In regards to a tweet I posted a week ago, I’m discussing Trump’s rollback of US Protections leaving waterways vulnerable to pollution as well as the acceleration of climate change.
As I stated in my tweet, “without this one Earth, we are nothing.” This is a powerful message when you understand the role our Earth plays. Humans need clean air to breathe and to overall sustain our life, same with clean water and available nutrients. Therefore, if we destroy those objects now, what is the point of anything in the future?
In the article by Ellen Knickmeyer it states, the rollback will allow businesses to dump pollutants into newly federally unprotected waterways and fill in some wetlands, threatening public water supplies downstream and harming wildlife and habitat (US News).
The statement above clearly exemplifies the troublesome concerns of endangering the publics water supplies, on top of destroying natural habitats. Brett Hartl, a government affairs director with the Center for Biological Diversity conservation advocacy group, called the changes “a sickening gift to polluters (US News).”
Andrew Wheeler, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, stated this new legislation will allow for the states to step in and set state protections of newly vulnerable waterways, if they choose. I understand the commonality of leaving the decision to the states, I just hope Nebraska legislature is prepared to fight for the clean water rule.
Geoff Gisler, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, fears developers and others will take the announcement as a signal, and move quickly – ‘”get the bulldozers lined up, and day 61 fill in streams and wetlands (US News).”
That statement makes myself fearful for what is to come. For some reasons big corporations cannot wrap their heads around the bottom line. That line is, who are you to sell too when we as a human race have diminished our only resources and can’t do anything to survive without what the Earth has provided? For example; clean water, clean air and clean Earth to plant crops in.
But it doesn’t end just there. What have we done that can’t be undone? In an article published by the New York Times, Climate Change Is Accelerating, Bringing World ‘Dangerously Close’ to Irreversible Change covers just that.
Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, spoke on behalf of the annual state of the global climate report, concluding a decade of what it called exceptional global heat. “It’s more urgent than ever to proceed with mitigation (The New York Times).” But combating greenhouse emissions will change our society drastically. Dr. Taalas said, “The only solution is to get rid of fossil fuels in power production, industry and transportation.”
This would change the society we’ve all grown up in, and humans as a whole would have to relearn how to do almost everything. The way we waste water, purchase one-use plastic objects and the emissions released from our cars are common mistakes we are all guilty of. But how do we change together for a better Earth and more progressive way of life?
It’s up to the states now. Since President Trump has changed the clean water rule in favor of builders, oil and gas developers, farmers and others, it’s up to us and our state continuants to stand-up and fight for our Earth. Without Earth, we are nothing. I just don’t understand how our government, people of power and others don’t understand this concept. We are small people and there are billions of us on this Earth. What makes you so special to think you don’t need clean air, clean water or clean farm ground to feed your family.
You be the judge on what is important, and in my opinion this Earth is pretty damn important for any of this to really even matter.
Cheers.
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