gotten polarized in recent years.