New executive order allows federal agencies to bypass environmental laws
marketplace.org
marketplace.org
Something needed to be done. This is heavy handed now, but maybe we can achieve a better balance in the future.
My own opinion is we could (in this situation let’s just pretend to bureaucracy) build the entirety of the NYC subway.
My main reasoning is a) we have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to build underground [1] and b) we have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to build trains [2].
Now a subway is probably harder because you need to combine the two things and there are probably complications to figure out how to build under a city, but I don’t know any further knowledge on the topic.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_and_Reservoir_Plan
[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail
But this isn't new, the Keystone XL debacle pipeline was essentially the same thing that marked a new norm. Propping up these dead industries, mines and pipelines, with typical plutocratic nepotism has to be the most prevalent thing in Washington. And while this speaks to me directly as an environmentalist, I can't help but think of all the BS bailout bankster/corporate welfare we've seen decade after decade despite whatever administration is in office, which is what essentially enables these corporations to lobby the Government to do this in the first place.
Here is a list of 100 environmental protections that are being rolled back, 66 of which are already complete.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-envir...
That's horrible news, I just don't think attributing it to a single administration does anything but distract from the real concern. Hating Trump is not just sensible given his myopic and senseless presidency, its become entirely blase and often just an knee-jerk reaction to the REAL CATASTROPHE Megacorps have inflicted on the Earth, unabated by any administration. I remember when water sources near fracking sites under Obama were catching on fire:
https://reason.com/2013/07/05/the-top-5-lies-about-fracking/
No to mention all the water tables being depleted in Central California, which not just feeds the majority of the US, but also a lot of the rest of the World with food exports.
I think what needs to be implemented is what was proposed with Ecocide legislation and Law and to have it be enforced with the full arsenal of not just lawyers (as most Megacorps can skirt around this and pay a settlement and continue with business as usual) but actually make them lose business licenses and have their Insurances rates balloon 1000X for every infraction and eventually taking their Market Share:
People who argue against this as some anti0business apologist need only see the devastation one single pandemic has caused to the World's economy; thank god we're not at Water War levels that have been spoken about since I did my Undergrad in Biology in the late 2000s.
We have them in earnest in Colorado, and have had it in California since I was born in the mid 80s so I know what its like nearly all of my Life. But if the whole World had this going on simultaneously because we polluted all of the potable water I'm convinced we'd be looking at outright genocides of entire continents by Warlords and the re-introduction of slavery to build and run make-shift desalination plants.
And I honestly don't think that's hyperbole, slavery returned to Libya after the fall of Gadaffi and Libya was the richest nation in Africa and often referred to the Switzerland of Africa.