It is a dire time to be an American right now.
At a time when the world, and especially the United States as the richest nation in the world, should be turning towards established facts to illuminate our thinking, we are turning our back on facts instead, and casting ambiguous doubts on literally everything.
At a time when the world, and especially the United States as the richest nation in the world, should be turning towards established facts to illuminate our thinking, we are turning our back on facts instead, and casting ambiguous doubts on literally everything.
At a time when the United States could firmly establish itself as a positive, guiding force for stability in an ever shifting world, we have collectively chosen to be a monkey wrench thrown into the machinery of the world instead.
At a time when we should be taking the global threat of climate change seriously, it has instead become a political football and a source of staggering levels of criticism and endless debate, even though a whopping 97 percent of the world's scientific community confirms that there is too much evidence of this reality to ignore. Instead of taking it seriously and trying to take serious action in response, we have high ranking elected officials in both the White House and in Congress who not only voice skepticism, but outright mock the very notion of climate change and environmental protections - often to auditoriums filled with throngs of cheering people.
At a time when we should elect forward looking and thinking world leaders, we handed the keys of power over to an imbecile, a clown who the entire rest of the world views as a clown figure.
There are real-life consequences to having an imbecile and a poor excuse for a human being, let alone a president, serve as our face and voice for four years. He has been in there for less than a year and a half, and already has done damage beyond repair to America's reputation on the short term, and quite possibly, on the long term, as well.
One of the areas where Trump is really brutally failing the American people is on the environment. Clearly, he does not take it seriously. Never has, and never will. Not all that surprising, because Trump is the ultimate example of the mindless consumerism of what passes for extremist capitalism, like it is practiced here in the United States. Corporations focus exclusively on their own profits, on what's in their best short term interests, looking to a future that usually does not extend beyond the next quarterly cycle, and never extends beyond their own profit motive. Trump is the human embodiment of that spirit, a man who cares about nothing and nobody but himself. Hell, he hardly even seems to take his own family seriously, and the only redeeming value he appears to value in them is their association with him.
So, a man like that obviously will have no sufficient respect for the natural environment, and his actions have shown that, time and time again.
Here is a list of some of the glaring ways in which he is failing the American people when it comes to environmental protection:
- like with almost every other agency, he made sure to head the EPA with someone who wanted to take an ax to the very agency that he was appointed to head. That's right, Scott Pruitt had a long and well-documented history of doing everything possible to undermine the EPA, fighting and attacking it at every turn. Since becoming head, Pruitt has cut the size of the agency down, slashed it's budget, and shown several signs of being very corruptible.
- one of his first acts was to allow polluting waters to become easier to gt away with for corporations.
- Trump quickly dropped climate change as one of the official threats to national security. Not surprising really, but in keeping with his lack of respect or concern for environmental issues in general. This, and the next action listed, have shown his general disdain for anyone or any agency concerned with actually promoting a healthy environment.
- he withdrew the nation from the Paris Climate Accords, claiming that it was a "bad deal" and that the entire world was laughing at us. The entire world condemned his actions, but Trump has stuck to his guns, thus giving the United States the unique, and quite dubious, distinction of being the only nation in the world to reject the Paris Climate Accords on the grounds that it does not believe in the science of climate change.
- regulations designed to limit air pollution were weakened, taking the teeth out of measures meant to protect Americans from pollution.
- cleanliness standards here within the United States were lowered when he rolled back car emission standards.
- he cut funding to NASA, including monitoring of Earth's climate.
- he censored the National Parks Service from mentioning the words climate change, and effectively silenced any mention of climate change by government under his control.
- he has threatened to end species protection.
- his EPA appointee, Pruitt, has proposed transparency for science, thus opening up "the debate" about the legitimacy of climate changing, yet again feeding into the fake news that he himself creates, of course.
- he has cut funding to alternative energy sources, and specifically made a point of making solar energy more expensive, even as costs for solar energy the world over are on the decline.
- he opened the oceans all around the country to drilling, and made a point of shrinking the national parks lands owned by the American public so that private profiteers can once again exploit previously unspoiled land, benefiting the few at the expense of the many - a Trump era trademark.
And those are just some of Trump's relentless weakening and dismantling of government agencies meant to protect the American public by keeping our lands clean and holding higher standards for pollution. Under Trump, these agencies and laws have been downsized, and Trump clearly has no problem implementing what power he has to censor the very mention of climate change. Instead of bridging the gap of understanding between literally the rest of the world and the United States on this issue, we are growing ever more stubborn in our refusal to apparently believe, let alone participate, in solutions to the biggest problem facing the world today. Not only is this embarrassing, it is, frankly, nothing short of a crime - a crime against the natural environment, and a crime against future generations.
Still find Trump "entertaining?" Still find the joke of his being in the Oval Office funny?
He's doing real damage, and we really need to be moving in another direction. Trump is a disaster for this country, and even for the world. Most importantly, as far as Americans are concerned, he marks a complete and utter failure for the United States, and all citizens need to share the blame and own up to the reality of such a ridiculous and unqualified individual being elected to the highest and, until recently, most prestigious office in the land.
There are real-life consequences to having an imbecile and a poor excuse for a human being, let alone a president, serve as our face and voice for four years. He has been in there for less than a year and a half, and already has done damage beyond repair to America's reputation on the short term, and quite possibly, on the long term, as well.
One of the areas where Trump is really brutally failing the American people is on the environment. Clearly, he does not take it seriously. Never has, and never will. Not all that surprising, because Trump is the ultimate example of the mindless consumerism of what passes for extremist capitalism, like it is practiced here in the United States. Corporations focus exclusively on their own profits, on what's in their best short term interests, looking to a future that usually does not extend beyond the next quarterly cycle, and never extends beyond their own profit motive. Trump is the human embodiment of that spirit, a man who cares about nothing and nobody but himself. Hell, he hardly even seems to take his own family seriously, and the only redeeming value he appears to value in them is their association with him.
So, a man like that obviously will have no sufficient respect for the natural environment, and his actions have shown that, time and time again.
Here is a list of some of the glaring ways in which he is failing the American people when it comes to environmental protection:
- like with almost every other agency, he made sure to head the EPA with someone who wanted to take an ax to the very agency that he was appointed to head. That's right, Scott Pruitt had a long and well-documented history of doing everything possible to undermine the EPA, fighting and attacking it at every turn. Since becoming head, Pruitt has cut the size of the agency down, slashed it's budget, and shown several signs of being very corruptible.
- one of his first acts was to allow polluting waters to become easier to gt away with for corporations.
- Trump quickly dropped climate change as one of the official threats to national security. Not surprising really, but in keeping with his lack of respect or concern for environmental issues in general. This, and the next action listed, have shown his general disdain for anyone or any agency concerned with actually promoting a healthy environment.
- he withdrew the nation from the Paris Climate Accords, claiming that it was a "bad deal" and that the entire world was laughing at us. The entire world condemned his actions, but Trump has stuck to his guns, thus giving the United States the unique, and quite dubious, distinction of being the only nation in the world to reject the Paris Climate Accords on the grounds that it does not believe in the science of climate change.
- regulations designed to limit air pollution were weakened, taking the teeth out of measures meant to protect Americans from pollution.
- cleanliness standards here within the United States were lowered when he rolled back car emission standards.
- he cut funding to NASA, including monitoring of Earth's climate.
- he censored the National Parks Service from mentioning the words climate change, and effectively silenced any mention of climate change by government under his control.
- he has threatened to end species protection.
- his EPA appointee, Pruitt, has proposed transparency for science, thus opening up "the debate" about the legitimacy of climate changing, yet again feeding into the fake news that he himself creates, of course.
- he has cut funding to alternative energy sources, and specifically made a point of making solar energy more expensive, even as costs for solar energy the world over are on the decline.
- he opened the oceans all around the country to drilling, and made a point of shrinking the national parks lands owned by the American public so that private profiteers can once again exploit previously unspoiled land, benefiting the few at the expense of the many - a Trump era trademark.
And those are just some of Trump's relentless weakening and dismantling of government agencies meant to protect the American public by keeping our lands clean and holding higher standards for pollution. Under Trump, these agencies and laws have been downsized, and Trump clearly has no problem implementing what power he has to censor the very mention of climate change. Instead of bridging the gap of understanding between literally the rest of the world and the United States on this issue, we are growing ever more stubborn in our refusal to apparently believe, let alone participate, in solutions to the biggest problem facing the world today. Not only is this embarrassing, it is, frankly, nothing short of a crime - a crime against the natural environment, and a crime against future generations.
Still find Trump "entertaining?" Still find the joke of his being in the Oval Office funny?
He's doing real damage, and we really need to be moving in another direction. Trump is a disaster for this country, and even for the world. Most importantly, as far as Americans are concerned, he marks a complete and utter failure for the United States, and all citizens need to share the blame and own up to the reality of such a ridiculous and unqualified individual being elected to the highest and, until recently, most prestigious office in the land.
Here are two articles that elaborate further on just how much damage the Trump administration has already caused, and how difficult it will be to reverse these policies, and more importantly, the damage that they have caused to our lands, our waters, and our air:
A Running List of How Trump Is Changing the Environment by Michael Greshko , Laura Parker , and Brian Clark Howard, May 11, 2018:
Trump is breaking the environment beyond repair Opinion piece by Linda J. Bilmes of the Boston Globe, February 20, 2018:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/02/20/trump-breaking-environment-beyond-repair/sc8Kg39ehzrMCh7jBKNtlJ/story.html?event=event25
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