It’s very difficult to make a list of the top ten terrible things that Donald Trump has done in his life, let alone in the office of the presidency, but if we’re going for something that is just plain unmitigated evil, it’s hard to improve on his decision to “decommission [two] premier satellite missions that gather information on planet-warming pollution and other climate vital signs” by abandoning them and letting one of them “eventually burn up in a fiery descent into Earth’s atmosphere.”
Together, the OCO-2, a free-flying satellite, and OCO-3, which is mounted on the International Space Station, measure the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, specifically sniffing out climate pollution.
The OCO missions are particularly useful for tracking fossil fuel and ecosystem-related emissions, scientists told CNN. The instruments also help scientists monitor plant productivity — critical for farmers and the researchers studying forest loss.
While OCO-3 could be switched off and remain attached to the ISS, perhaps to be turned on again in the future, the decommissioning process for OCO-2 is far more complicated — and fiery. The satellite would be moved into a much lower orbit and exist there as space junk for years until it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
There is no good reason to do this:
The purposeful abandonment or destruction of multimillion-dollar satellites and instruments is essentially unprecedented, scientists told CNN. They are particularly baffled by the decision to destroy OCO-2, given it already has enough fuel on it to last through 2040.
Taxpayers paid the enormous cost of building and launching these satellites. Now they are being decommissioned for the sole purpose of preventing them from sharing information with scientists or the government. Why?
To protect the fossil fuel industries. That’s it.
We’re literally burning alive on the surface of the planet and Trump wants to accelerate to process. To help him in that task, he will prevent us from measuring the increase in warming emissions.
This is just inimical to sustaining life. It’s evil.
And it’s part of a broader program:
Other satellites and instruments on the chopping block include the long-lived Aqua satellite, which carries a high-resolution Earth imaging instrument called MODIS, that among other uses, helps detect wildfires worldwide. Also at risk are the Terra and Aura missions, each of which have climate science applications, and planned satellites that would precisely measure solar radiation, heavy precipitation and clouds.
He’s just throwing high-priced scientific instruments in the garbage. If his warming agenda causes more wildfires and bigger storms, he doesn’t want that measured either.
There is no defense for this.
None.
