The Witness Chronicles, May 14, 2024

Trump makes a deal with big oil

Photo by Chris LeBoutillier on Unsplash

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The Far Right is Selling Off Our Future For Pennies on the Dollar

One billion dollars for unlimited profits and environmental disaster?

A billion dollars sounds like a lot to most of us. That’s a thousand million bucks if you haven’t run the numbers lately. But in the grand scheme of really big money, that’s a round up error. We have multiple $100 billionaires and their names have celebrity status. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, etc.

But for the biggest private enterprise on the planet a billion is chump change. I’m talking about the fossil fuel biz, aka big oil. And last week, in the midst of a sordid criminal trial and constant stories of weather disasters all over the country, a Presidential candidate went off the reservation and blatantly did something never seen before.

He offered up our future for sale and the price tag was a bargain: one billion dollars in exchange for his promise to eliminate all environmental restrictions on the oil and gas business when he is elected.

If anything this shows us both how desperate Donald Trump is and what a small thinker he is, no big surprise. Big oil would happily pay ten times that for his promise and never even notice the cost. Aside from the fact that this offer, made to two dozen oil executives, is probably illegal, it may be the most appalling thing this man has done as a politician.

And it barely made the news. We now know the price of Trump’s desperation and it is pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

Let’s step back a day or two. If you watch the news, any news, you know the lead story for weeks now is the weather. The tornados, the flooding, the predictions for the hurricane season. It’s bad, very bad, and it is ironically hitting many of the states that glow red with Trump supporters. Texas. Oklahoma. Louisiana. Those floods and tornadoes are destroying lives every day this spring on a scale we have never seen.

We know that global warming is the direct result of burning vast amounts of fossil fuels for years, and it is not coming; it has been here for years. We are far ahead of predicted levels of global temperature increases. The science is rock solid, but you don’t need science to verify that if you live anywhere near the Florida or Texas coast.

Yes, Trump offered up destroying sustainable fuel development, and every effort to reverse the destruction, for the paltry sum of one billion in a quid pro quo deal. Round up the money for him and he will do anything you want when elected.

And, as usual, his fellow Republican Party members either applauded his boneheaded offer or have been silent. But they sold their souls long ago for an equally low price.

This story, which is entirely true and on the record, tells us just how shallow this man’s thinking is and the degree to which his party has abandoned any pretense of representing their own voters. And it tells us how petty Trump’s grift is.

A billion bucks to undo laws that protect the entire planet or try to?

Supposedly the oil people are ready to take that deal and why not? It’s a cheap bet and it would mean bonuses beyond their dreams if it happened. For a billion bucks they would essentially own American politics and politicians.

Frankly, I am sick of writing about the Trump stuff. But every time I’m ready to pack it in, a story like this pops up. He seems determined to up the ante for his incredibly dumb but incredibly dangerous ideas and this one takes the cake.

To reiterate, Trump offered up the future for sale at a bargain price so oil companies can rack up even more enormous profits and he can buy himself the Presidency, and get off the hook for his federal criminal indictments. In his petty world this is a no-brainer, but for those people in flood zones and Tornado Alley, it’s the end.

Compared to this, most of Trump’s alleged crimes can be chalked up to his massive ego and fear of losing the attention he must have. But selling off the environment shows us the real man, a man who will sell off the future of the planet, cost millions of lives, and leave a huge mess for his own grandchildren. And, by the way, for all those voters who seriously think he is their guy.

The price tag? One billion dollars in campaign donations. Think about it.

~ I write The Grasshopper, a letter for creatives, The Witness Chronicles, a place for my articles on politics and climate, and The Remarkable, a recovery letter, about my addiction and reentry experience. All are weekly and free, however this is how I live and I strongly believe all writers and creatives should get paid, if we provide value. Your upgrade to a paid subscription helps make that happen.

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