Editors' Summary: The recently completed 105th Congress provided the nation with a legacy of unparalleled legislative inactivity. Few, if any, of the legislative initiatives earmarked as priorities passed as bitter partisan debate ruled on Capitol Hill. This Comment analyzes how such partisanship and subsequent congressional lethargy created the environmental successes, controversies, and failures of the 105th Congress. Included in this analysis is the examination of the reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act and the passage of the Taxpayer Relief Act. The Comment also details the congressional debates inspired by the global climate change treaty and proposed particulate matter and ozone regulations. In addition, the Comment recounts Congress' inability to enact legislation addressing, among others, CERCLA, the ESA, regulatory reform, or electric utility deregulation. Last, the Comment considers the results of the 1998 elections and highlights the developments that bear watching in the 106th Congress.