Looking At Ourselves
An (almost) mature bald eagle staring right at my soul - photo by author
This bird survived extinction and I was lucky enough to catch this most beautiful gaze because we chose to protect its ancestors. (Well, also because he chose to stare at me like this for a while, but that's another story.) Without those protections back then, we wouldn't have these interactions. I'm grateful to all those who went against the grain back in the 70s to pass the policies and the Endangered Species Act to protect our bald eagles. OUR bald eagles, OURs, all of us.
The clean water he needs is the water we drink. The wild forests he nests in create the air we breathe. The land he hunts gives us the food we eat.
His fate and ours have always been the same story.
You can look at him as being symbolic, this is the truth for every single species we come across, from foxes to whales to bats to bears and everything else. Every threat that collapses ecosystems around us threatens us, too. The policies that kill them kill us. You don't have to love wildlife to protect them. You only need to love yourself, or your kids, or your grandkids.
Now, while the distraction cameras are pointed elsewhere, policies that protect the air we breathe, the land we eat from, and the water we drink are being dismantled. One by one with big celebrations. They are not conjured, drafted, passed, and celebrated by people who care about you, me, or him.
We need governance over what industry and businesses are allowed to do and not. We even need governance over what the government allows and does not, as we are witnessing in our times. It shouldn’t be as easy as getting an anti-environment pro-industry president to dismantle everything that has been done in years past.
Here are just a few changes in the last month or so:
Current Administration revokes US basis for climate regulation - no more vehicle or industry emissions standards. Whatever carbon is being released, is allowed. Air pollution like it’s the 80s.
Clear the way for clear-cutting in Michigan for mining and logging purposes, endangering multiple endangered species.
Weakening the Clean Water Act protections - removing oversight for multiple pollutants and bodies of water within federal boundaries.
Trump Administration Eliminating Greenhouse Gas Finding that Protects Communities- no more checks and balances on carbon or methane emissions.
Current Administration makes move to weaken the endangered species act from four different angles - the proposed changes make it easier for developers and industry to obtain permits and build on critical areas. The President already signed an Executive Order allowing developers to obtain permits ahead of the changes taking place so they can begin cutting down and decimating the environment as soon as the bill is signed, without delay.
Trump Administration Rolls Back Safeguards Limiting Release of Cancer-Causing Air Pollutant Ethylene Oxide no need for any additional explanation, the article is quite comprehensive.
White House finalizes plan to curb National Environmental Policy Act - removing “unnecessary delays” caused from undertaking impact studies ahead of digging and building. So no delays required when it comes to buildings and polluting industry but delays are required for building renewable energy programs such as solar and wind.
There are so many more… and if you just try to find a whole story, you’ll very easily see there isn’t one. While in the original approach where environmental impact studies were required, the decision makers also heard from the developers and builders, in this situation there is no longer any room for anyone from the environmental and wildlife protection side to speak or raise any concerns. There is simply no room. There is no consideration. If an area is deemed suitable for an industry, a polluting industry that is, since building solar and wind plants are faced with multiple red tape processes, there is no question of any impact, they can start digging tomorrow.
It’s difficult to catch the public comment periods because they are kept so short. And even with that, the 15 day public comment period provided for the Endangered Species act collected over 350,000 comments that they have to go through. The results are expected sometime in the early summer. Stay tuned. Research. Look for the opportunities. There are enough of us who understand and have our eyes wide open with what’s happening and unwilling to sit back and watch as our environment and fellow creatures are being obliterated.
Don't look away.
Pay attention to what matters. Be responsible enough to be curious, be curious to find the truth. Be strong enough to see it. And show the courage to stand up for the truth, for them, and for us.
Photo by Author Titled: Dude, seriously though, WTF?
