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This video. I’m struggling to find the words for why it’s is so dang maddening, and I think it's this: THE MOST ANTI-NATURE PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY IS CAMPAIGNING ON A RECORD OF CONSERVATION. Nope. Gotta take the claims one by one. https://twitter.com/SecBernhardt/status/1321174874426167297
Secured $900M in conservation funding forever? Sure – thanks, Congress! The Trump administration, for their part, consistently proposed to nearly ZERO OUT the Land and Water Conservation Fund in their budgets. The best thing the Trump Admin did for LWCF was get out of the way.
4 million acres open to hunting and fishing? Great! Go ahead and bump that annual announcement from @USFWS. But please also acknowledge that you’re offering oil & gas leases in the very same big game habitat that you purport to care about. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2019/02/14/466218/trump-administration-selling-western-wildlife-corridors-oil-gas-industry/
1 million acres designated as wilderness? Again – thank you, Congress! But something that the Trump Admin is actually really truly in the process of doing? Stripping protections on 34 MILLION ACRES of public lands – an area the size of Florida. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2020/05/21/485260/anti-nature-president-u-s-history/
Most imperiled species recovered in a first term? Congrats on not f’ing up years of collaboration! But please acknowledge your work to gut the Endangered Species Act AND Migratory Bird Treaty Act - actions sure to push more species to the brink. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/04/13/the-trump-administration-officially-clipped-the-wings-of-the-migratory-bird-treaty-act/
Land treated to prevent wildfires? Ok! Next step: acknowledge climate change, which is making wildfires worse every year. Instead, you’re actively suppressing science and propping up the fossil fuel industry. What a waste of 4 years when we don’t have a moment to spare.
Give me a video of oil rigs, set to peppy music, and peppered with some impressive stats about the Trump Admin’s “energy dominance” agenda. (I'll start: 108 million acres of public lands and waters offered to oil/gas companies) https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/417110924baa4f57896165e3f5e96a11
But don’t try to undermine protections for clean air, clean water, wildlife, and public lands from Day One – and then ask me to believe that President Trump cares about conservation.
