In the MAGA rush to cut treaties, laws, regulations, taxes, federal employees, grants, humanitarian aid worldwide, etc., who will be making sure no one dumps toxic radioactive wastes?
According to the EPA, “more than 55,000 containers of radioactive wastes were dumped at three ocean sites in the Pacific Ocean between 1946 and 1970. Almost 34,000 containers of radioactive wastes were dumped at three ocean sites off the East Coast of the United States from 1951 to 1962.”
By the 1970s, the United States and other countries became increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts of human activities on the marine environment, including the uncontrolled disposal of wastes into the ocean. The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter of 1972, known as the London Convention, is one of the first international agreements for the protection of the marine environment from human activities.
Currently, some very influential, powerful people see regulations as ‘red-tape’ and bureaucratic roadblocks. According to an article in the New York Times:
The regulatory process is often criticized as onerous and time-consuming and the idea of letting all government regulations expire periodically has been promoted in conservative circles for years. The idea may have gotten a recent boost from Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser to Mr. Trump. “Regulations, basically, should be default gone…And if it turns out that we missed the mark on a regulation, we can always add it back in.”
Wow. So little respect and understanding for how regulations are created to protect our lives and environment- usually after a major disaster occurs. So the “thinking” is to remove existing regulations until the next avoidable calamity occurs? Think again: it will be too little too late to reintroduce regulatory requirements after the next event. Maybe the MAGA people hope no one is watching or even cares about live, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; maybe they only want individual freedom - as in nothing left to lose?
Previously, I wrote a 10 part blog on the nuclear fuel cycle to share my experiences including working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the importance of regulations that help to mitigate hazards and keep us all safe. By the way, independent Commissions are created by Congress and are not located in the Executive Branch.
On another blog, I share news from my interview with ProPublica on how uranium mills have impacted groundwater including polluting drinking water for several Native American tribes.
Yesterday, I joined a public meeting held by NRC on Duke Power’s process for siting a new nuclear power plant in northwestern North Carolina. Without any regulatory requirements and oversight, the company could do whatever they want. Check out all the fines imposed by NRC even with a vigilant regulator according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. The $5.4 million fine to the owner of Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Cleveland initiated a larger corruption settlement for $230 million due to fraud. For information on accidents and this ‘near misses’, see my blog.
MSNBC’s Ari Melber on this week’s broadcast reported on efforts by Trump and Musk to cut federal regulations that agencies use to enforce numerous laws. He shows examples of how lax regulations led to the 2008 housing crisis, the Chernobyl nuclear accident, and industry polluting drinking water. CLICK TO SEE BROADCAST!
Also this week I checked Facebook and noticed my grad school geologist friend Janet reposted the following information from Curtis Mahon who’s a wildlife researcher and photographer and might not be aware of how the administration is cutting regulations for the nuclear industry as well:
“To my many friends who thought it wouldn't happen, guess what, it has happened! Donald Trump has dropped the environmental destruction nuke of an EO, planning to sunset ALL environmental regulations made in the last 100 years. And I mean ALL. https://www.whitehouse.gov/.../zero-based-regulatory.../
The Endangered Species Act. Gone. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Gone. The Marine Mammal Protection Act. Gone. The Anadromous Fish Conservation Act. Gone. The Bald Eagle Protection Act. Gone! You name it, it's gone.
To remind those friends why we have these laws, I'm going to try to put them into terms which anyone can understand, money.
The Endangered Species Act is literally the founding, central pillar of modern conservation globally. It's hard to list the accomplishments of this act as it is so vast. It directly protects and calls for plans to raise the populations of rare species. It's directly responsible for the comeback of many iconic species, such as the Bald Eagle, the Peregrine Falcon, the California Condor, and a host of others. Talk about return on investment, the amount of money spent vs the amount gained from people wishing to just see iconic rare species is in the billions of dollars. For what would a visit to the grand canyon be without seeing a conder soar over or a visit to Yellowstone without seeing wolves and bison. People do whole drives across the country just for these experiences and that's what the ESA is about. Lots of revenue there.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was one of the first environmental laws every made, and bans the harm or collection of all non-game birds in America. It was implemented in a time when hunters we shooting everything to turn them into hats, from songbirds to puffins to herons to albatross. The banning of this and subsequent restoration efforts lead to dramatic increases in bird populations and continue to protect them from harm. In just one example, consider a puffin. In Maine, every tourist I talk to wants to see two things, lobster and puffins. They were once hunted to near extinction in the US and are now a central pillar to the economy of an ENTIRE STATE. Thousands of people a DAY take expensive boat trips for puffins and that's at risk without these regulations, not to mention cuts to NOAA.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act protects whales from being killed or harmed and lead to the global war on whaling. Now because of it, America watches whales! You can go on a whale watch in nearly every coastal city in America and it generates HUNDREDS of millions of dollars in tourism and employs thousands of people. We hurt whales, we hurt our pockets and jobs.
The Anadromous Fish Conservation Act allows the government to enter agreements with states and plan and fund ways to increase the populations of migratory fish. It has direct benefits to anglers across the country, funding 50% of initiatives for things like stocking and habitat restoration in major fisheries such as both Atlantic and Pacific Salmon, Trout, Striped Bass, American Shad, and Sturgeon.
And removing the Bald Eagle Protection Act! I thought we loved eagle guys? What's more American than a Bald Eagle, and they want to remove protections for them? Many older Americans can probably remember a time when they never saw Bald Eagles. Now you can see them commonly in nearly every state! That's a direct result of the Endangered Species Act and Bald Eagle Protection Act.
These are just a few of the laws the Republican party wishes to remove. All have proven track records of benefiting Americans, both monetarily through supporting major American industries worth billions of dollars and employing hundreds of thousands of Americans and spiritually as corner stones of the country's wilderness. The removal of these protections is peak short term gains over long term profits.
If you don't like it, there's a lot you can do. Call your representatives. It feels like yelling to void but we've seen a handful of senators pushed to action by your voices. This matters regardless of the political party of your representatives. Also, get out and protest if you can. The next big one is April 19th. Search for your local 50501 group to see where the protests were at. It's incredibly empowering to get out and be a part of a movement with thousands of people in your town, and millions nationwide. See you in the streets.”
One correction that I found in the comments section:
“Yes, but it's actually the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. https://www.fws.gov/law/bald-and-golden-eagle-protection-act.”
Please also see my SOS blog from February 5th featuring the bald eagle before I could imagine all regs would be cut. We cannot allow pirates to steal everything away from us and the US!