The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
Well, maybe not you. And maybe not me. And maybe not your neighbors or friends or co-workers. But some people wanted it, and there were enough of them to make Donald Trump the president. So when you ponder Trump’s dismantling of the Environmental Protection Agency, keep in mind that somebody somewhere is happy about this.
A report by The Oregonian/OregonLive last week detailed some of Trump’s budget proposals for the EPA. You know, stuff like reducing funding for restoration work on Puget Sound from $28 million to $2 million. Or slashing funding for fighting water pollution on the Great Lakes from $300 million to $10 million. Or eliminating money for the testing of water quality on the nation’s beaches, which is kind of meaningful in this part of the country but might not play well in, say, Nebraska.
All of this should come as no surprise, considering that Trump’s EPA administrator would just as soon gas the entire agency and just be done with it. Or considering that part of the EPA staff is Clark County’s own noted environmental expert, Don Benton. In case you aren’t familiar with Benton, that was sarcasm.
But while Trump’s scorched-earth approach to the environment is exactly what his supporters wanted, it leads to head-shaking disbelief about what in the world has happened to the Republican Party.
You see, it was a Republican, Richard Nixon, who signed the Environmental Protection Agency into existence. It was Nixon who approved a bill to “create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony.” Today, that would lead the true believers to call him a RINO; in 1970, it generated bipartisan support because even members of Congress realized that emissions belching from smokestacks might not be all that healthy for residents and local wildlife.
A conservative approach
This dichotomy between then and now is particularly interesting in the wake of a recent guest editorial in the Wall Street Journal. George Schultz and James Baker, writing on behalf of the new Climate Leadership Council, put forth a conservative approach to dealing with climate change.
Considering that Schultz and Baker both served as secretary of state under Republican presidents, they have pretty good conservative credentials. But writing that a carbon tax upon polluting industries would be preferable to cumbersome regulations — and claiming that a tax “would free companies to find the most efficient way to reduce their carbon footprint” — just might get them kicked out of the club. Heck, simply postulating that climate change might be a real issue is enough to get their membership cards revoked.
Schultz and Baker both served under Ronald Reagan, and they note that Reagan played a leading role in the Montreal Protocol to help protect the ozone layer. But that was then. Now, even Reagan’s conservative credentials would be called into question.
Sure, we can argue all we want about climate change — and we have. Meanwhile, Antarctica hit 63 degrees this week. That’s a record, in case you were wondering.
So, while we ponder whether or not climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese, it is instructive to remember that somebody somewhere is happy to have the EPA drawn and quartered by the new administration. Reports say that Trump hopes to slash 3,000 jobs from the agency and cut its budget by $2 billion. Who needs clean air and clean water when we can boost a military budget that already is larger than the next seven countries combined?
All of this represents the typical wrangling that goes on in Washington, the push and pull between competing agendas. And the fact is that those who win the elections set the agendas and their supporters get to be happy about it.
In the end, despite the apoplectic reaction from opponents, it will all work out. The sky will not fall with Donald Trump as president; it will just be a little dirtier.
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