It is no secret that President Donald Trump does not believe in science, for example, climate change, but this past week he ventured even further into his idiotic ignorance of the environment and further onto the path of destroying our planet.
First of all, the Trump administration approved seismic blasting in the Atlantic to look for oil. By now, it is scientifically proven that seismic blasting harms and kills animals in the ocean, specifically whales and dolphins.
According to estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, tens of thousands of whales and dolphins — and thousands of manatees, seals and sea turtles — could be harmed by the project spanning 200,000 miles square miles of ocean. .
The blasting is so loud that it actually deafens marine mammals in the ocean and can lead to the separation of calves from the mother, which ultimately leads to death. There is no need to murder these innocent animals and put them through the pain of actually being deafened.
This would affect my home state of New Jersey, as I live very close to the shore and spend a good amount of my summer there. I would hate to see the wildlife suffer and eventual drilling on my beautiful beaches, and I can guarantee every shore resident feels the same way.
Thankfully, many politicians of these states have opposed the blasting due to the widespread harm it would create within the ocean. Additionally, many do not want the oil drilling that would then follow the blasting as that will only create more problems.
The worst part of this is that it was specifically stated that the companies taking part in this seismic blasting are authorized to “incidentally, but not intentionally, harass” marine mammals, according to The Independent. They know that marine life will be negatively impacted, yet they do not care.
Another blow to the environment this week came from the Trump administration yet again, to no one’s surprise. This past Thursday, the Trump administration announced its plans to open up 9 million acres of land to drilling for oil.
This land was previously protected due to an endangered bird: the sage grouse. With this new proposal, this bird would almost certainly go back into endangerment due to so little land left behind for the bird.
Not only that, but opening up that much land for more drilling and pumping will harm all wildlife in that area and the unavoidable leaks and spills will only create more problems. Between this and the seismic blasting, Trump has managed to endanger wildlife in the ocean and on land in drastic ways.
The root of this problem is oil, and this will continue to be problematic if we do not start utilizing renewable sources of energy that we have readily available. Other countries have already started making the switch to wind and solar, along with other methods of renewable energy.
It would be costly at first to implement, but in the long run, the cost is much less than ruining our planet through constant oil drilling. We have had enough oil spills and cleanups to know how costly they are to fix and how they are often unavoidable when drilling is involved.
We have the methods and the science right in front of us, and it is time we start using them as our main source of energy. Coal and oil will run out someday, and in the process, they will destroy the beauty of our planet.
We cannot wait for Trump to leave office or for an eco-friendly politician to take over. We must act now, because we cannot afford any more oil spills or species endangerment.
