The Trump administration recently made two decisions that will have dire consequences for the environment. The first was to roll back restrictions on methane emissions. Methane traps heat in our atmosphere twenty-five times more effectively than carbon dioxide. Both greenhouse gases indisputably cause global warming.
Trump’s other decision is to open the Tongass National Forest in Alaska to drilling, mining, and lumbering. The trees of this vast region absorb about eight percent of our nation’s carbon dioxide pollution each year. Not only will the forest and the wildlife of the area suffer, but so will we all as our leadership pushes us ever closer to the tipping point of climate catastrophe.
These two initiatives display a shocking disregard for science and for the well-being of Americans. Instead of taking responsible action to protect future generations, Trump doubles down on the side of polluters. Are greenbacks the only green things Trump respects?
Kurt Merchant
Martinsville
