The Sick Rose
O Rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, April 2, 2018
When the snow covered the field and forced the teams to postpone the game, young fans, who might otherwise have enjoyed a day of building snowmen or sledding down hills, felt frustrated that nature had ignored the calendar’s command for winter to depart. But nevermind. Spring is here and summer isn’t far behind. Soon enough baseball and languid summer afternoons and evenings will repress the memory of an early April snow and we’ll forget nature, or more precisely, weather’s casual indifference to our plans and desires.
If only we could oblige nature to accommodate our schemes. To induce the skies to dismiss clouds and beckon the sun at our pleasure. And yet there are things we do that seem to pressure nature to change her climate or as George Will has scoffed, alter the “planet’s thermostat.” Climate science has certainly demonstrated that human activity is causing the rising temperatures and seas. Even though it might be too late to halt the momentum of climate change, it would be well worth the effort to try by reducing our emissions of carbon dioxide. To become, let’s say, genuine stewards of the land, sea and air. President Trump has appointed a man to run the E.P.A. who believes in the credo that humans are “stewards of the earth.”
It is interesting that this “steward” of the earth would work to repeal Obama’s EPA rules that would have increased fuel efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions. According to Robert Stavins of Harvard, the effect “will be more gas guzzling vehicles on the road, greater total gasoline consumption, and a significant increase in carbon dioxide emissions.” Under the new rules Pruitt proposes, vehicles will consume an additional twelve billion barrels of oil and release an additional six billion tons of carbon dioxide over the lifetime of those vehicles. But nevermind, The oil and gas companies’ profits will continue to soar to record levels.
Pruitt has also demonstrated a deep sensitivity for issues regarding corporations that burn fossil fuels. Pruitt, worried about the burden utility companies faced when their disposal of coal ash contaminates drinking water supplies, has eliminated Obama EPA rules that had imposed more restrictions of how coal ash is disposed. But nevermind, Utilities are saving millions so children can suffer increased learning disabilities, birth defects, asthma and cancer from exposure to the dangerous chemicals in coal ash. For fuller discussion, see:
Pruitt’s stewardship of the environment includes protecting major chemical companies’ interests. Pruitt met with Dow Chemical executives one month before he refused to ban their dangerous pesticide chlorpyrifos. Pruitt then outdid himself when he lowered the penalty Syngenta was directed to pay by the Obama administration after the company sent twenty farm workers into a field just sprayed with chlorpyrifos. The EPA under Obama fined Syngenta 4.9 million dollars for exposing those workers to this dangerous chemical. After hiring a former Syngenta lobbyist, Jeff Sands as an advisor, Pruitt slashed that fine to $140,000. That company had to spend another $400,000 on worker safety training. Steward for the land or steward for industry? Pruitt accommodates his masters religiously, which is fitting given his Christian zealotry. In any case, like the worm he loves his work. But nevermind. The harm he is causing is both near and far.
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