A Selection of Readings

Whew, my life has been very busy socially and professionally of late, and I've let blogging slip a little!  Here is a selection of readings on our current environmental problems to make up for it:

Era of 'Biological Annihiliation' Is Underway, Scientists Warn

Environmental Defenders Being Killed in Record Numbers Globally, New Research Reveals

Scott Pruitt Is Carrying Out His E.P.A. Agenda in Secret, Critics Say

The Lords Of Yesterday Are Back And They Want America's Public Land

Shipping Executive: ‘We Have Deliberately Misled Public on Climate’

Trump-Era Environmental Damage

In case you haven't been following along (I do understand the appeal of attempting to ignore that Trump is in charge of the USA), here's a list put together by The New York Times compiling twenty-three environmental laws, regulations, and policies that Trump has overturned in the first hundred days of his presidency.  At least Elon Musk is trying his best to get humanity to Mars, since it seems like it'd be best if we just left Earth to the rest of the species that inhabit it and move to a lifeless planet that won't suffer as much from our short-sighted and morally questionable leadership.

The EPA Was Just Frozen by the New US Administration

The Environmental Protection Agency was just frozen, "temporarily halt[ing] all contracts, grants and interagency agreements."  It's also been placed under a media blackout.  I cannot emphasize enough how problematic this is not only for its immediate effect but also for the implications this action has in conjunction with other decisions and promises - including sharply increasing drilling and mining operations in previously protected land - already made by Trump and his team.  This will lead to short-term financial profit at the short-, middle-, and long-term expense of catastrophic environmental mismanagement.  It's not a unique decision, unfortunately, but it is still a deeply wrong one to make.