A new administration means new environmental policies. Please read on to learn about Donald’s Trump and his administration’s environmental records. And be sure to donate to SAVE THE FROGS! if you want us to have the means with which to improve the state of the environment, even while the Trump team works actively to destroy it.
“I like your principles and all of us will have to fight harder than ever with the anti-environmental mess that this new administration will be. I have been sick thinking about all this since the election”.
– Michelle B.
Frog Art: We Have Rights Too – by Suhailkt, India
Donald Trump Eats Frog’s Legs
On November 29th, 2016, Donald Trump, Mitt Romney, and Reince Priebus (White House chief of staff), dined at Jean-Georges Restaurant inside the Trump International Hotel in New York City. For an appetizer, they ordered young garlic soup with thyme and sautéed frog legs. The approximate cost for each meal was $215. President Trump is likely profiting from the sale of frog legs in the restaurant, which is based inside a property he owns.
Learn more at:
CNN
New York Daily News
New York Magazine
Frog Art from the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest by Hana Sae
Secretary of the Department of the Interior Ryan Zinke wants more drilling on public land
Ryan Zinke has a history of voting to expand fossil fuel exploration on public lands and weakening environmental regulations. Zinke co-sponsored a bill to take away all protections from highly-endangered Mexican wolves & attempted to kick all grey wolves off of the endangered species list. He has stood in the way of protections for sage grouse; he fought to open more public lands to trapping and opposed efforts to end the bloody ivory trade. He is currently attempting to overturn a court’s order to protect Montana’s lynx. If this goes through, he would expose all of the nation’s endangered species to his wildlife-last, polluters-first priorities. To top it all off, Zinke believes volcanoes cause climate change.
(Sources: Endangered Species Coalition, Wired, The Verge, The Wall Street Journal)
Frog Art from the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest by Ala Lockhart
Climate Change Denier Scott Pruitt to Lead the EPA
Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier, is to lead the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). He was a key creator in the legal battle against Obama’s climate change policies; he worked secretly with some of the largest oil and gas companies in order to put a stop to Obama administration’s regulations on air emissions, water pollution and endangered animals. These regulations that he was trying to stop are within the agency that he will now be leading. Earlier in 2016, Pruitt wrote in the National Review: “Scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind. That debate should be encouraged – in classrooms, public forums, and the halls of Congress. It should not be silenced with threats of prosecution. Dissent is not a crime.” Trump said on FOX News regarding the EPA: “We are going to get rid of it in almost every form, we’re going to have little tidbits left.”
(Sources: NY Times, FOX News, CNN)
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the CEO of Exxon Mobil
In 2013, Tillerson said, “If you examine the temperature record of the last decade, it really hasn’t changed.” In 2015 he suggested that it could be beneficial to wait for better science before taking action on climate change. In 1983, Exxon cut funding for climate research from approximately $900,000 per year to $150,000 per year. In 1998, ExxonMobil funded “Think Tank”, who co-published a petition challenging the consensus around climate change. The company announced in 2008 that it would stop funding climate-denying groups, yet funding continues in the millions of dollars.
Learn more at:
Oxfam
The Guardian
Frog Art from the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest by Ammy Nguyen
Trump’s Energy Plan: “Clean Coal” and Fracking
In his first video address as President-elect, Donald Trump made his energy plans very clear, focusing on coal and fracking, and making no mention of alternative energy sources. Trump is under the impression that there is such a thing as clean coal. No coal is clean. Trump uses the euphemism “shale” to hide the fact that he plans to increase fracking (hydraulic fracturing), widely known to cause significant harm to human and environmental health. “I will bring our energy companies back. They’ll pay off our national debt.” Also listen to Trump discuss energy during his presidential debate video.
When asked whether Trump plans to roll back environmental regulations, Trump’s Counselor Kellyanne Conway replied, “Possibly, yes.”
– Time Magazine, January 20th, 2017
Trump Seeks Names of Climate Scientists
The US Department of Energy said in December 2016 that it will not provide the Trump administration with the list they requested of people who worked on climate change issues. The Department refuses to reveal names because of concerns about what the incoming administration will do with them. They have stated, “We will be forthcoming with all publicly-available information with the transition team. We will not be providing any individual names to the transition team.”
Learn more:
Washington Post
Reuters
Frog Art from the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest by Ala Lockhart
Rick Perry, Secretary of the Department of Energy, has Proposed Eliminating the Department
Rick Perry will head the Department of Energy. During Perry’s bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Perry proposed eliminating the entire department. Learn more in The Guardian.
This article created with the assistance of SAVE THE FROGS! Volunteer Kiana Zemenchik.