Draining the Swamps

So, it seems that senatorial privilege will not keep Mr. Trump's appointees out of their presumed roles heading agencies that, many, have zero experience (Mr. Perry, I'm looking at you, sir).  The Constitutional provision that allows them to move forward with a simple senate majority will allow 51 republicans to push through the various industry insiders and lobbyists into national titles that exacerbate ethical conflicts, thereby refilling the proverbial swamp. 

First and foremost: I like swamps.  So, while that seems to be the accepted analogy, I would propose a different one.  Mr. Trump should have said that his coming to Washington would drain the wastewater wells and cesspools that come as the result of fracking.  No?  You don't believe that "Big Oil" is doing the environment a great disservice by pumping their special blend of frack-juice deep into the earth?  A 2012 article in Scientific American, a respected journal of over 170 years, sees it this way:

"A ProPublica review of well records, case histories and government summaries of more than 220,000 well inspections found that structural failures inside injection wells are routine. From late 2007 to late 2010, one well integrity violation was issued for every six deep injection wells examined — more than 17,000 violations nationally. More than 7,000 wells showed signs that their walls were leaking. Records also show wells are frequently operated in violation of safety regulations and under conditions that greatly increase the risk of fluid leakage and the threat of water contamination."

Swamps are clean.  Fracking is not.  

OK, let's say you're for energy independence and you don't care that much of our fresh-water will be polluted in the next 10-100 years.  Shhh.  Don't tell southern Nevada or California that the scarce amount of water they still have will cease being potable.  No, the recent rains did not refill the reservoirs, and more-so, the cleanest water needs to be naturally filtered through the soil...land that has been surrendered to agricultural and livestock uses.  Which brings me to my next gripe, the byproduct of our livestock and meat industry: animal waste.  The New York Times and CBS' 60 Minutes had articles about this in 2003, and not much has changed since then:

Quoth the Times: "A growing number of scientists and public health officials around the country say they have traced a variety of health problems faced by neighbors of huge industrial farms to vast amounts of concentrated animal waste [cesspools], which emit toxic gases while collecting in open-air cesspools or evaporating through sprays. The gases, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, are poisonous."

Quoth Morley Safer: "Cesspools or lagoons are just holding places for the 9.5 million tons of hog manure that's produced in North Carolina every year. There's real potential for damage when the manure is liquefied, and then sprayed as fertilizer onto the company's fields. There is so much manure that the fields of North Carolina can't absorb it all - and it's beginning to poison the groundwater and contaminate drinking wells. There have been other problems. Lagoons have leaked and overflowed. Lagoon walls have broken, spilling out millions of gallons of hog manure and saturating fields even more.  And where does all this hog dung end up? In the streams and rivers of North Carolina, creating a growth in green algae that has closed rivers for swimming and killed thousands upon thousands of fish."

Swamps cater to biodiversity...livestock cesspools destroy it. 


And maybe we've been misinterpreting Mr. Trump's intent.  He's doing exactly what he's promised.  He's draining the swamp of Washington.  He's killing the biodiversity and a naturally regenerative ecosystem.  One that's essential to migrating species, natural clean water filtration, clean air and overall planetary health.  What he's replacing it with is more akin to the referenced articles above...buried chemical waste and open-pit cesspools that contain known carcinogens and are poorly managed and regulated.  Being that I'm in New Jersey...have witnessed the President Elect at his "finest," and, know the development challenges of a largely built-up state; I know the positive benefits of swamps.  Congrats Mr. President Elect, this may be one campaign promise you've kept.