By David Ledger
Removing Charging Stations at Government Buildings
The Trump administration is turning back many of the initiatives of the Biden Administration to combat climate change. Recently the Government Services Administration (GSA) has not only been cancelling programs for new EV charging stations at government buildings, they have also ordered those buildings to shut off electric vehicle chargers that are currently operating. Eventually, they are likely to be removed.
Orders under the Biden Administration for the GSA to purchase 58,000 EVs and install 25,000 charging stations are being canceled by Trump. All current EVs will be sold or put into storage according to reports.
This latest move to rescind pro-EV initiatives in President Donald Trump’s first 40 days in office bodes poorly for the future. Read The Verge article HERE
Arbor Day Tree Planting Grant Canceled
The US Forest Service has canceled a $75 million grant to the Arbor Day Foundation to plant shade trees in neighborhoods affected by fire, hurricanes, or neglect because there was an emphasis on funds going to disadvantaged communities in other words, anything to do with DEI. Apparently, poor neighborhoods will have to plant trees with their own money, unlike more affluent neighborhoods which have their cities plant them. Some 105 grants that had been awarded to various communities and organizations that would benefit all citizens are now canceled. See Oregonlive.com article here
Executive Order to Increase Logging on Public Lands
The Trump administration has issued orders to the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce to streamline regulations to increase logging of our National Forests, BLM lands, and National Monuments and possibly salvage logging in National Parks. They will use the “God Squad” to disregard endangered species protections if necessary. This is a serious threat to our public lands and transferring the wealth of our forests for recreation, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, wilderness areas, and future uses for the immediate profits of logging companies although this process will take over six months to start, a lot of damage could be done before Trump’s term runs out.
Trump and his advisors are using the burning of homes in fires in Los Angeles as an excuse even though none of the fires were in forested areas. Almost all were in chaparral, which is dominated by shrubs and a few near Altadena had mixed hardwood woodlands nearby. None were in areas of conifer forests. Unfortunately, Governor Gavin Newsom is jumping on the bandwagon, following Trump’s lead and making proposals to weaken California’s landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). While the Board of Forestry generally ignores CEQA’s greenhouse gas accountability in approving Timber Harvest Plans, this will take away protections for plants and animals, all in the name of healthy forests, forest resiliency, thinning forests, fire protection, or whatever euphemism used for logging regardless of how far these logging operations may be from towns or villages that need protection.
Recommended reading:
-The Wildfire Reader, A Century of Failed Forest Policy, Edited by George Wuerthner
-Smokescreen: Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our Forests and Our Climate, by Chad Hanson