The corporate powers that have embedded themselves in the American government have long been pillaging the Earth and killing her inhabitants for profit. This has been happening since the earliest days of slavery and genocide of the First Peoples. And because this ideology of domination has been part of the ongoing Old Story that is normalized in America, it is very clear for all who look deeply that we didn’t arrive at the sixth major extinction and climate and ecological crises overnight.
Under Trump this violence for profit has increased exponentially. He is truly at war with the planet. Criminal and horrifying. This is yet again another compelling reason why radical change is needed and why there is an imperative for us to unite in the great struggle for economic, racial, social, and environmental justice.
A New Story is trying to emerge — one that holds life with reverence and protection. May we all be part of this Great Awakening. — Molly
BY SOPHIE LEWIS
The Trump administration introduced this week a sweeping relaxation of environmental laws and fines during the coronavirus pandemic. According to new guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), companies will largely be exempt from consequences for polluting the air or water during the outbreak.
In a letter to all government and private sector partners on Thursday, the EPA's Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Susan Parker Bodine said that the agency does not expect power plants, factories or other companies to meet environmental standards and reporting of pollution during this time — and it won't pursue penalties if companies break the rules.
Under normal circumstances, companies are required to report when they release certain levels of pollution into the air or water. Now, the EPA has effectively ceded its federal authority to state offices and said companies will be responsible for monitoring their own air and water pollution during this time.
"In general, the EPA does not expect to seek penalties for violations of routine compliance monitoring, integrity testing, sampling, laboratory analysis, training, and reporting or certification obligations in situations where the EPA agrees that COVID-19 was the cause of the noncompliance and the entity provides supporting documentation to the EPA upon request," Bodine wrote.
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