Filling the Swamp, Both Symbolically and In Fact

 

In my column for the last edition of the Sierra Atlantic, I wrote about the importance of continuing civic engagement after the election to ensure that we keep the pressure on elected officials to pass laws for environmental protection and public health. At that time, we did not know that the Trump administration would be taking the helm on January 20. Now that we know and understand what we’ll face in the next four years, the importance of getting involved is clearer than ever.

 

Based on the choices the Trump administration has presented as potential cabinet members and leaders of federal agencies, we may see one of the greatest assaults on the environment and American people’s health in a long time. Every nomination seemed even bolder than the previous one in terms of the explicit audacity for choosing individuals who apparently have a clear agenda to undermine the role of the designated agency and thereby severely alter it in the interest of private corporations — at the expense of the American people. As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington, but he now populates his cabinet with climate deniers, fossil fuel executives and extreme anti-regulation zealots, including Scott Pruitt for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State and Rick Perry to head the Department of Energy. 

 

According to Pruitt’s own biography as Oklahoma attorney general, he is “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.” The New York Times reported in December 2014 that he had colluded with other state attorneys general to sue the Obama administration on behalf of corporate interests, and even sent to the White House a letter that was penned by lawyers working for Devon Energy (one of Oklahoma’s biggest fossil fuel corporations) and delivered by Devon’s chief lobbyist. Pruitt did not disclose his ghostwriter and it was discovered by The New York Times through a FOIL request. As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt zeroed out the budget for protecting the environment and stopped enforcing environmental safeguards meant to keep Oklahoma communities healthy. In addition to creating the “Federalism Unit” to bring legal challenges against the EPA, Pruitt also dismantled the state’s Environmental Protection Unit. What the “P” for protection under the EPA could bring to New York State and the rest of the country is beyond comprehension. 

 

Trump’s nomination of Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State is equally alarming — and indicates that he has no intention of “draining the swamp.” As CEO of ExxonMobil, he has clear commitment to the fossil fuel industry and has thus fostered a friendly relationship with the Russian government through Vladimir Putin to secure access to resources valued at billions of dollars. The Wall Street Journal reported that Tillerson struck a deal with Russia that would have given ExxonMobil and OAO Rosneft, a Russian state-owned oil company, exclusive access to Arctic resources resulting in a potential $500 bil-lion payout. The deal was blocked by U.S. sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Crimea. Tillerson has worked his entire career for Exxon Mobile — a company that had scientific evidence indicating a link between fossil fuel and global warming as far back as 1977, but chose to cover it up and attempt to prevent policies that would hurt its business interests, as reported by Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times in the fall of 2015.

 

Trump also wants to see former Governor Rick Perry of Texas in charge of the Department of Energy — an agency that Perry infamously stated during a 2011 presidential debate that he wanted to eliminate (along with two other federal agencies) if only he could have remembered its name. Somehow Trump’s nominations seem more of an attempt to mock the American people for their credulousness while simultaneously testing the boundaries for outrageous policies.

 

Despite the impression from the mass media, these nominations require U.S. Senate approval. There is a Senate vetting and confirmation process that is supposed to ensure that nominees are qualified and ready to serve the interests of all Americans. That is where we come in — it’s important that we organize and communicate clearly to our Senators Schumer and Gillibrand that allowing these individuals to fill these cabinet positions is bad for the environment, public health and the American people.

 

Furthermore, these nominations and the need to organize grassroots opposition indicate the importance of both defensive and proactive measures at the state and local levels, and the necessity of our members to be active and engaged. Based on what we’ve seen from Trump so far, federal policies promise to be disastrous, so we need to make sure that our state, county and municipal defenses are strong enough to keep our communities safe.

 

The phrase “all hands on deck” has been invoked often in the last few weeks, and for good reason — it’s a call to all members of a ship's crew to report to the deck immediately, usually in an emergency situation, for the safety and survival of the ship and all who are aboard. To claim now that our ship “America” is sinking is no hyperbole, and we are poised to take the rest of the world with us unless we’re all on hand immediately and ready to work. In this emergency situation, no one can afford to remain below deck.