The Trump administration’s July 4th fireworks show will likely produce unhealthy levels of pollution at the National Mall and the surrounding area—a fitting byproduct of the president’s 250th American anniversary celebration.
Internal documents from the National Park Service, which hosts the annual DC fireworks celebration, and obtained by the Washington Post, say that people in the area should “remain indoors as much as possible during and after the show” and “wear an N95 mask when outdoors” to prevent “irritation symptoms.”
A significant contributor to these warnings is the scale of the fireworks display: the approximately 850,000 fireworks for 40 minutes. This is about 50 times more than the usual number of fireworks and double the typical show duration.
To fund the extravagance, Trump is using $1.6 million in revenue from entry fees to national parks—five times more than what’s usually spent on the show. According to the Washington Post, the president is funneling a total of at least $90 million from national park entry fees for his plans to remake DC in his own image. This includes $76 million for repairing fountains, such as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Surely, this is the best use of these funds, considering the US Department of the Interior states that, as of September 2025, it needs $35.4 billion for maintenance and repair tasks that have already been postponed.
Reading this story makes me wonder why the Trump régime does not simply abolish the EPA (likely with the official justification being that it’s ‘too woke’). At this point, it is nothing but another thin layer of red tape.
How long before Imperial America’s ‘food’ is practically indistinguishable from rat poison? I give it another two decades.
9
amemorablename - 2w
At the rate things are going, the US may not last another two decades as an entity. Especially as climate change gets worse on top of everything else. The current leadership is running it into the ground and the most realistic to elect alternative party wouldn't even allow a faux-socialist imperialist like Bernie Sanders a chance to get in and do some FDR-style reforms. It's hard to imagine how the power brokers keep it going in the long-term, without some kind of confrontation outside the system that forces some reforms, even if it's not a socialist confrontation.
6
Maeve - 2w
I don't think it much matters to them? They have their bunkers elsewhere.
1
amemorablename - 2w
Perhaps so, but they're gonna have a hard time projecting power from bunkers elsewhere. In general, it's something I feel I need to better wrap my head around through a dialectical materialist lens.
3
Maeve - 2w
Fair enough.
1
Maeve - 2w
Consider trade agreement implications. We already tried to force chlorinated chicken in the UK, leaned on Mexico until they decided not to ban glyphosphate. I said elsewhere that Mexico and Canada got rid of a headache by not having trade agreements renewed, and that was before I saw this!
AnarchoBolshevik in us_news
Washington, D.C. is devastating the local environment tonight
https://www.motherjones.com/?p=1212033Wait till you see what they're doing to food: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/epa-approves-new-fluorinated-pesticides-1806171
Reading this story makes me wonder why the Trump régime does not simply abolish the EPA (likely with the official justification being that it’s ‘too woke’). At this point, it is nothing but another thin layer of red tape.
How long before Imperial America’s ‘food’ is practically indistinguishable from rat poison? I give it another two decades.
At the rate things are going, the US may not last another two decades as an entity. Especially as climate change gets worse on top of everything else. The current leadership is running it into the ground and the most realistic to elect alternative party wouldn't even allow a faux-socialist imperialist like Bernie Sanders a chance to get in and do some FDR-style reforms. It's hard to imagine how the power brokers keep it going in the long-term, without some kind of confrontation outside the system that forces some reforms, even if it's not a socialist confrontation.
I don't think it much matters to them? They have their bunkers elsewhere.
Perhaps so, but they're gonna have a hard time projecting power from bunkers elsewhere. In general, it's something I feel I need to better wrap my head around through a dialectical materialist lens.
Fair enough.
Consider trade agreement implications. We already tried to force chlorinated chicken in the UK, leaned on Mexico until they decided not to ban glyphosphate. I said elsewhere that Mexico and Canada got rid of a headache by not having trade agreements renewed, and that was before I saw this!