Spencer Phillips

Trump administration plans to close unknown number of U.S. Forest Service offices in Alaska | Alaska Beacon The Forest Service, under the direction of the Department of Agriculture, is planning massive cutbacks to staff and offices nationwide.

Trump's forest plan:
1.Fire employees, rescind roadless rule & close offices to make land stewardship and visitor safety impossible.
2.Claim that agency is failing to carry out its mission, so...
3.Sell the people's forests to private industry, who...
4.Ruin our land and lock us out.
bit.ly/3VE0Q7S

Justice Clarence Thomas says legal precedents are not 'the gospel' Justice Clarence Thomas says the Supreme Court should take a more critical approach to settled precedent. It is not "the gospel," he says.

So...legal precedents are not fairytales. Good to know. abcnews.go.com/Politics/jus...

Don't like the numbers? Just fire the person responsible for gathering them.

Trump's doing what every tyrannical regime has always done: wiping out the truth and replacing it with lies.

A look at Ryan’s presidential employment contract This contract, originally established in 2018 when Ryan was hired, was renewed in 2022 and outlines the terms of his employment, including salary and benefits.

So UVa President Ryan's resignation makes a lot more sense: BOV: "Do you want to be pushed off the cliff with or without the golden parachute?"

www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

I am lucky that I had a chance to see this expanded and corrected interpretation last year. I've kept the photos, and I'll continue to hold it up as an example for my Sustainability Policy students of good stewardship by NPS employees -- both of our public lands and our shared history.

Muir Woods exhibit is first casualty of White House directive to erase history "In order to know your role in history, you need to see yourself in it."

Muir Woods exhibit becomes first casualty of White House directive to erase history www.sfgate.com/california-p...

This Fourth of July, the world declares its independence from America | Stephen Marche America is turning away from itself, and the rest of the world must follow

Happy Fourth. "One of the great ironies of history is that the triumph of Maga has led to the piecemeal destruction of everything that once made America great, and on every level."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/comm...

I want to take a moment to share an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence's grievances against King George III.

Sound familiar?

Trump’s EPA announces major rollbacks to power plant pollution limits More than 200 health experts say regulatory proposals will lead to biggest increase in pollution in decades

If only karma was real, we would know whose grandchildren will spend their childhoods in oxygen tents or huffing inhalers.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/wh...

Karoline Leavitt on deployment of National Guard troops in L.A.: "The Trump Administration has a zero tolerance policy for criminal behavior and violence, especially when that violence is aimed at law enforcement officers trying to do their jobs."

Trump: <pardons Jan 6 rioters>

U.S. Tells Its Diplomats in Vietnam to Avoid War Anniversary Events (Gift Article) The reversal adds another Trump administration blow to decades of reconciliation efforts.

What a disappointment. Seems our "leaders" can't do much other than shoot themselves in the foot.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/w...

Well so much for letting States decide when life and death issues are on the line. On the upside, with Trump tanking the global economy maybe we'll reduce emissions simply because we don't have any money to spend on things.

America’s Park and Forest Rangers Are Being Fired, and Oil and Gas Bosses… | Spencer Phillips Nailed it. &quot;Those self-inflicted harms could even fuel calls to sell off large swaths of public lands.&quot; My ecological-economics students saw this same danger…

www.linkedin.com/posts/spence...

Same, same with the National Parks, National Forests, ...

Why are other universities silent in condemning Trump’s attacks on Columbia? | Zephyr Teachout If university leaders allow themselves to be bullied, how do we expect any other institutions to stand up?

First they came for Columbia, but...
Trickle-down authoritarianism is already in place at my U. It seems unlikely that others are not feeling the squeeze.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...