This April 22nd the concept of Earth Day seemed little more than an afterthought lost in the overwhelming noise of political “news”. As political populism, nationalism, authoritarian and other right wing political movements seem to be spreading around the world, concern for our planet seems to be of vastly reduced concern. In the U.S. the election of President Trump, a climate change denier, has resulted in the withdrawal from the Paris Accord and a decimation of emission regulations and other environmental protections. A recent report1 found that 79% of the the broadcast television network coverage of climate change was was included in reports about President Trump, not coverage of climatic events, or climate science, but about the President belittling climate change and those who believe in its reality. Perhaps the paucity of interest in Earth Day 2018 is a reflection of of the current political environment.
This Earth Day seemed to be more devoid of “traditional” Earth Day activities such as volunteer groups cleaning streams and parks, tree planting, educational and recreational activities that were the hallmark of earlier Earth Days. Or, if such activities did occur, they did not appear to have been widely covered by the press. As they do every named day politicians issued statements; either boasting of their elimination of “job-killing” regulations while still protecting the air and water or’ in what seems to be a sorry excuse for non-action, calling for the resignation of the current leaders of environmental agencies.
In the U.S. President Trump has appointed, and the Republican Senate confirmed, a series of zealots to head government Departments and Agencies. Virtually all appointees for natural resource, scientific, an environmental agencies have a history of calling for the elimination, or substantially reducing the scope, of the agency or department that they now head. And, they are being quite efficient in doing so – inflecting damage that cannot be readily undone, and in some cases can never be reversed. The U.S. elimination of emission and mileage standards and the aggressive promotion of fossil fuels extraction from public lands and offshore areas will have long-lasting, and global, impacts. The degrading of science and the damage to our education system will weaken our scientific and technological capabilities for at least a generation. Perhaps one of the most consequential actions of the Trump administration is the continuing dismantling of government science conducted by Agencies, Institutes and Laboratories. Even if the reductions in funding and personnel were to be reversed tomorrow, much has been lost, long-term studies have been interrupted which at best will result in data gaps, and the expertise gained through experience has been lost. Most significantly, all research organizations, be they “projects”, “laboratories”, “institutes”, or “agencies” develop a so-called “institutional memory”; knowledge that is passed from scientist to scientist, generation to generation and that cannot be duplicated. Science is no long primarily an individual endeavor, but is now most often a collaborative venture incorporating lesson from the past.
The withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Agreement is perhaps the most egregious of the Trump administration’s actions. While the Paris Accord emission targets were largely political targets, rather than scientifically determined, the Agreement represents the first time that the virtually all of Earths nations have agreed to collectively address a common problem. Withdrawal, for strictly political reasons, of the world’s richest country and largest emitter of greenhouse gases is a national disgrace, and sadly a reflection of the Trump Administration’s values. No wonder that we no longer honor Earth Day.
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1.) Kevin Kalhoefer, “How broadcast TV networks covered climate change in 2017“, Media Matters for America, Feb. 12, 2018.
