The New York Times published a shocking, incredibly thorough piece on December 26, 2018. Kudos to the authors for the painstaking efforts to report on this direct harm being inflicting on so many communities, our children, our future. The link to the full article is included at the end and Smart Dissent highly recommends it as essential reading. Here's a brief summary:
Smart Dissent was hoping to make our last 2018 post a positive one but that's not going to be the case. Instead, let's make sure everyone is aware of what the relatively scandal-free Andrew Wheeler is doing to elminate as many environmental protections as possible while running the Environmental PROTECTION Agency.
Scott Pruitt is gone and now so is Ryan Zinke. That just means their headline news of corruption has ended but the destruction of our environment pushes ahead with full force, stronger than ever. Despite a public dialog on climate change and our future more than ever before, Republicans continue to eliminate every environmental regulation possible to benefit corporations who lobby them.
THIS IS THE SWAMP.
As the Republicans and the Trump administration continues their assault on anything that the Obama administration did, Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) Sonny Perdue set his sights on school lunches almost two years ago. Back in MAY 2017, we posted that Perdue's Republican-led USDA was postponing rules to make school lunches healthier.
Now the next steps have been taken:
Ryan Zinke is the definition of the Swamp. We've written about him so many times it's sickening and we've included links to some of those posts if you scroll down. Finally he is gone from wrecking our environment, national parks, and wildlife although the next up to run the Interior won't be any better, just not as openly corrupt, similar to Wheeler at the EPA. But for now, a moment of good news:
Zinke HAS accomplished much:
There’s the Connecticut casino matter
Another bit of good news, our second post to the database this week with a positive rebuke of Trump and Republicans.
A federal judge temporarily blocked construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, ruling late Thursday [11/8/18] that the Trump administration had failed to justify its decision granting a permit for the 1,200-mile long project designed to connect Canada’s oil sands fields with Texas’s Gulf Coast refineries.
BE SMART ABOUT is an important series highlighting examples of those in power (or in danger of acquiring power) who you need to stay informed about so you can share this knowledge and together we can Be Smart and Actively Dissent.
Today we discuss Bernard McNamee, a CLIMATE CHANGE DENIER, confirmed by the Senate 50-49 last Thursday to fill a vacant seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Trump’s pick to join the nation’s top energy regulator has a significant political agenda.
Rather than doing the soul-searching that should follow a massive electoral loss, Republicans are changing the rules to shield themselves from election outcomes. They are making the government less responsive to the popular will.
In 2016 to little national coverage, North Carolina wrote the playbook Wisconsin and Michigan are using to undermine democracy.
Ben Carson was confirmed as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in March 2017. Carson had zero experience in housing policy, but has said that anyone who questions his qualifications are stupid. He actually said that. Yet here we are and millions ARE SUFFERING as a result.
During the Obama years, Walmart, Barclays, and RBS complained that the admin was being unreasonable about investigations. After Trump took office, they looked to the Trump admin for a more sympathetic ear — and got one