It has come to light that the reason President Trump reduced the size of Bears Ears National Monument was to make it possible for his cronies to drill for oil on these lands. This comes as a huge surprise to some.
When we elected Donald Trump, we collectively made a choice to move our government from one where ethics were paramount to one in which the opposite is true. Corruption is the word of the day now, and any ethics or morality that our country had has gone by the wayside.
Our previous president and even the ones prior to that did everything in their power to ensure that not only they, but everyone in their administrations adhered to the highest ethical behavior. When one is as corrupt as our current president, the environment suffers as much as personal integrity.
The connection is straightforward. If you have no morals, then what could possibly be wrong with giving federal lands to private parties who wish to exploit them for personal gain? Who cares about the planet when there's money to be made?
I think we collectively looked at the ethical behavior of past presidents and decided that we ought to try something different. Enough ethics. Let's try some corruption, we said. I and most others are sorry that we did, and I think that all the rest of us will be as well when the sun is just a bright spot in the nighttime.
