While a residential community, where I live abounds in wildlife. From the Muscovy duck families, highlighted by the 2 all-white babies that were born recently. The Egyptian geese who mate for life, always travel in pairs, and have a signature honk. The opossums that roam the land, mostly at night, and are part of the eco-system balance in our little corner of the world. The Heron cranes and Ibis that feed where they can. The sound of so many different birds as they greet the morning and bid a temporary farewell in the evening.
As I’ve matured, I appreciate more of Mother Nature every day. I seek out her signs of life, and respect them in every form. I’m the guy who will fill the bird feeders and carry treats for those ducks always quacking about for anything that falls.
The places I’ve been, the things I’ve seen, the wonder of it all around me and that delicate balance between human and animal has struck me as another reason why I fear having Donald Trump once again at the helm of protecting what is truly unique and special about America.
Her wildlife. Her unique environmental diversity. The glorious ecological canvas that spreads out before us on a daily basis. The magnificence of painted deserts and lush green fields. Now more at risk than at any time in the history of this country.
The beauty that Trump and his henchmen have sought to whitewash, drill into, and destroy since their first administration and first day in office.
The man and many of his followers have exacted more than a few permanent scars on the land, and undoing them will take years, perhaps even generations. It is all history now, but the possibility of those despicable decisions being a foundation for crimes against nature is once again before us.
Donald Trump’s first administration left an undeniable scar on America’s environmental legacy, chipping away at protections for wildlife and public lands to fuel corporate profits.
His rollbacks of essential environmental policies prioritized business interests over the conservation of endangered species, clean air, and pristine lands that belong to all Americans. The damage was swift and severe, and the repercussions will be felt for decades.
One of the most egregious examples was his revision of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2019. Under the guise of “modernizing” the ESA, Trump weakened critical protections that had safeguarded vulnerable species for decades. This new approach not only allowed for economic considerations when deciding on protections, but also effectively removed the requirement to consider climate change’s impact on habitats.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was thrown open to oil and gas drilling in a move that many environmental advocates condemned as “sacrificial.” This 19.6 million-acre sanctuary has long been a haven for polar bears, migratory birds, and caribou. Yet, in a bid to boost fossil fuel production, Trump’s administration auctioned off drilling rights, putting countless species and delicate ecosystems at risk of long-term harm. According to a 2020 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, these habitats now face dangers from oil spills, habitat fragmentation, and pollution, all risks that disproportionately affect wildlife.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency responsible for overseeing vast tracts of federal lands, became a tool for Trump’s pro-business agenda. Under his administration, the BLM opened over 9 million acres of Western lands, previously designated for conservation or recreational use, to mining and fossil fuel extraction.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a bedrock environmental law, was also gutted, allowing for faster approvals of large infrastructure projects without thorough environmental impact reviews. This change was a boon for corporations eager to sidestep accountability but disastrous for wildlife populations and public health. NEPA rollbacks mean that pipelines, highways, and drilling projects can proceed even if they destroy critical habitats.
All of these are bludgeoning tools Trump gleefully wielded in order to satisfy the greed of his supporters. He was, and seemingly remains, dedicated to ripping into whatever Mother Nature puts in his way of piling on more cash and brownie points with his fellow despicable degraders.
Public lands weren’t just subject to regulatory rollbacks, but were also physically reduced. In 2017, Trump shrank the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah by a combined two million acres, the largest rollback of protected lands in American history. These monuments, rich in cultural artifacts and biodiversity, were intended to preserve both the nation’s natural heritage and the ancestral lands of Indigenous people.
Since Trump’s first go-round, they have been vulnerable to resource extraction. A study by the Center for Western Priorities estimated that opening these lands could produce billions of dollars for mining companies, but at the cost of irreplaceable cultural sites and rare ecosystems.
There is no such thing as “environmentally safe and sound” mining. That’s what happens when you excavate the Earth looking for a vein of something that will cash in. You destroy not just the surface, but what lies beneath and what used it for sustenance. Honestly, one has to be stunningly stupid not to see the reality of Trump's "clean coal" rubbish.
Furthermore, Trump’s decision to dismantle Obama-era climate policies led to higher greenhouse gas emissions and deteriorated air quality nationwide. His administration rolled back the Clean Power Plan, weakened methane regulations, and rolled back fuel-efficiency standards, all of which allow more pollution to reach the atmosphere and harm wildlife. For example, increased carbon emissions and warmer temperatures have contributed to the bleaching of coral reefs and shifting migratory patterns. According to a 2021 study by the Audubon Society, nearly two-thirds of North American bird species are vulnerable to extinction due to climate change, exacerbated by policies that ignore ecological preservation.
In the name of “energy dominance,” the Trump administration also prioritized drilling on federal lands. A 2020 report from the Wilderness Society found that 90% of all federally managed land was available for fossil fuel extraction, leading to the widespread destruction of natural habitats. This approach undermined not only conservation efforts but also America’s long-term economic and environmental sustainability, as these projects threaten biodiversity, pollute water sources, and degrade air quality. The short-term profits secured by fossil fuel companies are nothing compared to the long-term damage inflicted on ecosystems that took millennia to form.
The Republican Party’s embrace of Trump’s anti-environmental agenda and the far-right’s denial of climate science has further entrenched America in a divisive and dangerous environmental future. Trump’s loyalists, particularly within the MAGA movement, have scoffed at environmental regulations, labeling them as barriers to economic growth. They ignore the long-term ecological devastation and public health risks posed by unchecked industrial activity. They treat science as if it were a cancerous disease on their very existence when, in reality, It is MAGA that is the cancer.
The irony here is dark: the very Americans who rely on clean air, water, and access to public lands are those left most vulnerable by these environmental rollbacks.
Where do we go from here? Before his second election, the experts who truly know what’s at stake reported that undoing Trump’s damage would take decades, if it’s even possible. Now. with the man who despises everything that could get in the way of making another buck or two for he and his acolytes, we could be facing an ecological nightmare there is no waking from.
Administrations that follow Trump may try to reverse some of his policies, but ecosystems don’t recover on a presidential timeline. That, and there is no guarantee that once Trump has left the building, the one who ascends may be just as destructive and greedy, perhaps even more. The precedent set by Trump’s first administration, the expected stripping of all
Joe Biden did to bring America back to some semblance of ecological sanity, the goal to see that corporate profits outweigh environmental stewardship, will all empower Trump along with other politicians and corporate interests to disregard environmental protections.
Again.
Thanks to President Biden and a more rational hand on the tiller of American lands, there was hope that those who follow the Trump mantra, certainly the author himself, would have been left to dig their own private holes instead of ruining what makes the country so special. The American electorate, by less than 2%, decided otherwise.
So then, let’s try to be positive. Let’s hope that Trump and his road show decide to focus on other things, or at the very least, don’t try to exact any more damage. If we are to move forward and protect what is here while seeking to not exacerbate what has been wrought, the U.S. must prioritize restoring regulations, respecting protected lands, and investing in sustainable energy. Only through accountability and decisive action can we hope to safeguard our environment for future generations.
We can now only hope, and far too often in the world of Donald Trump, hope left the building with common sense and rational thinking in tow.
The lesson here is a dire one: ecological and wildlife protection must never again be sacrificed at the altar of political gain.
Using his past as prologue, the hope was to ensure Trump and those who blindly follow him would never be allowed again to touch a single feather, bulldoze a single blade of grass, toss waste into a single remaining pristine river bed.
This isn’t about “tree-hugging”. It’s about a balance, one that will allow man, animal and Earth to survive and grow, makes no difference the political affiliations. We’re talking about survival for everyone.
We do not have to destroy what makes America beautiful to make America "great" again, yet another con artist marketing trope.
It’s about the aforementioned common sense, something those who see America as their private pit to dig from and destroy what makes America a place of envy, have never been good at.
There is no reason to believe they’ll see things different this time, and therefore the people and those lawmakers who refuse to knuckle under again, must stand, shout, scream and protect at any cost.
Whether the hammer falls on American's political Left or Right, Ed Berliner takes has no fear or favor in calling out those that deserve to be taken to task. For more from Ed and his guests, subscribe today to the email newsletters "Shakedown Street" and "The Business Beagle". We cover news, sports, politics, social media, social mores, and what makes America tick. Join the conversation by subscribing today.
Comments