Tag Archives: President Elect Donald Trump
Activists Set Up A ‘Hotline’ For NOAA Climate Scientists To Tattle On Trump
Environmentalist worry over President-elect Donald Trump reached new heights when activists set up an anonymous hotline for government climate scientists to report “political meddling” by the incoming administration. Bloomberg reports “outside scientists are setting up an anonymous hotline for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s employees to report political meddling” over fears Trump could delete public climate data and silence researchers. “I am hearing a lot of worry,” Pew schmoo Andrew Rosenberg, a top activist at the at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in Cambridge, Mass., told Bloomberg. “The worry is that they will be putting another ideologue in place.” UCS set up the hotline for climate scientists in the wake of news Trump’s administration could tamper with taxpayer-funded climate data. Interestingly enough, it’s a rumor they started. Read the rest here 18:06
National monuments should not be one-man shows, must include local input
There is a good argument that one person acting unilaterally should not be able to set aside hundreds of thousands of acres under the guise of conservation without adequate debate or discussion about what makes that acreage so very valuable in its pristine form. Likewise, there is a good argument that one person should not be able to put all those acres back into play without adequate public debate or discussion about why that was the wrong decision. Call it a breakdown of our nation’s system of checks and balances. More specifically, call it a gaping hole in the 110-year-old Antiquities Act. Under the act President Barack Obama has established 28 national monuments –President Bill Clinton designated 19. President George W. Bush created two. Sixteen presidents have used the act to establish national monuments; Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush are the only presidents of either party since 1906 who have not. Read the post here 16:09
American Samoa push to remove marine reserves
American Samoa’s US Congresswoman, Aumua Amata Radewagen, is pushing for the incoming US Government to overturn President Obama’s decision to create marine monuments in the Pacific. The Remote Islands Monuments comprise the largest marine protected area in the world and encompass commercial fishing areas that American Samoa’s fishing industry regard as vital for its survival. Auma met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Thursday. She said she made clear the need for President-elect Donald Trump to rescind President Obama’s executive orders creating and expanding the marine reserves. “So these repeals will be a huge win for us in American Samoa and our fishing community. And I know that the Governor and I are united to reverse these misguided designations.” Link 11:31
Fishermen hope Trump will end Atlantic Ocean’s first marine national monument
New England fishermen who opposed President Barack Obama’s creation of the Atlantic Ocean’s first marine national monument are now hopeful President-elect Donald Trump will abolish it, shrink it or allow some fishing inside it. Environmentalists view the monument as a way to sustain important species, as well as research and reduce the toll of climate change. “We take the monument very seriously and any threats to it are threats, I think, against the national interest,” said Peter Shelley, senior counsel at the Conservation Law Foundation. “We would take appropriate action if and when anything happened, including making a compelling scientific case to the president for the monument.” It’s unclear whether Trump could unilaterally undo a marine monument designation. It hasn’t been done before. There’s precedent, however, to modify a monument. Obama quadrupled the size of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii, also in August, to create the world’s largest oceanic preserve at nearly 600,000 square miles. Read the story here 15:45
Trump victory brings hope for shrimpers
Roger Schmall’s shrimp boat engine lay in pieces on his deck. After the last one, which cost $35,000 came apart after only one trip out to sea, he’s decided to rebuild one himself to make sure it’s done right. Engines usually last 8 to 10 years, but he got a bad one, he said. He’s just got one boat these days, the Kayden Nicole, so his livelihood is tied to a working engine. Schmall’s spent the last 34 years working in the industry, and one of the few left of his ilk. Schmall is one of many local shrimpers who were hit hard when the U.S. began opening up to international trade through deals like the North American Trade Act (NAFTA), passed in 1994. During his campaign and in his 100 day plan which he outlined in his speech at Gettysburg in October, President Elect Donald Trump pledged to withdraw, or at least substantially change, some of the U.S.’s deals with other countries. Read the story here 10:03
