<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/21/trump-environmental-protections-rollback-climate-crisis>
"Donald Trump is using the dying embers of his US presidency to hastily
push through a procession of environmental protection rollbacks that
critics claim will cement his legacy as an unusually destructive force
against the natural world.
Trump has yet to acknowledge his election loss to president-elect Joe
Biden but his administration has been busily finishing off a cavalcade
of regulatory moves to lock in more oil and gas drilling, loosened
protections for wildlife and lax air pollution standards before the
Democrat enters the White House on 20 January.
Trump’s interior department is hastily auctioning off drilling rights to
America’s last large untouched wilderness, the sprawling Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge found in the tundra of northern Alaska. The refuge, home
to polar bears, caribou and 200 species of birds, has been off limits to
fossil fuel companies for decades but the Trump administration is keen
to give out leases to extract the billions of barrels of oil believed to
be in the area’s coastal region.
The leases could result in the release of vast quantities of carbon
emissions as well as upend the long-held lifestyle of the local Gwich’in
tribe, which depends upon the migratory caribou for sustenance. Several
major banks, fiercely lobbied by the Gwich’in and conservationists, have
refused to finance drilling in the refuge but industry groups have
expressed optimism that the area will be carved open."
Via Glyn Moody, who wrote "such an evil man. but relatively easy to
counter: Biden announces he will reverse them all, companies won’t
invest knowing they will lose their money…"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
