Specifics

Environmentalists are well aware that the Trump Administration is putting forth toxic policies at a huge human and environmental cost. Others, such as those who voted for him, or even those who say they're neutral, may not be so savvy. Here, courtesy of the Sierra Club is a list of seven current policies that should be of concern to all; they will damage our planet for generations.

• Moving forward with construction of the environmentally destructive, inhumane border wall.
• A new budget that cuts major environmental and health programs.
• Stripping federal protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states.
• Beginning seismic testing for offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast, endangering marine mammals along with countless coastal economies.
• Finalizing new rules gutting the Endangered Species Act.
• Issuing seismic testing permits for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain, harming or even killing polar bears.
• Finalizing a reckless new 5-year offshore drilling plan, the first draft of which made more than 90% of U.S. waters available to oil and gas companies.

Not included here, presumably because they're not quite so current, are dropping from the Paris Climate Accord, and allowing the dumping of mining waste into streams and rivers.

False Dichotomies

Beliefs



We all have our belief systems. Some have more of a basis on facts, but all rely at least to some extent on faith. Even those of us who espouse a scientific view must still have some faith in the science of their peers as well as those who have come before and helped build the pyramid of scientific facts upon which our current beliefs are based. Then there are those who base their beliefs more on faith than fact. Many a debate has been had between those with a scientific and those with a religion based world view.



Even if we accept that science vs religion is a dichotomy (and some of us would not concede this), the environment in general, and climate change in particular, does not need to be in the middle of it. For even those of great religious belief must still accept that some scientific facts are true. And some of those facts have to do with keeping our planet verdant for future generations. Little to nothing in religion tells people that they should exploit natural resources until they are exhausted, burn fossil fuels until the air and water are polluted, or dump industrial or coal waste into water systems.






Regulation



Here is another dichotomy, and, I believe, another false one: environmental regulation suppresses jobs and the overall economy. It's true that regulations do sometimes reduce jobs in certain sectors, but they then create new jobs in others. In fact, an award-winning 2013 paper by Berkeley economist W. Reed Walker shows that there is "increasing evidence that benefits from environmental policy far exceed the costs."






Support of Renewable Energy



And finally there's this related one: the government has no business supporting renewable energy. Jobs and the economy are based on our fossil fuels. This article, from that bastion of liberal thinking, Forbes magazine, debunks and disputes this entirely.  It's still (in spite of our recent election results) not too late for our country to take a leading role in the economy of the future.

In past posts, I've listed sources that show our government's historical and continuing subsidization of the fossil fuel industry. It's well past time for this to stop, and to start putting clean energy first.