In Speaker Ryan's first official remarks since the election he began to list off all of the "accomplishments" that he looked forward to in the new administration. Every single one of them involved the not so slow destruction of our environment; pumping up coal mining, getting loggers back to work, weakening EPA standards on farmers, etc. This is the reality we now face, all of the environmental progress we made, though not perfect, is going to be gone. This is what the middle of America voted for.
Some will rightfully argue that Speaker Ryan was doing the job he was elected to do; fighting for what benefits his constituents, seeing as Wisconsin has a large logging community, farming network, and energy workers. What this view does not take into account is the fact that our representatives are also elected to make the difficult decisions, decisions that sometimes cause short term suffering for long term gain. Their concerns should never be focused on reelection, but instead on working towards the greater good.
When you begin to piece together the policies the new Congress and administration want to pass you begin to realize the future of our climate and planet come into question. The argument that humans do not affect climate change is unacceptable in this day and age, and yet we still pursue policies that laugh in the face of science. If this is the vision for our legislative future, it will hopefully trigger average citizens to finally get involved in the fight for the environment. If our legislators are concerned with reelection above all else, perhaps we make sure that they hear our voices on this matter.