Dividing the Earth

With his divide and conquer, scorched Earth rhetoric, President Donald Trump likely would take credit for plate tectonics if he could. He would boast at how oil and gas companies introduced ideas of continental drift in the 1960’s that made America great. How Big Oil discovered several features of the Earth using evidence like similar fossils found on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean and magnetic changes in basaltic rocks that showed how continents were once together have been moving apart.

However, President Trump would not give much detail to his claims because it’s just a scientific theory that may have begun over three billion years ago as the Earth cools, driven by heat released into the crust, with a similar relative thickness as a peach skin, from the deeper mantle and core (with respective thicknesses of the peach fruit and pit to follow the analogy). But this takes an understanding and trust in the scientific method which obviously is antithetical to Trump and his millions of ignorant supporters who prefer Nazi tactics, as former Trump Defense Secretary General Mattis eloquently stated this week.

To further divide and conquer America, and perhaps as an insult to World Environment Day celebrations by the United Nations since 1974, the lawless Mr. Trump signed an Executive Order three days ago to reverse existing environmental laws and hard fought court battles that have taken place for over 50 years! This is the latest rollback despite Trump claiming to be an Environmental president by using the Covid-19 pandemic and economic disaster, according to the NY Times as reasons to “streamline” environmental laws including Clean Air and Water Acts, NEPA and ESA, Talk about draining the swamp? Do you recall as do I the “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” campaign on caring about clean air and water? Here’s documentation about one year ago from the LA Times that fact-checks Trump’s claim:

“From day one, my administration has made it a top priority to ensure that America has among the very cleanest air and cleanest water on the planet.”

Actions speak louder than words! The list of regulatory changes is being tracked by Harvard Law school’s Environmental and Energy Law Program.

Working in the Trump Administration until 13 months ago, here are a few of the big projects that I heard people talking about inside and outside the government:

Oil and Gas Drilling and Pipelines running through National Parks

Uranium Mining expanded by the Grand Canyon National Park

Uranium Mining on or near Native American lands including former Bears Ears National Monument

Nuclear Power without dealing with Nuclear Waste Spent Fuel

Coal Mining and Power Plants

Burning More Gasoline by reducing fuel economy standards

The list goes on and on. As a student geologist about 40 years ago, we learned a term that when rocks undergo so much change features are not recognizable, such as metamorphic folds in many directions. We called this type of rock: FUBARITE which stands for F***ed Up Beyond Recognition.

Perhaps that can be added to Trump’s Four More Year’s Dictatorial Campaign: The FUBAR President!

Update 6/17/2020

Axios reported yesterday that a Supreme Court ruling is a boon to natural gas pipelines, “At issue was what federal agency controls the land the pipeline would traverse, the U.S. Forest Service or the Interior Department's National Park Service….Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority, said under the lower court ruling that Monday’s decision overturned, any pipeline crossing at similar "footpaths" controlled by the Park Service would need an act of Congress for approval.”

Supreme Court Ruling Favors Clean Water

On Thursday, April 23 (my Mother’s Birthday), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that groundwater must be considered in Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting. The case involved a Maui sewage treatment plant that had permits to discharge waste directly into the ocean as point sources (from pipes). University hydrogeologists found high levels of nitrate and warm water in the ocean affecting coral reefs discharging from groundwater that came from the treatment plant indirectly. The court ruled that CWA permits must consider groundwater discharges.

For more details, checkout these articles:

Hydrologists should be happy. Big Supreme Court ruling bolsters groundwater science

Science Magazine

“Tracing the movement of pollutants through groundwater is tricky work, says Thomas Harter, a hydrologist at the University of California, Davis, who helped draft an amicus brief to the court from several scientific associations. Much of what’s happening is underground, obscured except for data gathered from test wells and geologic samples drilled from boreholes. Impacts can take decades to materialize as water and contaminants slowly seep through the earth.

Computer models coupled with direct observations of water flow, pollution levels, and geology can predict how chemicals are likely to flow and interact with the chemistry of surrounding rocks. But, “There are huge uncertainties to this,” says Harter, who studies groundwater pollution from California farms. “It’s not unlike trying to predict the weather.” (During oral argument of the case in November 2019, however, (Justice Stephen) Breyer remarked that briefs laying out the science of tracking groundwater pollution had impressed him. “The scientists really convinced me they’re geniuses and they can trace all kinds of things,” he said.)”

SUPREME COURT LEAVES THE CLEAN WATER ACT INTACT

Victory: Court decision leaves in place vital protections for the nation’s oceans, rivers, lakes

EarthJustice (argued the winning case)

“The following is a statement from David Henkin, Earthjustice attorney who argued the case defending clean water:

“This decision is a huge victory for clean water. The Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration’s effort to blow a big hole in the Clean Water Act’s protections for rivers, lakes, and oceans.”

COUNTY OF MAUI, HAWAII v. HAWAII WILDLIFE FUND ET AL.

U.S. Supreme Court Syllabus

“The Clean Water Act forbids “any addition” of any pollutant from “any point source” to “navigable waters” without an appropriate permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”

In addition to our science of using tracers to detect movement of groundwater contamination, we will be tracking how this Supreme Court decision affects similar investigations that we are working on!