Rich Doesn't Make One Smart

     I'm not sure about you, but I think Donald Trump is an idiot. I don't care how rich a person is. All the money in the world doesn't make one smarter than everyone else. It just makes someone a bigger, more pompous asshole. Trump thinks because he speaks his mind and is a millionaire, he knows more than everyone. Including hard working and brilliant scientists.

     Take for example this article in Eco-Watch. http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/21/trump-keystone-xl/

     Trump dismisses the studies that say the Keystone Pipeline will harm the environment in anyway. He thinks the endangered species that live in the proposed pipeline areas will be just fine with spilled oil, increased human activity and further disruption of their natural habitat. Trump thinks that burning more oil wont add more CO2 to the atmosphere which can lead to higher temperatures and shutting climate patterns. Trump dismisses the additional pollution, in the form of toxic organic chemicals and heavy metals, that will enter the air and water columns and disrupt normal life cycles, in the wild as well as in the civilized areas of the country. Trump just waves all of these off because as a rich guy, he doesn't have to read any studies or scientific findings or acknowledge facts that could potentially reduce profits. His wealth nullifies facts and best practices. 

     It's this kind of ignorance that has destroyed eco-systems world-wide and created the Climate and Environmental Crisis we now face. It's hard enough to address these issues as it is, and now we have to deal with rich buffoons like Trump on top of everything? Trump may be entertaining, but he offers us no chance at progress. Trump offers us more of the same destructive behavior that created the damaged the planet and its life forms and put us in this position in the first place. 

Time for a Rant

     It has been pointed out to me that my blog can get a little political. Honestly, I would rather not write political commentary...but man, there's just so much material out there to tap! Thanks to the US Congress and the American political system. I try not to blather on about American politics, but let's face it, the political system has been polarized by the environmental movement, more specifically, Climate Change.

     Seriously, how can I--a climate and environmental activist with a Bachelors of Science--NOT weigh in on the asinine anti-science rhetoric that our elected officials spout from Capitol Hill? From Mitch McConnell telling states to ignore the President's directives on carbon emissions, to the Senate taking up valuable time to vote on whether or not they believe Climate Change is real or not. What what...WHAT?! Aren't our roads and bridges falling apart? (You can check out the bridge in Pittsburgh built under a crumbling overpass in order to catch pieces of concrete that are falling off). Don't we have a budget to balance and government overspending to rein in? Or a campaign funding mess that takes the people out of the election equation and allows corporations to buy elections?

     The War on Science continues to rage on, and its epicenter can be found in Washington. The House of Representatives is getting

Keystone Jobs

     Have I weighed in on the Keystone Pipeline yet? I am too lazy to go read through all of my posts, but I am guessing I have at mentioned it at least once or twice. It's in the news again today, with Congress passing a bill to authorize its construction despite President Obama's promise to veto it. Republicans are trumpeting Keystone as a job creator, while the Democrats are saying it will not create that many jobs and poses a very real threat to the Environment. There are Global Warming and Climate Change implications, which shouldn't surprise anyone who understands this equation:

 Fossil Fuels + Burning for Energy  

= Increased CO2 in Atmosphere and Warmer Temps

     But this time, I think the Democrats have it wrong. (Maybe I should have told you all to sit down before I dropped that on you.) Here's why:

• Building Keystone will employ a few thousand people during construction. Everyone agrees on this. After construction, according to Democrats, the pipeline will only require a few dozen workers to monitor and maintain it while it pipes oil from the tar sands in Northern Canada to the oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. That doesn't make it a job producer on par with what BOTH parties are saying we need to help economic growth. 
• Republicans insist that increased oil production will create hundreds if not thousands of jobs in the Gulf Region and its respective refineries, and that Democrats are using the "myth" of Climate Change to disrupt a real money maker for the Koch Brothers- (sorry)- I mean the citizens of the United States. 
• No one is talking about the jobs that will be created once oil starts leaking.

     Democrats fail to recognize that the Keystone project will also provide the opportunity for another group of workers to find work: Remediation Specialists. You know, people that clean up the environment when oil gets spilled. Sure, many are volunteers, but many are paid workers. Just ask those who have tried to clean up the Duke Energy Coal Ash spill in North Carolina. 

     With all of those thousands of miles of pipeline and the normal lackadaisical maintenance practices of most oil companies, there is going to be A LOT of spilled oil to clean up once Keystone is operating. That should increase the number of jobs created by the Keystone project, and (somehow) benefit U.S. citizens. Supporters of Keystone should jump on this before the bill gets sent to the President.  How can President Obama veto a bill that will create Environmental jobs? He supports protecting the environment, right? What better way to clean up the environment than approve an oil pipeline that will create oil spills? If that isn't bipartisan compromise, what is? Republicans get their precious pipeline, and Democrats get to trumpet their environmental agenda. Its a win win! And everyone gets a job! 

     Lord knows, the President needs to create some jobs for this country. The tens of thousands he created with the Affordable Care Act just isn't cutting it.  

Happy Friday! And, as usual, the sarcasm in this post is free of charge.