Don Corrigan serves up his weekly opinion about who deserves a dagger for being a foe to the environment and who deserves a daisy for being a friend of the environment.
This week: Steve Bannon and GOP Leaders and Local St. Louis Mayors & Environmentalists.
Daggers to Steve Bannon and GOP Leaders who have firmly established the party as anti-environment. According to Christopher Sellers in VOX, Republican presidents once had a big hand in constructing a party of environmental concern. In the early 20th century, Teddy Roosevelt pushed a federal system of parks, forests, and monuments. In 1970, it was Richard Nixon who created the Environmental Protection Agency and signed many foundational laws. Even during the last Republican administration of George W. Bush, longtime EPA employees said there was considerable support by party leaders. President Trump and his top GOP adviser, Steve Bannon, now unapologetically deny climate change, criticize the EPA, and have removed America from the Paris Climate Accords. Environmentalists must now go local to meet the goals of making the planet less fossil-fuel dependent, healthier and greener.
Daisies to Local St. Louis Mayors & Environmentalists, who wasted no time in responding to the actions of President Trump and Steve Bannon in their removal of America as a leader in the Paris Climate Accord agreements to address climate change and global warming. Local residents like Janet Hanewinkel of Crestwood are talking to mayors of St. Louis area cities, and urging them to sign onto a statement to honor and uphold the Paris Climate Agreement Goals. As of now, 292 U.S. Mayors, representing 60 million Americans in cities across the country, have agreed to adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement. They will urge other mayors to join them to meet the current climate targets and to push for new action to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, and work together to create a 21st-century clean energy economy. Locally, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, University City Mayor Shelley Welsch, and St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano are among Missouri mayors on board with the statement to honor the Paris Climate Accord Goals.
Daggers & Daisies, a regular weekly opinion feature of Environmental Echo, singles out friends and foes of the Earth for attention. Readers are encouraged to submit their nominees to Don Corrigan for Daggers & Daisies at environmentalecho@gmail.com.
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