Monday Murals: Air

 

It's Sunday, which means it's time once again to join Sami at Sami's Colourful World and her Monday Murals.  Even though it's still Sunday in my world, please be aware that Sami's mural link goes live at 11:01 a.m. my time today.  I just hope Bleubeard and I are able to link this week.

Here in the States we are celebrating our Independence Day weekend.  Normally I would try to find a patriotic mural.  This year I don't feel too patriotic because I believe I have been robbed of my independence due to several (not very) Supreme Court rulings that have happened in the past week.

Instead, I'm sharing a mural that exemplifies one of those incredibly perverse rulings.  The name of this mural is Air.

 

As much as I would like to talk about a woman's right to choose, that's a subject for another day.  Today, I am talking about the latest decision that affects the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and their ability to reduce carbon emissions from power plants.  This puts air quality at risk, and consequentially will also affect water quality.  According to the Ecological Society of America (ESA):

The Supreme Court decision severely hinders the efforts of the United States to reduce emissions. This majority ruling will result in damaging our ecosystems, reducing biodiversity, and harming people and their livelihoods across the nation and throughout the globe by eliminating the regulations needed to effectively reduce harmful emissions.

 This is not just a U.S. problem, but a global problem.

Those of you who only visit for Monday Murals are probably not aware that I was born on Earth Day and I have a deep love for the earth, air, water, ecology, and the environment.  According to Catherine Kling faculty director at Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability:

“Weakening the power of the EPA to regulate and enforce dangerous air pollutants that were not mentioned explicitly in the Clean Air Act raises concerns for other pollutants. For example, we now understand that PFAS pollution of water is very dangerous, yet this contaminant was unknown when the Clean Water Act was passed 50 years ago. As our scientific understanding of the effect of water and air pollution advances, the ruling suggests that unless legislation can promptly be passed in each instance, unnecessary and avoidable human health and ecological damages will occur.”

Air was painted by Josh Tripoli, whose work I have shown in the past.  This mural was painted in 2014 on the side of a building at 2300 East Douglas in Wichita, Kansas (USA).  This mural may be more significant today than it was when it was originally painted.

 

If you enjoy murals from around the world, please don't forget to visit Monday Murals at Sami's Colourful World.  Thanks for stopping by this not very independent-feeling Independence weekend.