The most pro-American stance a leader can take is to defend our best ideas. America's national parks and our nation’s beautiful environment are part of our heritage, identity, and are ultimately our greatest strength. From President Theodore Roosevelt dramatically expanding public lands protections to President Richard Nixon signing the Clean Air Act, our best days have come when protecting the environment was led by leaders on both sides of the aisle.
The current administration is not honoring that shared American value. Nearly two years into President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration is failing the American people on the environment, on our national parks, and on the public lands that are supposed to unite us. Plenty of people in the environmental movement would’ve opposed anything pro-environment this president did on mere partisan principle.
Early last year I worked closely with the president’s team and several cabinet officials to help shape a well-intentioned and potentially powerful executive order: “Make America Beautiful Again.” This initiative called on his cabinet to secure a historic investment in our public lands, our forests, our water, and outdoor recreation. I firmly believed in the concept, and I still believe in its potential, but we’ve gotten the opposite of what was promised. This president labels his policies “America first,” but on public lands and national parks he’s simply put America last.
As someone who was in those rooms making the case, I could not be more disappointed. And it doesn’t need to be this way. Thus far, the Trump Administration has gutted national park staff, opposed by around 86% of Americans.
They’ve proposed sell-offs of public land, which is opposed by nearly 90% of voters in Western states, where these spaces are concentrated. They’ve prioritized rollbacks to policies like the Endangered Species Act, which is opposed by 85% of Americans. They’ve stripped protections for clean water, clean air, national forests, and more, also opposed by the vast majority of Americans.
On issue after issue, this administration has landed on the wrong side of the American people on the environment. Public blowback has stopped a few of these decisions, but a new threat to the great American outdoors seems to surface almost every week. These are quite possibly the two worst years for our environment under a president in my lifetime.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
