Parks At Stake

My heart breaks as I read Trump's An America First Energy Plan; the impending devastation that this threatens to wreak upon America's National Parks is simply gut-wrenching.

"We must take advantage of the estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands that the American people own." -Trump

No, sir, we must not take advantage of these resources, for they are beneath protected lands which, as you said, the American people own. We all own our federal lands, they belong to all, not to you to sell off to oil mongers and fracking companies. We do not want to see these lands clear cut, strip mined, decimated beyond repair just so that some oil company can make a few bucks on what crude resource might lie beneath Yosemite or Grand Teton. This makes me seriously weep. This is why I did not vote for him. We're on the verge of saying goodbye to polar bears because there's oil in the arctic, saying goodbye to bison, wolves, bears, moose, beavers, because there's some natural gas to be fracked under federal land, Yosemite or the Smoky Mountains, saying goodbye to the flora and fauna of Hawaii because there might be something to be dug out of Haleakala, saying goodbye to the ancient trees of Redwood National Forest, Sequoia, because there might be something under the ground that we can burn up, stick in our gas tanks.



This is now the state of things. This is what we are up against. As an environmentalist, lover of nature, as a sensible human with an eye to the future, as someone who sheds tears when we lose another animal to extinction, someone who worries for the loss of habitat due to global warming, loss of glaciers, acidification of oceans and bleaching of coral reefs, this type of mentality that we need to treat the Earth like an exploitable enemy instead of respecting, nurturing and caring for it just hurts my heart, it hurts me at my core.

Disconcerting too is the fact that the Climate Change page and all mention of it has been scrubbed from whitehouse.gov, along with LQBTQ protections and the Civil Rights pages. There is an effort to reverse the progress we've all collectively made toward making this a more just, tolerant, thriving and prosperous world, both civically as well as environmentally. As this blog's focus is nature, the outdoors, clearly the environmental havoc that is about to be unleashed concerns me, but as a fellow human being and citizen, I want to see those around me treated fairly and equally and enjoy the same rights as anyone else. This disregard for all the things that I hold dear, from my friends and family, neighbors, and fellow citizens to the great outdoors, nature in all its glory and beauty and nuance and diversity of life, I fear for the future at this moment. I fear that my daughter may not have the natural wonders to enjoy, Sequoia park, Chattahoochee National Forest, the Blue Ridge Mountains, because some prospector might find a well of untapped oil down beneath the Poplars and Loblolly pines, beneath the trout streams and hiking trails, one of our President's friends might want to do some fracking, but there are these ancient, splendid, towering trees in his way so they're now standing in the way of "progress." There are some things that should be off limits to our destructive hand if for no other reason than the fact that some, nay, most, destruction is permanent. We will not be able to get these treasures back once they are gone. And for what? Some oil in a car's gas tank? Preposterous! Simply buy an electric car. Natural gas to heat a home? Nope, I've got wind energy thanks to Arcadia Power.

We can do better than this. We need to do more to try to protect the environment, the assault has strengthened and we need to stand up and fight back. My resolve is strengthened to continue to do my part for the environment, even finding ways to do more. The other day, MLK Day, in fact, National Day of Service, I spent time at Oakland Cemetery working with Trees Atlanta and a myriad of volunteers, planting, digging, etc. and I intend to perform many more hours of hard labor, invest sweat equity into environmental causes around Atlanta. Please join me in this effort!

Go out and get your hands dirty! If you're looking for a place to start, please check out Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Trees Atlanta, Earth Share Georgia, Georgia Water Coalition, donate to these groups, or volunteer your time, or donate to National Parks Foundation or any number of other environmental nonprofit groups. I like to believe that if we all step up, we will stand a chance at protecting our environment, our Earth, ourselves even. Peace.