This is a disaster
As reported by Vice, and as underreported by everyone else, an Australian think tank published an analysis describing the climate crisis as “a near- to mid-term existential threat to human civilization.” Crikey. What makes this analysis perhaps more staggering is that it wasn’t written by a passionate, lifelong environmentalist; it was indeed co-written by a former senior Shell executive and coal industry bigwig. A former Australian Admiral wrote the forward for the analysis, lending validity to the notion that the climate crisis is more than just an environmental and economic crisis, but a defense, security, and humanitarian one as well.
And while this sort of harrowing report might make an impression upon the politics in Australia, we’re too busy stuck in upside-down land in Trump’s America. Trump is such an ardent fossil fuel fanatic that he practically has spasms and froths at the mouth every time he belches out the word “coal.” He’s deregulated and disregulated drilling and emissions regulations, cut funding for clean energy, and eased regulations on toxic chemicals. Now he wants to treat some pipeline protest as breaking federal law, as reported by Politico. He’s been tightening his grip on the Earth’s throat, and now he’s trying to choke the people who want to protect it from a rogue administration hell-bent on accelerating our trajectory off the cliff. Officially, the Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is proposing this move. That brings us to the head of the Transportation Department.
It’s been reported by the New York Times that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is also somehow married to Satan’s pet tortoise, Mitch McConnell, has deep business ties to China via her family’s shipping business. So now the Department of Transportation’s leadership is proposing unethical measures to combat resistance to oil pipelines that affect the price of fuel, something that is integral to the profit margins of a shipping business. We’re at the mercy of a kleptocratic kakistocracy.
Besides disgusting you, I have a point to make about Trump and his administration more broadly against this corrupt, nefarious backdrop, and it is this: what we know about the corruption going on at the top is only scratching the surface. Every cell in the man’s body, and there are a lot of them, is driven to criminal behavior. Why stop at enriching your fossil fuel pals?
Had President Obama so much as considered going after environmental protestors like this, the House, regardless of who had a majority, would have opened an impeachment inquiry. As I keep saying, the goalposts have moved into another time zone. This is the broken windows theory in action. Let this be a reminder of the importance of securing Trump’s ouster by, at the very latest, 2020. The Earth needs you.
Democracy thrives in snarkiness