Over the past year, during the presidential campaign and the subsequent victory of Donald J. Trump, I have spent an inordinate amount of time wondering whether Trump is simply stupid, bright but profoundly ignorant and unread, or very cleaver while unprecedentedly dishonest.
In retrospect, that was a wasted effort because, regardless of his underlying personal or moral deficiencies, the direction being set for the country by the current administration is nothing short of apocalyptic.
Childish tweeting, unconstitutional Muslim bans, and support for Paul Ryan’s failed draconian health care proposals have been divisive and disgraceful, but will have little long term effect.
Trump’s cabinet appointments are, on the other hand, a much more frightening matter. Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry are united in their disregard for climate science. Left unchallenged, they will have the regulatory authority to implement Trump’s assault on Obama’s progressive measures to limit the escalation of fossil fuel-driven global warming.
This misbegotten administration will not have the last word on man-made climate change, humankind’s most significant challenge. Trump and company will be turned out of office in due course, but the delay of action and the denigration of scientific perspectives imposed by the Trumpists on America and the world may cause such profound harm that it cannot be overcome by a subsequent progressive administration.
The only rational course is to resist regressive anti-science policies and publicly protest at every opportunity. With feckless Republican majorities in the House and Senate, the responsibility for leadership resides in “We the People.”
Michael S. Berry
Durango
