Fort Sumter is the historic location that still stands as a monument to the outbreak of the American Civil War. Now, the fort is a federal site under the National Park Service and is open to visitors with a host of historical information. However, as Fort Sumter sits upon the South Carolina coast, a sign there detailed the risk that rising sea levels posed to the historical bastion. Of course, rising sea levels are attributed to climate change and the sign was therefore flagged under the Trump Administration’s modern purge of “improper ideology” (The White House).
This censorship comes in a long line of actions taken by the National Park Service under President Trump’s executive order: “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”. Though climate change as a topic does not directly deal with the history of the United States, the sign was flagged due to involving agendas that the current Administration disapproves of. The offending phrase was, “as the earth’s climate changes, rising seas could inundate most of the fort’s walls,” and further went on to detail how the parade ground, where soldiers gathered, may be submerged soon (Joselow). In the eyes of President Trump, any mention of climate change must be eradicated. Thus, the sign’s scientific connotations were espousing a liberal, “woke” ideology that stood against core American principles, hence its subsequent removal.
In the face of all this political fenagling, Fort Sumter is facing a serious risk. Evaluations of the site have gathered that the seawater exposure has been eroding the brick walls, and the seawalls are now so unstable that they require serious reinforcement. The National Park Service has estimated that the required repairs would cost at least $100 million (Regan & Dieterle). Yet, in the face of all this, the Trump Administration is instead concerned with a single sentence on a single sign, as it mentions climate change. The hope is that, regardless of whatever “Truth and Sanity” is imposed upon the National Park Service, a historic monument like Fort Sumter will not slip into disrepair and be swallowed by the sea, but instead steps will be taken so that it, and this nation as a whole, stand strong for the coming future.
Author’s Note: There is an almost comical quality in researching an escapade like this, born partially from sheer horrific irony. It should not be shocking to any functioning member of society that climate change is a real, proven, human-driven threat that affects all people the world over. Yet, in the eyes of Donald Trump, it is a “woke” mindset made to push a specific agenda. That agenda? It is the disuse of fossil fuels, the reduction of single-use plastics, the switch to cleaner products and renewable energies. Of course, this does not sound conceptually political. However, the Trump Administration’s deep ties to the businesses of fossil fuels like coal and oil, as well as plastics and manufacturing, make the acknowledgement of climate change a dangerous and palpable threat. So, what else is there to do as Commander-In-Chief than to launch a war on being eco-conscious? No matter what the President may do to national monuments, it is forever important that the American people understand the serious issue our planet is facing, and rise up together to fight the biggest contributors: big businesses. Only then will killing the planet not be profitable, and only then will Donald Trump no longer care.
– Jack Mattiacci
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