Tag Archives: EPA

What Are They Up To Today ?????

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary

candlesThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is, lest you think otherwise, alive and well.  And they are on top of the really, really important things!  But beware!!!  They are coming for your candles!  The agency that once issued memos about carbon pollution from power plants and the threat that they posed to public health, is now warning that burning candles and incense can irritate the lungs of asthma sufferers.  Oh yes, and beware, too, of those summer bonfires, as the wood smoke can trigger asthma attacks.  Isn’t it wonderful that an agency with an $8 billion budget is spending our money to warn us about the dangers of candles and wood smoke?

As one who has had asthma since birth, I can assure you that candles burning in my home are not a problem.  My two biggest problems are the air outdoors when it is warm and humid, and flowers.  Ohhhh … I better watch what I say there, or perhaps the EPA will come dig up all my flowers!!!

Just days after the announcement about candles and incense, the EPA also announced that it would seek a two-year delay in the implementation of a rule requiring oil and gas companies to detect and repair leaks of methane and other air pollutants from oil and gas wells. In announcing the delay, the EPA acknowledged that it could have a disproportionate impact on the health of children, but argued that delay was worthwhile because it would save the oil and gas industry roughly $173 million.

Liz Purchia, a former EPA communications official under the Obama administration:

“They are just distracting from the larger issues by focusing on the really small ones. I’d love to see the last time they talked about carbon pollution from power plants and the threat that they posed to public health. It’s pretty unbelievable. They are using smoke and mirrors to make it appear like they are trying to protect public health, and meanwhile they are doing everything that they can do rollback regulations and work with the fossil fuel industry to bend to their will. They are showing a willful blindness towards the health of the American public.”

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has not, as of yet, taken any legal action against incense or scented candle manufacturers.

In other EPA news …

The Environmental Protection Agency has given notice to dozens of scientists that they will not be renewed in their roles in advising the agency. Members of the EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) whose terms end in August will not see them renewed, according to an email sent to members this week. They may re-apply, but were given a June 30 deadline to do so. The BOSC functions as an advisory board for the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, and helps the office make sure that it is using sufficiently rigorous science in its research and development programs.

Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists:

“The Board of Scientific Counselors was formed to make sure the EPA does the best possible scientific work with limited taxpayer dollars. This independent advice is needed now more than ever. By sacking dozens of scientific counselors, Pruitt is showing that he doesn’t value scientific input and the benefits it offers the public.”

Is anybody surprised by that?

In May, when Pruitt announced the terminations of nine scientists, his spokesman, J. P. Freire, said he would consider replacing the academic scientists with representatives from industries whose pollution the agency is supposed to regulate, such as the chemical, oil and gas industries. “The administrator believes we should have people on this board who understand the impact of regulations on the regulated community.”  Putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop?

And in other climate news …

At an Energy and Natural Resources Committee budget hearing earlier this week, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke came under fire from Senator Al Franken over his inane comments that “the vanishing glaciers at Glacier National Park have undergone a “consistent melt” since the end of the last ice age”.  Franken informed Zinke that “scientists who work for you” have found the melting has “dramatically accelerated” in recent decades.

Ryan Zinke
Al Franken

Franken: “Can you tell me how much warming government scientists predict for the end of the century under a business-as-usual scenario?”

Zinke: “The Paris accord, in the president and my judgement, it wasn’t about climate change, it was about a bad deal.”

Huh???

Franken interrupted to ask Zinke to answer the question.

Zinke: “I don’t think the government scientists can predict with certainty. There isn’t a model that existed it can predict today’s weather given all the data. If everyone adhered to the Paris climate accord, that change would be roughly 0.2°, which is insignificant.”

Franken: “No, no, no!  I just want you to answer the question that I asked you. That’s all I want you to do.”

And so it continued, as nauseam. Keep in mind that Mr. Zinke is the head of the Department of Interior, a position that pays in the $100,000 per year range, yet intellectually I would pit almost any 8th grader against him in a debate.

Meanwhile, out in the real world …

The Southwest is experiencing its worst heat wave in decades. Excessive heat warnings have been in effect from Arizona to California and will be for the remainder of the week. On Monday, temperatures in Phoenix hit 118 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, which announced the record-tying heat.

heatIt was so hot that dozens of flights have been canceled this week at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

My vote is for sending Trump, Pruitt and Zinke to Phoenix, make them stand on the airport tarmac for about three hours in their suits and ties, then ask if they still believe climate change is a ‘hoax’.

Climate March … Successful? Hopefully!

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

Not since the Vietnam War have there been so many protests and marches in the U.S., and perhaps not even then.  The latest, on Saturday, was the People’s Climate March held in Washington, D.C., which reportedly drew either ‘tens of thousands’ or ‘hundreds of thousands’, depending on which news media you read – the official estimate is 200,000. The goal of the march was to voice opposition to the Trump administration’s environmental agenda and the decades-long history of American inaction on climate change.

The March, sponsored by the People’s Climate Movement, began at the foot of the Capitol, then the protesters marched to the White House, surrounding the mansion while President Trump was inside on his 100th day in office. Once there, the demonstrators let out a collective roar, meant to symbolically drown out the voices of the administration’s climate change deniers.

The weather cooperated, helping make the point that climate change is not fantasy or fiction, but in fact … fact.  The average high temperature in Washington in April is 66° F.  During yesterday’s march, the temperature reached a fairly sweltering 91° F, which tied the record for highest temperature on that date in recorded history.

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Other similar but smaller demonstrations took place around the nation, all protesting the Trump regime’s terribly short-sighted actions over the past three months.  Trump has appointed one of the chief antagonists of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, as its administrator and proposed slashing its budget by nearly a third, more than any other federal agency. He has signed several executive orders aimed at rolling back President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a set of regulations intended to close heavily polluting coal-fired power plants, and restrictions on vehicle emissions, among others. This past week, Trump signed orders intended to initiate reviews aimed at opening certain protected lands and waters to drilling, mining and logging. And on Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had taken down several agency web pages that contained climate data and other scientific information relating to climate change. Apparently Scott Pruitt found it inconvenient to deny the scientific evidence presented on his own website.

Just four days before, this headline caught my eye:  California submerging: Rising seas are claiming its famed coast faster than scientists imagined – CALmatters, 25 April 2017

The gist of the article is that polar ice is melting and glacier shelves cracking at a faster pace than scientists first thought, and this will likely lead to a rise in sea level of 10 feet over the next 70 years.  Some of those lovely beachfront homes will be under water in a few short decades.

By most measures, the Climate March was considered a success, and I would agree, but the true measure of its success will depend on the legislators and executive branch. One march is not likely to do the trick, but it will require us all to continue voicing our opposition to destructive laws and executive orders, to make Trump and Congress aware that we value our planet more than corporate greed.

A few quotes from participants:

“It also sends a message to the corporations that really run things that people care. Even in Appalachia, now, the power companies are moving to renewables. Marches like this continue that pressure.” – Deborah Markowitz, the former Vermont secretary of state and a current professor at the University of Vermont.

“From the time I was a child, I just loved trees and nature. My plea is please, please, care about our planet. It’s the only one we have—how dumb is it to mess up your own home?” – Laura Isensee, a 65-year-old physician from Houston, Texas

“I think first of the grass, plants, animals, eagles, birds, fish — without water, nothing will survive. This isn’t just important for me; it’s important for everybody.” – Alphonse LeRoy, a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota

And a few signs:

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climate-march-sign-nye

Even Bill Nye, The Science Guy Showed Up!

Two Blows Against Freedom of Press/Speech Today

Posted on by under Free Press Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

We are all familiar with this image

connection-timed-out-2Technically, what it means is that a server is taking too long to reply to a data request made from another device, typically your computer, cell phone or tablet. The reasons can vary from the wrong IP address being typed in to a hardware problem to a problem with WiFi services.  Typically, if the IP address is valid, it is a temporary problem easily solved by clicking the refresh button or resetting a router.  But today, Turkish people throughout the country are seeing this message and it is not going to be a simple fix.  For today, the Turkish government, i.e. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has blocked Wikipedia from Turkish internet users.

“After technical analysis and legal consideration … an administrative measure has been taken for this website,” the BTK telecoms authority said in a statement on its website. It cited a law that allows it to block access to individual web pages or entire sites for the ‘protection of public order, national security or the wellbeing of the public’.  We are talking about Wikipedia, folks, not a subversive website, not a porn site … an educational, informational site.  Such is the state of freedom of speech and freedom of press in Turkey today.

Meanwhile, across the pond here in our own backyard, there is this:

epa-website.png

“EPA wipes its climate change site day before march on Washington. Visitors to the website on Saturday found it was ‘undergoing changes’ to reflect the agency’s ‘new direction’, as thousands protest climate inaction.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s main climate change website is “undergoing changes” to better reflect “the agency’s new direction” under Donald Trump. The announcement, made late Friday evening, left empty what was previously the “official government site” providing “comprehensive information on the issue of climate change and global warming”.

“As EPA renews its commitment to human health and clean air, land and water, our website needs to reflect the views of the leadership of the agency.  We want to eliminate confusion, by removing outdated language first and making room to discuss how we’re protecting the environment and human health by partnering with states and working within the law.” – JP Freire, an associate administrator for public affairs

Previously, the website housed data on greenhouse gas emissions from large polluters and reports on the effects of climate change and its impact on human health.

While I could go on for thousands of words about my outrage over the EPA and it’s anything-but-protecting-the-environment approach, this post it about freedom of speech and press, so I shall save the EPA commentary for another post.

Yesterday, in the wake of the European Press Prize awards, Peter Preston of The Guardian, wrote a very short piece:

“A final word on the European Press Prize as, awards delivered, a new season begins. The winners were all terrific. Congratulations to your Serbian investigators, young Romanian reporters, digital wizards from Bellingcat. Congratulations to three sensational writers from Stern and Spiegel. (Gosh! the Germans still invest mightily in good journalism). And more than a tip of the cap to Fintan O’Toole of the Irish Times (and Guardian and Observer) for his scintillating takes on Brexit.

But one thing that sets these awards apart for me is a sense of danger – for Yavuz Baydar and his Turkish colleagues as democracy closes down, of a Warsaw government running amok and of Hungary’s Orbán defying the whole European idea. The dangers the Serbian winners raised as many marched in Belgrade, fighting for press freedoms lost.

Who can be complacent about Europe, its struggles, its future? When journalists meet, they hear a knocking at the gates.”

Even in the UK, freedom of the press is not what it once was.  There are new laws permitting generalized surveillance, as well as a proposal for a new espionage act that could criminalize journalists and whistleblowers as spies.  Both the UK and the U.S. dropped two points in the past year on the Reporters Without Borders (RWB) World Press Freedom Index in the past year. Even so, I do not see Prime Minister Theresa May approaching dictatorship, as I do in the cases of Erdoğan and Trump.

Earlier this month, Turkey held a vote on a referendum that consolidated significantly more power under Erdoğan.  At the time, Donald Trump called President Erdoğan to offer congratulations. Today, Trump himself is talking about consolidating his own power. In an interview with Fox News that aired Friday night, Trump dismissed the “archaic” rules of the House and Senate — using that word four times — and suggested they needed to be streamlined “for the good of the country.”  A few excerpts:

“We don’t have a lot of closers in politics, and I understand why: It’s a very rough system. It’s an archaic system.”

“You look at the rules of the Senate, even the rules of the House — but the rules of the Senate and some of the things you have to go through — it’s really a bad thing for the country, in my opinion. They’re archaic rules. And maybe at some point we’re going to have to take those rules on, because, for the good of the nation, things are going to have to be different.”

“You can’t go through a process like this. It’s not fair. It forces you to make bad decisions. I mean, you’re really forced into doing things that you would normally not do except for these archaic rules.”

“I think, you know, the filibuster concept is not a good concept to start off with.”

Trump is frustrated with the pace of legislation after 100 days, and his answer is that he wants to change the rules … the very rules that were designed to safeguard against any one individual in government amassing too much power and shifting the foundation of a democracy into one of an autocracy. And it all starts with stifling the voices of the press and of the people.  Today, Trump effectively stifled the voice of what is arguably one of the most important agencies in the federal government, the EPA.  Today Erdoğan stifled the voice of knowledge in his country.  What is the future for these two nations under these authoritarian leaders?  Think about it.

Happy Earth Day – 2017

Posted on by under Global Issues, Social commentary

Tomorrow is Earth Day, an annual event created to celebrate the planet’s environment and raise public awareness about pollution. The day, marked on April 22, is observed worldwide with rallies, conferences, outdoor activities and service projects.

earth-3Started as a grassroots movement, Earth Day created public support for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and contributed to the passage of the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act, the Endangered Species Act and several other environmental laws.

A bit of history:

The first Earth Day was in 1970. Then-Senator Gaylord Nelson, after seeing the damage done by a 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, was inspired to organize a national “teach-in” that focused on educating the public about the environment.

Nelson recruited Denis Hayes, a politically active recent graduate of Stanford University, as national coordinator, and persuaded U.S. Representative Pete McCloskey of California to be co-chairman. With a staff of 85, they were able to rally 20 million people across the United States on April 20, 1970. Universities held protests, and people gathered in public areas to talk about the environment and find ways to defend the planet.

“Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values,” according to a History of Earth Day.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom for being the founder of Earth Day. This is the highest honor given to civilians in the United States.

Earth Day continued to grow over the years. In 1990, it went global, and 200 million people in 141 countries participated in the event. Which brings us to tomorrow, when more than 1 billion people are expected to participate in Earth Day 2017.

This year, in light of the recent cutbacks in the EPA, legislation and ‘executive orders’ signed by Donald Trump to reverse protections to our environment, the scientific community is planning marches all around the nation on Earth Day.  The Science March in Washington, D.C., is expected to draw tens of thousands of people to the Mall, and satellite marches have been planned in more than 400 cities on six continents.

science

Rush Holt, head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), says that this is not simply a reaction to President Trump’s election, but that scientists have been worried for years that “evidence has been crowded out by ideology and opinion in public debate and policymaking.”

Although a number of scientists, including Bill Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society, will be speaking at the Washington event, no politicians have been invited to speak.  Caroline Weinberg, a public health researcher and co-organizer of the march, explains, “Science is nonpartisan. That’s the reason that we respect it, because it aims to reduce bias. That’s why we have the scientific method. We felt very strongly that having politicians involved would skew that in some way.”

Although Trump’s recent policies may not be the sole reason for the Science March, there can be no doubt that they are a factor.  During his campaign, Trump stated that, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive.” Then, once in office, he appointed Scott Pruitt to head the EPA. This is a man who, as Oklahoma attorney general, had sued the agency many times and who, during an interview in March, said he did not believe that human activity is a primary driver of the observed climate change — a statement at odds with scientific research. Trump has also stated his belief that there is a link between childhood vaccines and autism – a theory that has long since been disproven by the scientific community.

Some might ask just what good a march will do in terms of protecting the environment.  The mission statement of the March begins, “There are certain things that we accept as facts … The Earth is becoming warmer due to human action. The diversity of life arose by evolution”. The purpose is public awareness and education.  Under the Trump regime, scientists’ voices have been muted, in some cases stifled.

Staff at the Environmental Protection Agency, and the departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services have been ordered not to send out news releases, create new blog entries or update official website content. They also must seek agreement from senior officials before speaking to the media and in some instances Congress. The National Parks Service was temporarily banned from tweeting.

According to meteorologist and journalist Eric Holthaus, “It’s broader than about limiting communication. Scientists are seeing this as a full scale attack on truth itself and the principle that government should take scientific information onboard and incorporate it into policies and so act for society as a whole.”

Perhaps Elizabeth Hadly, professor of biology, geological and environmental sciences at Stanford University, said it best:

“If we cannot discuss facts openly – in public, in academia, in business, in government – how can we have meaningful dialogues so essential to serving people’s needs? How can democracy, based on public discussions and trust in our societal truths, survive? And so we will march.”

When a house becomes broken down and unsafe, we can move to another house. But when our planet becomes broken and unsafe, we have no other planet to move to.  When we can no longer breathe the air, drink the water, or grow food on the land, we perish.

Happy Earth Day!

earth-4

On the Fifth Day …

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

Yesterday I came across this poem, On the Fifth Day, by Jane Hirshfield.  The poem speaks simply and eloquently for itself and needs neither introduction nor explanation from me.

 

On the fifth day

the scientists who studied the rivers

were forbidden to speak

or to study the rivers.

 

The scientists who studied the air

were told not to speak of the air,

and the ones who worked for the farmers

were silenced,

and the ones who worked for the bees.

 

Someone, from deep in the Badlands,

began posting facts.

 

The facts were told not to speak

and were taken away.

The facts, surprised to be taken, were silent.

 

Now it was only the rivers

that spoke of the rivers,

and only the wind that spoke of its bees,

 

while the unpausing factual buds of the fruit trees

continued to move toward their fruit.

 

The silence spoke loudly of silence,

and the rivers kept speaking,

of rivers, of boulders and air.

 

Bound to gravity, earless and tongueless,

the untested rivers kept speaking.

 

Bus drivers, shelf stockers,

code writers, machinists, accountants,

lab techs, cellists kept speaking.

 

They spoke, the fifth day,

of silence.

 

Jane Hirshfield is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Her most recent collection is “The Beauty.” She will read this poem from the stage at the March for Science on April 22.

Mr. President, if climate change is not real, then why are you deleting data?

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Re-blogs

Blogger-friend Keith has just asked one of the most important questions of the day … please take a moment to read this blog … it is short, but poses such a relevant, important question. Thanks, Keith, for implicit permission to re-blog.

musingsofanoldfart

Prominent climate scientists are concerned as research papers and supporting data are disappearing in the halls (and websites) of our US governmental agencies. It is to the point that several cited links in professional publications are no longer valid and the authors are scrambling to defend their work. As feared, there appears to be concerted efforts to delete climate change information off important government websites.

So, my question is simple, “Mr. President, if climate change is not real, then why are you deleting data that supports it exists and is man-influenced?” To me, this is a legitimate question to ask the President, Scott Pruitt, his EPA Secretary or Sean Spicer, his White House press agent. I would not let him escape without an answer. To me, this is telling. The President’s argument is so poor, it cannot stand up to scrutiny and he must destroy the evidence.

It is not dissimilar to…

View original post 164 more words

Trump The Great Destroyer

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

There are those who say wind turbines are an eyesore, that they ruin the landscape.  But have you ever seen a strip mine in coal country?

Which do you think is the greater eyesore?  The picture on the right was once a beautiful green mountain, but this is what it looks like after the coal was extracted.

Today, Don Trump decided that he would much rather turn nature’s beautiful mountains into that picture on the right side, above.  Today, Don Trump signed a new executive order titled “Energy Independence” that is even more potentially destructive than the rest of his orders have been.  (Note that the man who was going to “make America great again” has, thus far done nothing constructive, but has attempted much destruction!)  The order directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to start the legal process of withdrawing and rewriting the Clean Power Plan.

energy-trump-signing

Surrounded by coal miners, he signed with a flourish and stated, “C’mon fellas. You know what this is? You know what this says? You’re going back to work.”  Jackass.  The order also lifts a short-term ban on new coal mining on public lands. Jerk. The order will all but ensure that the United States cannot meet its global warming commitments under the Paris accord.

“We’re ending the theft of American prosperity and reviving our beloved economy. The miners told me about the attacks on their jobs. I made them this promise. We will put our miners back to work.”

While the coal industry executives may be applauding and singing happy tunes today, there is more to the story than meets the eye.  There are some real world facts to be considered:

  • Regulatory relief could restore 10 percent of coal companies’ lost market share at most — nowhere near enough to return coal to its dominant position in power markets and put tens of thousands of coal miners to work.
  • Improved drilling techniques over the past decade have made natural gas a much more economical option than coal. Most utilities have already reduced their infrastructure and they already have commitments geared toward natural gas.
  • Wind and solar power are also taking market share, as the costs of utility-scale generation have become competitive with those of hydrocarbons in many parts of the country.
  • By the end of last year, 29 states had adopted rules to replace a substantial share of fossil fuel electricity production with cleaner power. California is far ahead of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan in environmental stewardship, and promises to resist the federal government’s new agenda. The existing state mandates alone are on track for meeting 20% of the nation’s energy needs within the next 8 years.
  • Federal tax credits for wind and solar enacted during the Obama administration will continue for at least several more years, and they have the support of Republican members of Congress from states producing wind power, like Texas and Iowa.

Nicholas K. Akins, chief executive of American Electric Power (AEP) said, “Our plans remain the same. We’re going to invest over the next three years $1.5 billion in renewables … This industry is moving in a direction that really moves toward a clean energy economy. That’s what our customers expect, that’s what our shareholders expect.”

And speaking of customers, a recent (January 2017) study by Pew Research found that fully 65% of Americans give priority to developing alternative energy over fossil fuels.    Apparently, for all his bluster and his faux claims, Don Trump has failed to listen to the voices of the American people, the citizens, taxpayers and voters.  Most in this country would prefer wind turbines to destroyed mountains, and most have come to understand that we simply cannot continue to destroy our environment, as we have been for so many years, without suffering devastating effects.

energy-Pew-chart

Earlier this month, with Trump’s blessings, the State Department granted the pipeline giant TransCanada a permit for Keystone construction to re-start, and Trump halted the initiative to impose stringent fuel-economy standards for automobiles, saying, “The assault on the American auto industry is over.”

The mining of coal is dirty and harmful to the environment, as is the burning of the ore.  Scott Pruitt, Trump’s puppet EPA Administrator, said today’s executive order would “be both pro-jobs and pro-environment.”  The reality is that it will be neither.  It is yet another ‘alternative fact’. What it will do is contribute further to the destruction of our environment, but not only our environment … the global environment.  When we dump CO2 into the atmosphere, it does not only affect the air we breathe, but it spreads the poison around the globe.  This is why nearly every country on earth has committed to try to reduce carbon emissions.  Quite frankly, every other nation on the globe has a right to be very angry at Trump over his recent anti-environmental moves.  In large part, Trump likely knows that nothing he has done will add a measurable number of jobs to the economy, but rather, he is driven by an obsession to ‘undo’ whatever President Obama did, such as repealing ACA with no viable alternative on the horizon.  This is exactly the wrong way to lead a nation, and it is why I claim the entire Trump administration is a circus … nay, a nightmare!  We The People deserve better!  We The People DEMAND better!

* Note:  John Podesta, an advisor on climate and energy policy to President Obama and campaign chair for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, has written a very good Op-Ed piece on this topic that is worth reading.

A Waste Of MY Money?????

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

Grrrrrrrrr …. If I choose to ‘waste’ my money on such frivolities as making the air breathable and the water drinkable for those who come after me,  is not it my right to do so???  Not according to John Michael “Mick” Mulvaney, who said “we consider that to be a waste of your money.” Hey Mick!  The keyword here is ‘your’ … it is MY money and personally I think that leaving the world a place where people are able to breathe is a fairly worthy cause!!!  Actually, I think it is a much more worthy cause than your paycheck! I think it is a much more worthy cause than buying more fighter jets to use in killing people.  I think it is more worthy than giving those people who already have millions … nay, billions … of dollars a means for evading their civic responsibility of helping the poor! And I damn sure think it is more worthy than supporting your air-headed boss as he flits down to his ‘estate’ in Florida every weekend.

This, folks, is where we need to step in and write to our senators and representatives in Congress and tell them that no, we do not see science research and controlling our environment as a ‘waste’ of money.  I tried to be generous and give da trumpeter and his minions a chance.  Okay, so I didn’t try all that hard, but still, I tried.  This, however, is the final straw.  When one man comes out and says that he and his ugly, ugly boss have decided how MY money should be spent, we have a problem.

As far as I am concerned, there is not a single Republican in Congress who deserves to be re-elected next year.  They have supported terrible choices for Secretary of Education, EPA Director, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Attorney General, to name just a few.  They are seriously considering passing a healthcare bill that will ensure that most of us who do not have sizable bank accounts will die within the next five years.  They have not stood up to a single issue that Donald Trump wants, and not a single one has stood up to Trump and told him that his way is the wrong way.

Now this … this abomination he is calling a budget, would ensure that a decade from now, our children and grandchildren will be walking around with oxygen tanks, as they will not be able to breathe the air in the atmosphere, and this sorry excuse for a Budget Director has the unmitigated gall to tell me it is a waste of MY money to try to head off such an eventuality???  What you need to understand, Mr. Mulvaney, is that we are not all a bunch of bumbling dolts who do not know what is best for us.  At least half of the citizens of this country are rational, thinking beings who have the ability to understand the difference between helping and hurting, who understand what actually makes America great vs. what makes Donald Trump richer!  Do you want to know what would really make America great again?

For starters, doing our part to help combat the threats of our planet becoming unlivable in the future is something that would make America great.  Providing quality education at little or no cost to the next generation and the ones after that would help make America great again.  Taking care of our land and the flora and fauna that inhabit it would help make America great again.  Giving a helping hand to the people who, through no fault of their own, have less than most of us would make America great again.  Keeping our population healthy would help make America great again.  And welcoming to our shores those who are fleeing persecution in their native lands helps make America great again.

Thus far, Mr. Mulvaney, your boss has done nothing … not one single thing … that contributes toward making America great again.  He has attempted to destroy the very things that once DID make this nation great.  Not one thing.

In the past, Mr. Mulvaney, your boss has referred to climate change as a ‘hoax’.  Just last week, Scott Pruitt said he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. Guess what???  It does not matter what Scott Pruitt says he believes … scientists have proof that contradicts Mr. Pruitt’s beliefs. This is redolent of Benoit Loueillet, the French official who was suspended just this week for saying of the Holocaust, “there was no mass murder as has been said.” At least France had the good sense to discipline their idiot … we just keep cheering ours on!

I understand, Mr. Mulvaney, that you espouse Trumpetcare, that you eschew all gun regulations.  A regular bloke ye are, Mr. M … everyone should wear a pistol on their hip, nobody should be able to afford their life-saving medications, and what the heck … because in ten years or less, we won’t be able to breathe the air or drink the water anyway, right?  Might as well have some fun while we can, rather than try to spend a few bucks to try to preserve the planet for our children and their children.  Speaking of which, I understand you have triplets, Mick … so I guess you don’t like your kids very much, if you are willing to doom them to an unlivable, uninhabitable planet, eh Mick?

“We can’t do that anymore. We can’t spend money on programs just because they sound good. Meals on Wheels sounds great. […] I can’t defend that anymore. We cannot defend that anymore. $20 trillion in debt. We’re going to spend money, we’re going to spend a lot of money but we’re not going to spend it on programs that show they deliver the promises we made to people.”

“They’re supposed to help kids who don’t get fed at home get fed so they do better in school. Guess what? There’s no evidence they’re actually doing that. There’s no evidence they’re helping results, helping kids do better in school, which is what — when we took your money from you to say, we’re going to spend them on after-school program, we justified it by saying these kids will do better in school and get jobs. We have no proof that’s helping.”

In closing, let me just say this, Mr. Mulvaney.  Nether you nor your boss have the first clue what the U.S. taxpayer/citizen/voter wants our government to spend OUR hard-earned money on.  So let me tell you … we want to help people, plain and simple.  We do not want to have the most sophisticated weapons and be prepared to go to war at the drop of a hat.  We want our elderly, our sick, and our disabled to be taken care of.  We want to welcome people of different cultures into our country to enrich our lives and show us how to be a more diverse nation.  And we want you, your boss, and all your co-minions to go back into the rabbit holes from whence you emerged and let us hire some employees who will work hard to really and truly make America even greater than it already was prior to January 20th!

Destruction of HUD, ACA, and EPA … All In A Week’s Work!!! – Part I

Posted on by under Global Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

It is time to stop this madness.  This entire week has been lunacy the likes of which we have never before seen in this country.  First, there is the absolutely horrible healthcare bill I wrote about yesterday that seems to be flying through Congress to ensure that none of us below a certain income level will qualify for affordable healthcare.  Then came the news that Mike Flynn, the man who served for 24 days as National Security Advisor was serving as a foreign agent, lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government, for which he was paid over a half-million dollars, while at the same time working as Trump’s campaign advisor.  Then came the news that Republican Representative from Illinois, John Shimkus objects to the inclusion of prenatal care in the health plan because after all, why should men have to pay for prenatal care when they don’t get pregnant???  And now there is this horrific massacre of what was once known as the Environmental Protection Agency – EPA.  The only possible solution to halt this runaway train we are on is to get rid of the damn engineer.  TRUMP MUST GO!!! epa-runaway-train

 

Last month, a man named Scott Pruitt was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Think about the name of that department.  Environmental. Protection. Agency.  Its sole purpose, its Raison D’être, is to protect the environment.  PROTECT … not destroy.  And yet, Mr. Scott Pruitt does not believe in protecting the environment if it will cost his buddies over at Exxon-Mobil.

Go to the EPA website, and this is what you will see:

“Since the Industrial Revolution began around 1750, human activities have contributed substantially to climate change by adding CO2 and other heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. These greenhouse gas emissions have increased the greenhouse effect and caused Earth’s surface temperature to rise. The primary human activity affecting the amount and rate of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.”

Now, listen to Mr. Pruitt, and this is what you will hear:

“I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” 

This is the voice of the man who leads the EPA, the same man who has sued the very agency he now leads no less than 14 times for a variety of issues, including the Clean Power Act, mercury and air pollution, the agency’s attempts to regulate pollution of waterways, and methane emissions from oil and gas facilities.

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from 2014, which summarized the findings of 2,000 international scientists, states it is “extremely likely” that the steep rise in CO2, along with other greenhouse gases such as methane, has caused most of the global warming experienced since the 1950s. And yet … this buffoon who is over the EPA, who has a law degree, not a science degree, believes he knows better than all 2,000 scientists who worked on the Climate Change report??? And the buffoon sitting in the Oval Office is allowing this to happen right under our very noses?  But wait … that buffoon in the Oval Office announced today that he is proposing to cut the EPA’s budget from $8.2 to $6.1 billion – a 26% cut – in the current year, which would likely reduce staffing by at least 20%.  Remember yesterday when I proposed that Ben Carson had been put in charge of HUD to keep quiet about budget cuts?  Well, looks like Scott Pruitt is to serve much the same function, and more — to disarm the EPA.  He has already explained why he believes he does not need as large a budget … there is no man-made condition to correct, no problems to solve … I guess they will just sit around and eat brownies from now on!

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Pruitt’s comments produced a torrent of criticism from scientists, environmental groups, and even his predecessor at the EPA, Gina McCarthy:

“The world of science is about empirical evidence, not beliefs. When it comes to climate change, the evidence is robust and overwhelmingly clear that the cost of inaction is unacceptably high. Preventing the greatest consequences of climate change is imperative to the health and well-being of all of us who call Earth home. I cannot imagine what additional information the Administrator might want from scientists for him to understand that.”

Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said: “Pruitt has demonstrated that he is unqualified to run the EPA or any agency. There is no doubt whatsoever that the planet is warming, and it is primarily due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and we can demonstrate clearly that the observed warming of the planet would not have occurred without that change in atmospheric composition. These are scientific facts, not opinion, and it is incumbent on politicians to take account of the scientific evidence.”   

epaTrump has previously called the EPA a “disgrace” and promised to reduce it to “tidbits” in order to spark economic growth through additional jobs in the oil, gas, and coal industries, as well as expansion in other industries as environmental regulations are lifted, increasing their corporate profits.  It looks like he has picked just the right man to help him in his devious plan of mass destruction.

Trump & Co. have also threatened … or promised, depending on which side of the coin you stand on … to abolish the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.  But that, and other atrocities, must be saved for Part II of this post, as I cannot squeeze everything into a single post.  Stay tuned as we look at the potential fallout both in the U.S. and across the globe from the decisions being made, and also what this world might look like in 50 years, 100 years, if we stay the course that Trump and Pruitt have chosen.

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