As usual, leaders hardly react. They are just not that interested.
We are still recovering from the abolishment of female body autonomy. But the GOP and their judicial croons do not rest. Almost unmentioned by mainstream media, the Supreme Court issued another ruling. It has just given the green light to capitalists to destroy the environment at will. They put a bomb under all environmental regulations. They gutted the EPA.
This is a decision, that has global implications. It undermines everything environmental activists have been fighting for in the last decades. Worldwide. For those that still didn’t get it. Climate Change and ecological disasters do not give a flying f*ck about national borders. They also do not care about what party you happen to affiliate yourself with. If the air you breathe is toxic in your place, you will die an early death. This is not negotiable.
Environmental Regulations Are the Biggest Contributors to Our Health
50 years ago, the EPA did not yet exist. Economists were following the same bullshit logic then, as they still do. The environment and our natural resources are just externalities. They do not matter. We can amass capital infinitely. Even though that is a violation of the laws of physics. Infinite growth in a system with finite resources is not possible.
In history, there were some key events that changed how we look at nature. When I was a kid, it was the disappearing ozone layer and acid rains that destroyed European forests. Many forests in Germany still have not recovered. In the U.S., one of those events was the Cuyahoga River fire. The river was so polluted, that it caught fire and burned. This has happened at least 13 times before. But in 1969, it finally caught the attention of the media and the public.
At the time, industries dumped everything into the river. They did not care about the consequences. But this event resulted in the Clean Water Act and with it the establishment of the EPA. It became clear, that the capitalists will not limit pollution if it hurts their profits. The only solution was to force change through environmental regulations.
There Is a Good Reason, Why Not All Environmental Regulations Are Done by Politicians
The Supreme Court argues that the EPA should not set emission standards. That privilege only belongs to congress. It is true that government agencies have executive powers that are akin to making laws. But there are good reasons for giving strong executive powers to government agencies. Even in a democratic society.
The decisions on environmental regulations involve complicated science. Most elected politicians don’t know enough about the matter. If they even know anything. There are plenty of ministers who are completely foreign to the fields they oversee. It is just another career step for them. They need to rely on competent technocrats, that actually know what they talk about.
It is evident that elected politicians do not have the spine to go against the interests of capital. This has always been the case. But air quality will get worse. No matter how much Democrats hesitate to offend the fossil industry. This isn’t even unique to the U.S. This is the case in all countries. The European gas dilemma is a clear example of it. Germany is in dire straits. Because politicians failed to make realistic plans for energy autonomy in the past.
Whichever little wins we got on protecting nature, we got in spite of our elected leaders. Not because of them. We got them because Agencies like the EPA had the guts to say that poisoning the air is not okay. 90% of people on the planet suffer from poor air quality.
Now, the Supreme Court has ruined all chances for the EPA to do anything about it. It also made it impossible to reach climate goals, or protect the health of U.S. citizens.
It Is Time to Stop Wasting Time on Convincing U.S. Leaders to Change Course
Environmental activists have fought long and hard. We tried to reason with their leaders, whether they were Republicans or Democrats. They backstabbed us time and time again. Now, the Supreme court ended all environmental regulations by the EPA in the U.S.
This fight ties up vital energy. We need to accept, that the U.S. leaders do not want clean air. They do not want clean water. It is not in their interest that our children can enjoy nature. They placed themselves on the wrong side of history.
It would be better to abandon them. Put our efforts, where we can actually make a difference. Fight for environmental regulations in places, where governments still care about their people. Fight for creating competitive advantages by seeing the transformation through. If the U.S. and by extension the EU get left by the roadside, so be it. It is too late to do anything about it.
Civilization will have to transform to survive. No matter what. We crossed most planetary boundaries already. The question is only how we want that change to happen. The U.S. already suffers from many climate disasters. The GOP made sure that this is the path they want the country to descend on. And the Democrats have decided to walk it with them.
