U-turn

In the spring and summer, I reside in a Northeastern state that bears no love for U-turns. I think "No U-Turn" is the 11th Commandment, and one will burn in hell if one defies the many signs that forbid you from making one. You could end up paying $15 to cross the George Washington Bridge against your will because you had no chance to turn around. But being the Girl Scout that I still am, I obey the signs.

So imagine my surprise and delight when Florida became my winter home, and I discovered that U-turns were not only legal, they were prevalent! You can U-turn almost everywhere! Missed your destination? No problem! Make a U-turn here! Then make another one! Oh, life became so much easier!

No U-turns were necessary when I made my way to my favorite park at sunrise this morning. I like to get there early when it's just me and the birds. The park is full of herons and egrets and hawks and parakeets. Although I haven't seen my beloved sandhill cranes yet, today I did spot the anhinga that dries out his wings on a branch of a tree that I pass.

When I got back home, the first thing I saw on social media was a post of my daughter's. Jenna is a birder, among other things, and she is quite passionate about her love for avian critters. She posted a link to an April 13 article in the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has officially clipped the wings of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act." So if a U-turn can be defined as "a change of plan, especially a reversal of political policy," you could say that this environmentally-deaf administration has made a U-turn on protecting birds. Are you surprised?

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, designed to protect birds from extinction, is celebrating its 100th birthday this year! And how wonderful to celebrate its century-old existence by killing it! Under scandal-ridden Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the MBTA will no longer protect birds from things like oil spills. According to Zinke's administration, if your activity isn't intended to kill birds, it's okay. Remember the Exxon Valdez (1989)? Remember Deepwater Horizon (2010)? Under Zinke's new definition, those oil companies would bear no responsibility or pay no penalty for the deaths of vast numbers of migratory birds. Score one for Big Oil.

By the time you read this, Zinke could be counted among the not-so-dearly departed members of the Trump cabinet. Rumor has it that he is in talks with Fox News (surprise?) as well as energy corporations as he hedges his bets in regard to Trump's efforts to drain his own friggin' swamp. If so, he leaves behind a legacy of scandal, irresponsibility, waste of taxpayer money, and damage to the environment. Good job, Ryan.

"The MBTA sparked 100 years of conservation leadership in this country. It was one of the first conservation laws as a nation we passed and implemented. And now after 100 years, to be walking backwards, to start a century this way, does not align with the vast majority of Americans who care and value birds and wildlife."
      ~ Sarah Greenberger, Vice President for the Audubon Society

Not all U-turns are good. Some send us backwards. But a U-turn on this nightmare administration would allow us to move forward again. On the wings of eagles.