President Trump Is A Threat To The Planet

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President Trump is a threat not just to America, but to the planet. I’m not talking about his radicalization of the extreme far-right, but his actions regarding the environment. These are less talked about and are often in the shadows of his other, more despicable actions.

"Yes, Donald Trump is a Threat to the Planet"https://t.co/JccGlvNZmo https://t.co/owIT6ZiZfy pic.twitter.com/Jj1G52IY4X

— Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) September 3, 2020

From calling U.S. veterans who lost limbs “losers” and those who died in service to the United States “suckers,” to coming to Louisiana to sell autographs on eBay for hurricane relief (Elon Musk did a better job — he actually gave funds!), to doing blatantly illegal things like telling people to vote twice (a felony) and having political events at the White House at taxpayer cost. All of these actions overshadow some of his hidden atrocities that will not only affect Americans for years to come but also the rest of the world.

If we give Donald Trump another four years in the White House, our planet may never recover. https://t.co/LmOUXuBqPQ

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 2, 2020

In an article in the Huffington Post, leading climate scientist Michael Mann shared his thoughts. He noted that we as a nation have made tremendous progress in the past several years regarding the daunting challenge of climate change. Global carbon emissions are falling while renewables are skyrocketing. And the U.S. was a major part of the Paris agreement that united all nations around the world to focus on averting a global crisis: 2°C planetary warming.

One thing Mann shared in his piece was a choice. We as Americans have a very important choice to make, and it will impact the rest of the world. You may think as you go to the polls or mail in your votes that it doesn’t really affect anyone else — but your choice will be a part of a collective whole. And as this collective whole, we create not only a powerful voice, but the person who we elect will represent us — and so will his actions.

Your choices are:

1. Building on the successes of the Obama administration. This is an administration that achieved major action on climate change while facing outright hostility from Republicans.
2. Fall back into the stone age, embrace fossil fuels, and continue to poison our planet, and ultimately ourselves. We have a chance to move forward or backward. We can progress or regress.

We already selected the second choice back in 2016. No, I didn’t vote for Trump, but even while he lost the popular vote, he was still selected by the Electoral College. The rest of the world — the average folks — don’t really pay attention to the details of our elections. All they may think is that we elected him. And from their points of view, they see a country that chose a madman to run it.

Trump’s Latest Attack On The Environment

Last week, the New York Times reported Trump’s latest attack on the EPA. This toxic administration relaxed the strict Obama-era standards for how coal-fired power plants are able to dispose of wastewater. These standards were there for a reason. The wastewater is full of life-threatening pollutants like lead, selenium, and arsenic, and once they pour into our rivers and streams — which is the source of drinking water for millions of Americans — these waterways will be contaminated.

EPA Administrator (and former coal industry lobbyist) Andrew Wheeler touted this as “more affordable pollution control technologies” that would “reduce pollution and save jobs at the same time.”

I’m sorry, what???

How is allowing toxic wastewater to enter our waterways a “pollution control technology”?! And how is dumping these toxins into the water “reducing” pollution?

This is the work of the swamp, the swampiest swamp the US has seen.

Another attack last week was the Trump administration pushing oil drilling in national forests. This new rule eliminated critical environmental reviews, nixes public participation, and completely removed important Forest Service oversight. The Forest Service has to give consent to the Bureau of Land Management if it decides to give away oil and gas leases. It eliminates site-specific environmental reviews that were required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This rule was originally set up to protect the land from harmful lease sales. Oh, and there’s no more public notice — that requirement has been eliminated. The public now has no say.

These are just two things that happened at the end of August and the beginning of September. And along with the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, these things are mostly overlooked by the average person.

President Trump is a threat to the planet because his greed knows no end. He will destroy this planet because, to him, earth is just a cash cow.

Is anyone paying attention to this? The average person is not. They are much more likely to take notice of Osama bin Ladin’s niece endorsing Donald Trump. So, let’s just wrap up with that.

Trumps Endorsement From Osama bin Laden’s Niece

Trump wins an endorsement from #AlQaeda https://t.co/Fz0Jh47mod

— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) September 5, 2020

Today, it was all over my Twitter feed. Just one more thing to take the spotlight away from the deadly aftermath of Hurricane Laura. I want to be clear — just because someone is related to a notorious criminal doesn’t mean that they are one as well. However, in her interview, it is perhaps noteworthy that bin Laden’s niece, Noor bin Ladin, said that if Trump is to lose the election, America could have another 9/11 attack. Really? Seriously?? Imagine if Obama had gotten that endorsement, or if Biden did now.