Today we're going to look at 25 policy changes
that the Trump administration has done or tried to do
thus far pertaining to the global environment
and how that relates to your health
and the health of the global ecosystem.
And as is the verbiage of the current generation—
It is time to get woke.
So firstly, let me tell you
why this video jumped to the top of my list to produce
and some history as to why the United States has had
strict restrictions for protecting the environment.
And it began a few weeks ago
when I was having a discussion with one of my Patrons.
And we were talking about how
environmental issues in the U.S. are much more polarized
and less bipartisan than they were when, say,
Bush was campaigning in the late 80's
promoting environmental stewardship.
Yes! Not many years back,
as some of you older viewers probably remember,
Republicans and Democrats were in much more agreement
about seeking remedies to our anthropogenic injustices to nature.
And then the Tea Party happened
and the Trump administration—
and that gap on environmental issues really started to widen.
So that Patron and I began discussing
how the Environmental Protection Agency—the EPA—
is now under assault by the Trump administration
and what vulnerabilities that will cause to our health,
the health of our children,
and the health of the ecosystem here in the United States
but also across the globe.
And I wasn't around in 1970 when the EPA was formed.
But again, I'm sure some of you older viewers remember
the absolutely deplorable conditions of our rivers,
our cities, our lands
before the EPA was imposing these
federal restrictions on individual polluters
that not only protected our health
and the health of the environment
but it also protected companies because they were liable
for all of these people getting sick and dying.
I remember my father telling me about the
Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969—
a river that was so polluted with oil and toxic waste—and sewage,
that it caught fire around a dozen times before that.
Man narrator - "The Cuyahoga River, as it reaches Lake Erie,
after one-hundred mile twisting and turning journey from its headwaters,
is an exhausted stream—
abused and misused by man and his machines."
And my grandmother,
who has spent the last 50 years
living near the Potomac River right next to D.C.,
told me that the river was so polluted from sewage
as well as agriculture and mining waste
that it smelled horrible
and it couldn't even sustain healthy fish populations.
The Clean Water Act of 1972 is the reason why
we don't hear about our rivers catching fire anymore
and why the Potomac River is now no longer considered,
as former President Lyndon Johnson once said,
a "national disgrace."
♪
Los Angeles used to have smog so bad
it was notorious.
It was the most polluted basin in the United States.
Our air became cleaner under the Clean Air Act
and the newly founded EPA that was
consolidating federal enforcements for protecting the environment.
And a recent study done on millennials who grew up in Southern California
—that's my generation—people born in the late 80's to early 90's.
This study showed that these millennials were 50% less likely
to have developed a serious lung deficit
compared to those people who grew up in the late 90's.
Now that is a strong parallel between cleaner air and healthier lungs.
So if you're a millennial and you do not have a serious deficit—
there is a chance that the EPA
and the Clean Air Act are to thank.
And now we have a Trump administration
that is working very hard to dismantle and gut the EPA,
an organization that has been restoring
a healthier environment and saving our lives.
So as that conversation with my Patron progressed,
we began wondering how this dismantling of the EPA—
and what dire ramifications
that will cause to our health and the health of our children.
And eventually I was asked,
"Do you think Donald Trump hates nature?"
And of course that question is hyperbolic
but it did have me wondering:
Does Donald Trump have any genuine concern for nature—
where here I suppose we would have to define nature as
the global environment, including the entire ecosystem
and all of its living inhabitants.
But Trump has said and I quote,
"As someone who cares deeply about the environment, which I do..."
Well that does seem reassuring but
if there's one thing we've learned about Donald Trump thus far,
it's that he has a proclivity for lying,
for spewing falsified information to please a crowd or even cause an uproar.
The Washington Post's Fact Checker
has generously been keeping track of all these falsities
and I suggest you check that out sometime,
as well as National Geographic's timeline
on how Trump is affecting policies
regarding science and the environment. I will put those links down below.
And when it comes to Trump,
environmental issues just seem to get lost
amongst the tantrum of Tweets,
the alleged affairs,
the overt sexism,
[Trump speaking] : "You can do anything…grab 'em by the p****."
—the mental competencies,
and the plethora of other issues.
And even though all of that should be addressed
with fair criticism and reaction,
I believe that the state of our global ecosystem,
our environment should not be ignored.
It should not be sidelined.
This is a priority issue.
It is THE priority issue
considering the existential dependencies of all of our lives
and the lives of millions of other species.
Okay, let's take a look at these 25 policy changes
—good and bad—
and you can decide for yourself whether or not
Trump and his administration
are trying to grab Mother Nature by the pu—
[♪ theme music ♪]
Hey there! I am Koaw of Koaw Nature
where we are spreading knowledge about nature,
science, adventures in the outdoors,
and of course in this episode,
how U.S. politics are impacting
the ecological aspects of the world that we live in.
So subscribe, like, share this video and all of that.
And of course all of my sources are below.
Let's get into this.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪]
In short time after Trump lost the popular vote
but won the presidency—
—'cause that makes sense, right?
scientists and journalists worried the oncoming administration
would delete valuable scientific data,
thus the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative
and other data refuges came into place.
A later report by the EDGI
shows that although governmental websites
have been forced by Trump to be censored and altered
when it comes to mentioning climate change,
no deletions of scientific data sets have occurred.
So basically Trump and his administration
are trying to censor from you
what is the greatest threat
that humanity has ever faced.
But you're smarter than that—I know.
[♪deep transition tune ♪]
Trump issues memoranda to hasten
the constructing of the Dakota Access
and Keystone XL Pipelines,
of which the Obama administration had previously delayed
citing its negative impacts
towards our progress on climate change initiatives.
In March the Keystone XL Pipeline would be approved.
In November of 2017, the Keystone Pipeline leaked
about 407,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota.
And not but a couple of days ago
after I got this script going,
a federal judge in Montana said,
(paraphrasing) 'Hey Trump--
You ignored the actualities of climate change.
You didn't look at the science
and you are not following the books
when it comes to building the Keystone XL pipeline.
So, I'm putting a halt on it.'
You'll see the trend.
But Trump and the fossil fuel industry are like this:
They are very, very close.
[♪deep transition tune ♪]
Not hiding his agenda
to pull away from renewable energy development
and instead promote fossil fuels,
especially that of coal,
Trump appoints ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson
as Secretary of State.
And let's keep in mind that
Exxon was a company in the 1970's
doing unprecedented research on greenhouse gas emissions.
That company was on the forefront
of understanding that climate change existed—
and what did they do?
They hid this information from the world
and then they proceeded to deny its existence for profits.
And Rex and Donald would have a falling out later
[♪deep transition tune ♪]
Trump signs a joint resolution
that eliminated the U.S. Department of the Interior's
"Stream Protection Rule,"
that was meant to place stricter restrictions
on how mining waste enters nearby waterways.
It was a burden to these polluting industries
and it got revoked
[♪deep transition tune ♪]
Trump nominates Scott Pruitt to head the EPA,
a man who spent a good portion
of his career suing the EPA
and who has close ties with oil and gas companies.
And so it would make sense that a president
who called global warming a "hoax"
would nominate a man like Scott Pruitt
who does not believe that carbon dioxide
is a primary contributor to
our rising global temperatures.
And just in case you are unaware—
but I'm sure you probably know this:
There is an international agreement among scientists
that our rising (atmospheric) carbon levels
are connected to our rising global temperatures.
We, as in humans,
are causing climate change.
A great resource offering understandable
and scientific-based information about climate change
comes from 350.org.
They do great work.
So if you need to understand more about climate change
or even what it is,
or even how to discuss it,
check out their resources—they do some great work.
I'll put that link below.
[♪ light transition tune ♪]
Trump donates a quarter of his salary
to the National Parks Service.
So that does seem like a genuine gesture
and that is a good thing.
And for someone like me—
yeah, that's a lot of money but
coming from a billionaire—no.
Or thinking about how much money
the National Parks Service actually needs—no.
And if you look at—
that doesn't even cover the airfare
and security costs of flying Donald Trump
down to Florida so that he can go golfing.
[♪deep transition tune ♪]
Trump announces his new budget
that suggests severely cutting the funding
going towards scientific research
and programs that protect the environment.
Under the budget plan,
the EPA would receive a 31% decrease in funding.
The Interior Department a 12% cut
and the Department of Energy a 6% cut.
So when I see cuts like this
not only attacking scientific progress
but also directly attacking
programs that protect my health,
my family's health,
my communities health,
it hurts.
But we must also keep in mind that
these are proposed budgets—
not actually what happens.
Even what has been,
before our recent election,
a Republican dominated congress—
they have been rational enough to be rejecting
most of what Donald Trump and his administration
have been proposing.
But as I believe you have probably known before
or are starting to see now,
the stance of the Trump administration
on environmental policies
remains very conspicuous nonetheless.
[ ♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
[ ♪ somber music ♪ ]
Trump announces his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord
of which the United States and 194 other countries
had joined to unify
towards curbing climate change
and lessening greenhouse gas emissions
because the world understands
that climate change is real and it is scary.
Now, when I read this statement,
like what happens when I read many of Donald Trump's statements,
is that a sense of bafflement overcomes me.
I am dumbfounded
wondering how a man with so much ignorance
about his own country, as well as the world,
holds what used to be such a
respected position of power within the world.
On this day, when he announced that
he was going to withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord,
not only did he relinquish
the United States' leadership role
on climate change initiatives
but we also lost the respect
of so many peoples
and so many world leaders.
Here are some words
as he bailed on the United States' promises to the world:
"The United States, under the Trump administration,
will continue to be the cleanest
and most environmentally friendly country on Earth.
We'll be the cleanest.
We're going to have the cleanest air."
Yeah, that sounds great, but once again,
that is all BS.
In no way has the U.S. or is the U.S. now
the most environmentally friendly
and cleanest country on Earth.
And there is no way we will even approach that mark
if we continue to divert funding away
from renewable energy resources
and pump more money into industries like coal
—exactly what Trump is doing right now.
And Trump loves talking about 'clean coal'
but clean coal does not exist
because mining and burning coal,
even with the new techniques,
is anything but clean.
And yes, if you're a coal miner that was out of work
or one that is currently in the industry
—yeah, you might have some job stability for a little bit
under the Trump administration.
But your health,
the health of your children,
the health of your community will suffer.
And there is no reason that jobs
could not have opened up in the renewable energy sector.
And we humans burning fossil fuels
that contributes to the greenhouse effect is,
without a doubt,
the number one causation of our rapidly changing climate.
We will see more floods,
more heatwaves,
more fires,
more droughts,
more famine,
more intense storms,
more dying reefs,
more extinctions,
and more wars.
Yes this situation is absolutely terrifying.
And here in the United States
we have an administration
that is not seeking to solve these problems
but instead making them more severe.
[♪ light transition tune ♪ ]
After being sued by 15 states and the District of Columbia,
the Trump Administration's EPA said
they would undo the decision to delay
Obama-era regulations to clean up the ozone.
So, that's a good thing for the ozone
—they had to be sued first—but that's a good thing.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
Trump and Pruitt's EPA declare that
they will eliminate the Obama Administration's
Clean Power Plan.
And as you probably know,
the CPP was designed to
clean up the U.S. power sector's
carbon footprint.
And this plan,
as ambitious and as great as it could have been
—it never really had a foothold in the first place.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
Trump decides to reduce national monuments
which are large areas of land
preserving beautiful wildernesses
and habits for many creatures
as well as lands with deep ties to our native cultures.
Bear Ears National Monument was reduced by 85%
and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
by almost 47%.
Why?
well...
You've guessed it!
Fossil fuel extractions.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
Trump no longer allows climate change
to be listed as a national security threat.
For real?
This is the largest national security threat
or global security threat humanity has ever faced.
And former Secretary of State John Kerry
said it so well when he described climate change:
"In a sense, climate change can now be considered
the world's largest weapon of mass destruction,
perhaps even the world's most fearsome
weapon of mass destruction."
And that's not an exaggeration.
Even for us people that live in the United States,
a well-off, developed country,
we are not going to be immune to these changes.
We are seeing them now.
Right now California is burning like crazy as it has been.
We are breaking record temperatures
all the time now.
The hurricanes—the severity of those—
All of this will get progressively worse.
And many, many peoples, animals, habitats will suffer.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
Trump's EPA dropped the 'once in, always in' policy
that set to lock in hazardous air pollutants
from industrial sources.
Basically, this one was a policy that
prevented companies from taking advantage of a loophole
when it came to their toxic emissions.
And it was the Clean Air Director at the NRDC that
said it well when he said,
"This is among the most dangerous actions
that the Trump EPA has taken yet
against public health."
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
More budget cuts:
Trump proposes budgets cuts to programs
focusing on clean-energy and climate.
This includes the Global Climate Change Initiative,
the EPA's Report on the Environment,
and Human Health Risk Assessment.
So while it was knocking down funding
for these programs
it was promoting more funding for fossil fuels
including that of coal,
a dying industry—a dying dirty industry.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
Pruitt announces the future rollback
of car emissions standards because
well, it's a thorn in the butt
of the automobile industry.
So this is a big step backwards
but there are states,
like California, a state that,
as you know,
already is aware of the terrible health problems
that arise from dirty air
and so they will be imposing stricter standards.
And keep in mind too, there are companies within the automobile industry
that want these strict restrictions
because they know it's going to be inevitable in time.
It's needed. It's necessary.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
[♪ soft music ♪ ]
Trump proposes tweaking the Endangered Species Act
because it is a burden to businesses.
Well first let's take a look
at a handful of species
saved by the Endangered Species Act.
♪ ♪
And whether or not
the ESA needs clarification and updating,
this is just not the administration
to be doing such a thing.
That is like letting a bunch of meth junkies
watch over your kids' daycare center.
They don't care about the kids
and all they care about is getting more money
to get more dangerous chemicals
to spend on hedonistic purposes.
It's not a win.
So let's just look at some species
that the Center for Biological Diversity claims that
Trump and his administration are driving extinct
via their policy changes.
♪ ♪
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
Adding more contradictions
to the actions of the Trump Administration,
an environmental impact statement
released by the NHTSA
suggests by the end of the century
our planet will warm by seven degrees Fahrenheit
or about four degrees Celsius.
So if you're like me,
your head must be spinning.
Whether you read this a couple months ago
or you're hearing it now.
Not only have they admitted that this
global warming is occurring but
they're using it to
justify their rollbacks of car emissions standards.
They're saying that—
This extreme global warming is inevitable
and any changes we make
to emissions standards are
sort of irrelevant in the grand scheme of things
so why should we force our industries to pay more money?
They have given up trying.
That's what it sounds like.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
Trump's EPA decides to squash federal rules
on coal power plants, giving regulatory authority to each state.
So yes, some states would indeed make even
more restrictive rules
on the emissions they would allow into the environment
but coal-rich states, like West Virginia,
would lessen their rules.
So this is just another example of Trump
and his administration dismantling
and revamping a system so that
he is able to satisfy his constituents,
especially those in the coal industry.
And-
just losing the federal authority on this
fragments a situation. It's messy now.
It is dirty
in the literal sense and figurative sense of the word.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
Trump's EPA reduces requirements on energy companies
and their methane monitoring and mitigation.
So as you probably know,
methane is worse than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
That is, methane is better at trapping in heat
into our atmosphere than CO2. [sighs]
[♪ light transition tune ♪ ]
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke
added 20 years to a ban on mining 30,000 acres of land
near Yellowstone Park in Montana.
That's cool and that is a good thing
but I think Aaron Weiss' of Center for Western Priorities
said it well when he said,
"Secretary Zinke always seems to support conservation
in his home state of Montana,
while backing the most aggressive forms
of industrial development in the other 49 states."
Remember those national monuments that got slashed.
Yeah.
And Ryan Zinke is an oddity.
Why? Well—
He used to be for clean energy.
He used to be for legislations addressing climate change.
And then his tune shifted
and he said,
"…it's not a hoax but it's not proven science either."
Yes Ryan, the science is there.
It's quite real.
And we have plenty of data to back it up.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
The Trump EPA says it will disband
an air pollution review panel.
It will be replaced by a seven member panel
with what conservationists say
only has one independent researcher.
Again this is just a way that
Trump is able to support his constituents
in the polluting industries
and it will directly impact our health
in a negative way.
It's like playing a game of football
but firing all of the referees except for one beforehand.
[♪ light transition tune ♪ ]
Amending the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
Marine Debris Act,
Trump signs the Save Our Seas Act
that works to clean plastics from the world's ocean water.
I love this act. I love the one it is amending.
This is a good thing indeed.
But it's not like Trump wouldn't sign it
as it passed the Senate unanimously.
And I love bipartisan support on issues like this
—so props to both parties.
[♪ light transition tune ♪ ]
Trump puts a signature on the Water Infrastructure Act of 2018.
This act will upgrade wastewater
as well as systems for drinking and irrigation
as well as help organize what projects
can and cannot be reasonably accomplished.
I believe this act will do some good things
for our health and the health of our
local ecosystems here in the United States.
And again this one almost passed
the Senate unanimously with a 99-1 ratio.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
The federally-controlled Artic will receive its first offshore oil wells.
And this is just absolutely terrible.
Besides the noise, water and air pollution
that will come from the drilling and sea traffic,
a spill, which is inevitable,
will be near impossible to clean up.
And apparently Trump and his administration
are once again not following the books
when it comes to
the necessary environmental checklists
required for projects like this
as Alli Harvey of the Sierra Club has said,
"Donald Trump and Ryan Zinke are in such a hurry
to sell off the Arctic Refuge for corporate profit
that they're no longer even pretending
they take the legally mandated environmental reviews
of this proposal seriously."
I'm just glad that [ ♪ inspirational music ♪]
organizations like the Sierra Club, Oceana,
the NRDC, 350.org, and so many others
are monitoring and battling
and they're out there helping save our lives
with the lives of millions of other species.
And I hope that you are on the battlefield
in some way or another.
And there are many ways to do that
but first and foremost, it's about understanding
the actualities of our world.
And so that
if you understand that climate change
is real and it's happening,
that is actually a big step.
There are many people
that are ignorant to this fact in the world.
And if you had voted for Donald Trump
and you care about the environment
and you're feeling a little silly, that's okay.
We make mistakes and we move on.
We always try to just better what decisions we make in the future.
[♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
And finally, let's briefly discuss
Trump's gigantic border wall additions
that will more than likely never get constructed,
a fundamental promise to his constituents
during his campaign and even now.
And as a biologist,
when I think of a giant border wall,
aside from all the controversial topics
and reasons it shouldn't be built,
I think of it blocking corridors.
Animals are unable to properly migrate and disseminate—
and plants as well.
It is terrible to have these walls for habitats.
Black bear populations will become
even more at risk because of interbreeding
as they can't find mates across these blocked borders.
The recovery for jaguar populations in the U.S. will be impossible.
Sonoran pronghorn will struggle
and even difficulties are presented to flying creatures
like the ferruginous pygmy owls.
[ ♪ deep transition tune ♪ ]
[ ♪ calm music ♪ ]
Okay, so that wasn't a complete list
but I think you get the point of what
Donald Trump and his administration are trying to do.
Number one:
Support the fossil fuel industry especially that of coal,
a dying industry, while diverting funding and support
for renewable energy resources.
Number two:
Completely disregard
and even try to censor from the people of the United States
of climate change, of the biggest threat that humanity has ever faced.
And number three:
It just seems
making money trumps the lives of
humanity and millions of other species.
Sadly that pun is intended.
So let's go back to my Patron's original question:
'Does Donald Trump hate nature?'
No, I don't think Donald Trump hates nature.
I don't think that he has any genuine concern for nature,
for global environment and its living inhabitants.
I think his intentions are quite clear.
And I haven't decided yet
whether Donald Trump is just too ignorant
to understand the dire setbacks
of what his policy changes will do. [♪ profound music ♪]
Or if he's just too corrupt
as he lies in bed with his wealthy constituents
to even care.
And perhaps it's both.
But either way, on this course,
many people and animals and habitats will die
because of what he is doing.
And as another one of my Patrons pointed out,
a different Patron—
—everything seems to be about winning and losing with Donald Trump.
He loves to win.
So if only we could get him to see
that the true victory is investing money
and time and research into renewable energy
instead of coal and other fossil fuels
that would be amazing.
But I'm not an optimist on that matter
and I am not even an optimist on our
global society's ability to curb climate change.
But that doesn't mean I give up the fight.
And I hope you don't either.
And I hope you don't work backwards
like the Trump administration is doing.
The superstorms are already here
and they're only going to get progressively worse.
The next world war will not be fought over religion,
or political or other ideological differences.
It will be a grand war over resources
as our changing climate makes life very hard.
I really appreciate you watching this video.
And I hope you share it with a friend or family member or even an enemy.
I think we should all be woke on these environmental issues.
So you are welcome to watch another video.
You could subscribe if you wish.
We're a small community but we are growing.
Goodnight. Good day.
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