Climate Change vs. Alfred E. Neuman

Those of us who read Mad magazine in our youth each had our favorite regular feature (mine was “Snappy answers to stupid questions”).   The editor and writers referred to themselves as the “usual gang of idiots”.  That title should now be bestowed on the advisors to and cabinet of the Dark Lord in the Oval Office.  They respond to any questions about climate change with the equivalent of Neuman’s famous “What, me worry?”

The proposed 2018 Federal budget includes a 30 % cut in Environmental Protection Agency funding.  Why did the Dark Lord think this was a good idea?  It’s hard to definitively understand the workings of his diseased mind, but in large part it has to do with his advisors and cabinet, AKA the usual gang of idiots.  Am I being overly harsh in applying that label to them?  Consider the following.

• EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has denied that climate change is a reality.  Now he is under investigation by the EPA scientific integrity officer because, during a TV interview in March, he denied the reality of human-caused climate change, which contradicted findings published by his own agency.
• Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has stated that the science describing climate change is a “contrived phony mess”, Earth has begun a cooling trend, and “calling CO2 a pollutant is doing a disservice to the country, and I believe a disservice to the world”.
• Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is even more delusional than Pruitt and Perry.  Zinke has stated that rising ocean temperatures have more to do with climate change than CO2.  Anyone who doesn’t comprehend the total absurdity of that belief should talk to me about buying oceanfront property in Iowa.
• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, prior to taking that position, worked for Exxon as a production engineer.  In 2012, talking about people living in poverty in other countries, he said “They’d love to burn fossil fuels because their quality of life would rise immeasurably.”  He is the same guy who told Exxon shareholders in 2015 that Exxon wouldn’t invest heavily in renewable energy because “we choose not to lose money on purpose”.  He conveniently didn’t mention that fossil fuel has been among the lowest performing stock market sectors for a few years.
• In less than 3 months, the Dark Lord and his toadies have managed to become a worldwide laughing stock.  The investigation by the FBI into ties with Russia of his campaign staff and advisors continues.  He continues to post Tweets that give cause to doubt his capacity to be president, all the while doing everything he can to undo progress that has been made by the previous administration.  Near the end of March, he revoked the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order enacted by Obama to ensure that companies with federal contracts comply with 14 labor and civil rights laws. The Fair Pay order became necessary after a 2010 Government Accountability Office investigation showed that companies with major violations were being awarded millions in federal contracts.

That move by the Dark Lord shouldn’t surprise anyone by this point.  He has proven that he cares more about big business succeeding than almost anything else.  He is an absolute disgrace whose presence in the Oval Office discredits many of those who preceded him as president.

~ Posted by Exile in Medford, Oregon