Will Donald Trump be an environmental disaster? History of 1880s holds the answer!

Security and progress versus wildlife and environment. 150 years earlier, human endeavour won over Mother Nature. Is history going to repeat itself in an even more brutal way?

It was 1880s in America, an era that fell squarely within the Gilded Age. The country was in the middle of the Second Industrial Revolution. There was massive production and laying of railroads across the country, changing the topography in many regions. Areas that were hitherto deserts and inaccessible were suddenly connected, propelling migration, human activity and the consequences of man-made intervention.

Scant regard was paid to what would happen to the delicate eco-systems of these belts. For example, in the Antelope Valley of California, hundreds of beautiful horned deer and such animals got confused and perished because they could not cross train tracks or were water logged.

Unfortunately, tragic episodes of history are mostly relegated to study books and library shelves. We draw sparsely from experience of the past, more so when it does not involve loss of human lives but that of animals and birds or the scraping of the environment.

Mr Donald Trump has signed an order to build a wall across the border with Mexico, fortifying and expanding the current obstructive structure into a hideous blotch of concrete and cement dissecting the very heart of wildlife refuge areas as it crosses San Diego and Texas.

These wildlife stretches sit in the Sonoran Desert ecosystem which falls between two biomes in US and Mexico, allowing movement for animals and low flying birds for food, water, mating and migration with the change of season. If a barrier is built in this area, there are several species like jaguars, javelinas, ocelots, roadrunner, pygmy owl, bighorn sheep, cougars etc who will not cross over to the other territory.

In an interview to BBC, Sergio Avila-Villegas, from Arizona Sonora Desert Museum said, "Border infrastructure not only blocks the movement of wildlife, but... destroys the habitats, fragments the habitats and the connectivity that these animals use to move from one place to another."

Not only do animals rely on rivers flowing through the area, restriction in numbers mean smaller sizes of mating pools thus leading to decreased interbreeding and genetic material, making animals more susceptible to diseases. As per the plan that is chalked out, the wall will run right across major river bends, interrupting water sources.

Normally, in conditions like this, tunnels and passageways are made between barriers for movement of animals and low-flying birds, but these are unlikely to be incorporated in Trump’s plans. Even if they are, the tracks would mostly be too small for bigger animals.

If one were to go by the evidence of the past, the partial fence that was constructed in 2009 has already threatened even smaller animals with as much a reduced range of 70%, putting them at a higher threat of extinction.

Moreover, the cost of wall construction and its outcome are ominous. As per a Bloomberg report, up to 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide will be produced while creating material like cement for the wall.

Rather than relying on histrionics, it would be prudent for the President to rather look at more eco-friendly options to keep off illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. There are plenty of choices available if one were to look for serious alternatives. More personnel could be employed for border security, creating more jobs. Or more vehicles and reconnaissance choppers or UAVs could be deployed.

Besides the Mexico Wall, the procrustean advancing of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines will also disrupt the lifestyle of Native Americans, their ecological well-being, the sanctity of their burial grounds and the cleanliness of their rivers. Any potential oil spill will spell hazard for the region.

The President seems to have overruled all these concerns citing the benefit of creating thousands of jobs.

Little else can be expected from a man who considers global warming a myth! On Twitter, Donald Trump had called climate change a hoax created by China. Possibly he has not stepped out from the insulated environment of the Trump Towers to notice that for the third consecutive year temperatures have been surpassing previous highs.

Last heard from the POTUS – he is planning to pull out of the Paris global accord of 2015 to cut greenhouse gas emissions and would be cancelling promised payments in damage control.

And he is appointing Scott Pruitt as the Environment Protection Agency chief, a man who has been one the worst critics of the body, has always been at odds with activists and wants major environmental regulations rolled back!