Thursday, June 22, 2023
Traitors at the Helm
I have taken the long view for over half a Century. I detest ever having to say I told you so. Now we know that the Hippies were right! I've written this before, but we now have a transgression so vile that it deserves repeating. The five Supreme Court Justices, who allowed landowners to fill and grade over wetlands, the same ones that protect from flood and contamination of the aquifer, upon which we all depend. That is a serious erosion of both the Clean Water Act and fifty years of law. Chief Justice, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Grosuch and Amy Coney Barrett have in one decision cast over half of all wetlands as developable, (to the wolves) leaving each of the fifty states, free to develop their own rules, or not; a vacant, unscientific, ignorant of physics, "let er rip." message to millions of private landowners who want to "develop" in wetland. What it means though, is put impermeable surfaces out there. One of the most repugnant and sad features about the case that the desision was made upon, is that the landowners were told, before they did any work, by consultants they hired, that wetlands existed there, they just ignored the professional, hauled in tons of gravel, graded it flat and began to build. Anything without a "permanent connection" to a flowing stream is now exempt from the intent and words of the Clean Water Act. If that is not treason, I'm not sure what is!class="separator" style="clear: both;">
When the Supreme Court immorrally threatens clean water for the sake of developers, there must be a mechanism for ousting the offenders. Imagine a foreign invasion that just wanted to pave over half of our most priceless real estate. We would fight, right? What else can you call "selling out" or abandoning half of all wetlands protection in one fell swoop? The last thing we need are more assaults on wetlands! Heck, the county I lived in for most of my life had drained and filled over 90% of their wetlands and flooding and sewer back ups still plague the area. The costs of building against nature's wishes lasts throughout the ages, a tax we all have to pay on future quality of life. We already know how the boom and bust cycle works and when you get rid of the water holding and carbon sequestering potential of a wetland, nothing you can do will ever get it back. The flood control and abatement potential alone in our destabilized climate can pay dividends for centuries, but instead these carpetbaggers want to sell off the potential for gain to those who hold our nation's laws in contempt. That is not the message I think we should be sending to the public at large and this desision must be over-ruled by Congress and the President. It is worse than absurd, it is an attack on the soverignty of nature! We must rally behind holding these traitors accountable!Artwork used through creative commons with permission of Beehive Collective
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