It’s been the hallmark of the Trump Administration that those he appointed to head up major cabinet departments or other bureaus have governed in direct opposition to the missions of these offices. For example, Betsy De Vos, who Trump appointed as Secretary of Education, is an ardent foe of America’s public school systems which the vast majority of young students attend. Instead she’s a huge supporter of private or religious schools, or even home schooling, and is working tirelessly to effect such a major shift away from what she considers “government schooling.” Jeff Sessions, our Attorney-General, whose management responsibilities include overseeing the Office of Civil Rights enforcement, is the very antithesis of a civil rights leader. As a former senator from Alabama, Sessions was known rather for his hostility toward enforcing equal-rights for blacks being discriminated against, especially throughout the South. I guess in Trump’s world, this what’s meant by “draining the swamp.”
But nowhere is this opposition to properly carrying out the missions of various agencies of the federal government better illustrated than with the Environmental Protection Agency. As we all know, the essential mission of EPA is to provide clean air and water by removing as many pollutants from the environment as feasible. But in Trump’s upside down world of appointing opposites, he made someone named Scott Pruitt to head up the EPA. Most Americans had never heard the name before, but it’s quite essential that anyone still breathing air or drinking water know who this person is. Pruitt used to be the Attorney-General of the state of Oklahoma, where he spent most of his career suing the EPA over regulations issued to provide a cleaner, healthier environment. For example, when EPA issued rules to prevent chemical companies from dumping toxic waste into local rivers and streams, Pruitt was there to legally challenge such regulations throughout the various court systems. True, it was more costly for these companies to properly dispose of waste rather than use local waterways as a dumping ground, and apparently that’s all that mattered to foes of EPA such as Pruitt.
So, among his first acts as agency chief, Pruitt has mandated that EPA eliminate rules issued under the Obama Administration that restricted the burning of coal because of coal’s high level of toxicity to the atmosphere. Trump himself has bragged that as a result of his administration’s actions, tens of thousands of new jobs in the coal industry have been established, and that coal is much more widely used these days, especially in the utilities industry. All this is true. However one needs to be aware of coal’s high toxic level. True, coal pours a huge amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but after all, CO2, while a factor in the global warming debate, is still a benign element. What isn’t benign, however, are the large volumes of sulfur dioxide that also emanate from burning coal, and sulfur dioxide is most assuredly not benign. Entire forests in the northeast and Canada have been denuded because air currents have carried sulfur dioxide emanating from coal burning Midwestern utilities to the Northeast. If it strips trees of their foliage imagine what sulfur dioxide does to ones lungs. Only, of course, if you’re used to inhaling oxygen on a daily basis. Someone ought to notify Trump that while his children and grandchildren may live in mansions or penthouses, they still have to breathe the same air the rest of us commoners breathe. And that air now more befouled due to enhanced coal usage.
Another factor to consider is that working as a coal miner is a hell of a way to have to make a living. I realize that for many people, no other viable options exist. But coal miners often develop black lung disease, which is akin to lung cancer, and have shortened life spans. The trend in the U.S. for at least two decades, had been toward moving away from coal usage in favor of natural gas or alternative energy development, which would have meant a cleaner environment for everyone. Now with the Trump Administration in power, we’re back to dirtier air and water. Something you might want to think about over your Cheerios tomorrow morning.
But not to worry. At least Trump is concentrating and putting all his efforts and energy on the most crucial events of the day. So while North Korea threatens us with nuclear armageddon, and the Mid-East is still in flames, it’s good to know that Trump is focusing all his efforts on the nation’s highest priorities. Such as whether pro-football players are taking a knee during playing of the national anthem, to protest ingrained bigotry toward the nation’s black population. Or by his kissing up to religious evangelicals so as to maintain their 80% support levels that will be crucial toward winning his 2020 re-election effort. After all, why shouldn’t the evangelical community support someone who’s such a devout and serious biblical scholar as Donald Trump. Someone who gave the green light to the U.S. populace that it was okay to say “Merry Christmas” again. Like people were never uttering that any longer.
In the end, it’s as they say, people do it to themselves. By electing Trump, even by the narrowest of margins, we get to experience a steady degradation of not only the U.S. ecology, but of life itself. Look for white supremacists (neo-fascists) such as Steve Bannon to be in the ascendency while it’s all papered over with the demagoguery emanating from Trump’s constant Twitter tantrums. It is rather fascinating, however, to watch these continual circus shows, while the parade marches on.
realityincorporated 