Breathe Deeply, It May Be Your Last Chance

While media focus is largely on the escapades of sexual predator and sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump's (a.k.a. President Spanky), his flying monkeys in government are enacting some horrific and damaging policies, replacing those that were put in place by President Obama and his predecessors. The Associated Press is reporting that Rump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to announce a roll back of auto mileage standards, which were key to Obama's climate change initiatives and which will add to the carbon pollution in this country if curtailed or recinded. The current regulations call for new vehicles to have a 36 mpg standard for highway traffic by 2025.

Relatively lower gas prices have made the purchase of larger and less fuel efficient vehicles possible. Automakers are telling the Rump administration that they need relief from the standards, given the shift in public tastes. The main problem for Rump's climate despoilers is that progressive California's standards are at the 36 mpg level and a dozen states follow California's standards, involving roughly a third of vehicles sold in the U.S.

Much of what animates sociopath Rump is his deep envy and all-consuming hatred of President Obama, who towers far above him in achievements, popularity and character. Rump knows that and it eats him alive, so he needs to destroy any legacy of his. But it's also the mission of right-wing corporate vandals that have joined Rump's swamp creatures in D.C., doing the bidding of the fossil fuel and auto industries as they do under every Rethuglican administration. The solution? Organize, register and vote this November and every election to send them and their dirty baggage packing. Compromised air quality and climate change  denial may not be the immediate danger posed by rampant gun nuttery, but it's a species killer in the long run and has to be opposed.

(photo: Here's your mega-monster guzzler, 40 gallons per mile. Gun rack optional!)