Systematic Failure

In http://madelineusgovernment.blogspot.com/ blog, "US Government Needs Better Voting Systems" I agree that action should be taken in designing a new path for not only how we vote as citizens, but what the Government has not been doing to assist in voter turnout. Citizens should be responsible for educating themselves on candidates and current politics. However, false media and political leaders manipulating public opinion to sway matters in their favor hinders citizens from not only choosing the right decision but to also lose faith in the belief that the Government has the citizens in their best interest. While I also agree new steps should be taken in providing better accessibility, given the current condition of the United States offering unsupervised and electronic access opens the possibility of the voting system being compromised. The Government should first work on "Marketing Voting," to expand voter turnout and take steps to regain the citizens trust to reverse the "What difference will it make," attitude that has been adopted by American society.

Air Head

Imagine no more baby sea turtles scurrying across the beach sand in a race to the water, or a large fluffy polar bear lounging lazily on a bed of ice. If the sea were to rise only 50cm sea turtles would lose their nesting beaches, a detrimental chain reaction to the ecosystem. The adaptation of this fast paced lifestyle often leads Americans distracted, recklessly driving their gas guzzlers in a blind “American Standard” haze and results in a negative impact on Earth’s natural processes. With studies showing a rise in global warming and significant environmental impact it begs to question the direction the President and government is taking with environmental regulations and economic courses that could potentially accelerate the Earth’s environmental decline.

Former President Obama laid out beneficial regulations to assist in the fight against humans’ negative impact on Earth. National Geographic writes of Obamas impactful rewriting of the GHG standards for new vehicles and power plants/ factories emissions, the 2015 Paris Agreement a nation-wide emissions control agreement, fracking and other fossil fuel regulations, and even regulations on food safety. Since Trump has now claimed the seat he has taken initiative to reverse the positive direction the United States was taking to ensure the future of our planet. President Trump has taken strong economic direction for financial benefit overpowering any environmental concerns, adopting an opinion of climate change to be non-existent and excuses it with false media and scientists out for a buck. President is the job title today, but “business man,” came before, and Trump maneuvers the government much like a business deal.  With the Republicans controlling the White house and Congress, the drive for economic growth will result in irreversible damage to the ecosystem and when the sea level engulfs homes, businesses and wildlife the officials responsible will be living comfortably brushing it off for the next person to handle or cast the blame to the media again. The US Department of Interior proposed on October 23, 2017 to auction off oil and gas leases for 77 million acres of federal waters within the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimates that the Gulf of Mexico’s outer continental shelf contains over 48 billion barrels of oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of gas that are technically recoverable. EPA estimates suggest that if these fossil fuels were burned completely, they would add the equivalent of more than 28 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere; that is more than five times the United States’ total carbon footprint in 2016. Trump has also taken steps to withdraw the Clean Power Plan which helped combat climate change and the effect of fossil fuels. Trump argues the plan is “unfair” to the coal industry and its workers, but what is unfair is the decision to stop studies into the health risks associated with living near mountain top removal coal mine sites in the Appalachian Mountains.

Significant evidence has proven that climate change and human environmental impact is a current reality and steps need to be taken immediately to reverse our current course. Trump making key environmental decisions in the interest of financial profit such as allowing the Keystone Pipeline to proceed and coal mines to reopen only reverses and hinders the progress of fixing the health risks to not only our planet, but ourselves. Arguing over China and India’s environmental restrictions because they are less severe than Americas is not a solution, but an excuse. If Trump can abandon his direction of selfish business pursuits and immature feelings of who got the “better deal,” and shift perspective to we have a problem what are the solutions, then true progress can be made on our human impact.