Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
-Samuel Coleridge, “The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner”
In October 2003, the Pentagon released a report—far from
confidential, easily available in PDF form on the Internet—entitled “An Abrupt
Climate Change Scenario and its Implications for United States National
Security.”[1] Its title basically states the report’s
purpose, “…to imagine the unthinkable—to push the boundaries of current
research on climate change so we may better understand the potential
implications on United States national security.”
This report was issued under the George W. Bush
administration, so it certainly wasn’t an exercise in bleeding heart liberalism—it
was an exercise in foreseeing security issues before they smack us upside the head. It was very much in keeping
with Bush’s preference for “pre-emptive strike” before problems develop.
In fact, it’s a startlingly frank document that puts to
shame Trump’s recent executive orders rolling back Obama-era environmental
regulations, the Clean Water Rule, and Trump’s all-out assault on the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), now under Cabinet Secretary Scott Pruitt’s direction. Pruitt is an Oklahoma oil
industry booster to the core and claims to doubt any science that says carbon
dioxide emissions play a key role in climate change. Vested interests, anyone?
It’s hard to tell if Trump knows or even cares one way or the other on climate
change, but we know that the issue has no caché for him—it’s like a “chick
flick” in the movie theater of his mind, and he’s only interested in action films where things get blown up.
Never mind that Mar-a-Lago is vulnerable to the physics of sea level
rise—that’s an inconvenient fact.
From his perspective as the “9/11 president,” Bush had more
reason than most U.S. presidents to be hyper-sensitive to national security
issues, so the contrast between his response to climate change and Trump’s attitude
is striking. The irony, of course, is that Trump attempts to justify all kinds
of environmentally-destructive
actions on the basis of national
security.
Interestingly, the 2003 report foresees the possibility that
“The United States turns inward, committing its resources to feeding its own
population, shoring up its borders, and managing the increasing global
tension.”[2]
Obama chose to address the broader dangers head on by
cooperating with 200 other nations in the COP21 Paris agreement; Trump is choosing
the self-protective option. The scenarios offered in the report’s vision of “the
unthinkable” may very well be at the heart of Trump’s obsession with closing
our borders and building that ridiculous wall.
So, even though a celebration of science (including a
powerful video by Neil deGrasse Tyson seen here) was great to see,
it’s still pretty troubling that on this recent Earth Day 2017, the world’s
scientists felt they had to take to the streets in search of a little respect
and support, not to mention the freedom to pursue the very important work they
do on behalf of all of us.
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Even if we understand little of what they do, we should at
least be grateful that they are the keeper of the FACTS—the experimentally confirmed and peer-reviewed realities of
the physical world that we rely on for our wellbeing and survival.
Consider the migration crisis of the past few years, for
example—it’s been directly impacted by the climate-based degradation creeping
up on Eurasia, Africa and the Middle East. We just finished a ten-year drought
in California! Scientific facts predicted
all that. These facts also show us a way forward, towards halting climate change before it becomes
globally catastrophic—why wouldn’t we
want to cooperate in that project?
The 2003 Pentagon report thus anticipated a long-term, but
eventually dire situation (Neptune’s forte is in slowly
unfolding situations) by saying: “Either way, it is not implausible that abrupt
climate change will bring extreme weather conditions to many of the world’s key
population and growing regions at the same time—stressing global food, water
and energy supplies.”[3]
Especially in these doubly Neptunian times (transiting Pisces),
there’s no exaggerating how seriously we need the expertise and dedication to
objective facts that scientists provide.
Killing the albatross
By actively undermining and potentially even eliminating the
EPA, Pruitt and Trump are threatening to set U.S. environmental policy adrift
on a leaky raft, so-to-speak—an appropriate metaphor if we consider that the
EPA (12/2/1970) has been experiencing its first transiting Neptune (Pisces) square
to its radix Neptune (Sagittarius).
This transit—considered one of three transitional “mid-life”
outer planet transits—is hard on any entity, personal or collective, and the
stakes are often high. Here’s what transits expert Robert Hand[4]
has to say:
“During this period you are likely to intensely question your
life, your goals and how far you have fulfilled your ideals…It is very
important to use this period for self-scrutiny, but it is not a good idea to
act yet…Many of the insights you receive during this period will be real, and
many will not be real. Only the passage of time will allow you to determine
which are which.”
In the poem excerpted above, Coleridge’s “ancient
mariner,”—a truly tragic Neptunian character—despairs that he has brought down
calamity on his shipmates by killing an albatross, then considered the spirit
of a successful sea voyage. “And I had done an hellish thing, and it would work
‘em woe: For all averr’d, I had kill’d the bird that made the breeze to blow.”
Stranded in a deathly still sea of undrinkable saltwater,
the crew was condemned to die. Such tragic irony reflects Neptune’s darker moods
and the real perils we face today. By
removing funding and attempting to delegitimize the EPA’s mission, the Trump
administration is thumbing its nose at the potentially dire, real physical consequences of this
choice in the natural world. Trump is setting us adrift with no wind at our
backs.
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| http://worldoceanreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/k1_wk_thermo-zirkulation.jpg |
In fact, the ancient mariner’s plight echoes a growing
danger with the earth’s oceans that scientists are monitoring closely: the potential
shutdown of the ocean system’s “thermohaline
circulation”—our planet’s natural circulatory system, if you will. This is
a complicated physical phenomenon that I encourage you to explore at the links
provided. Suffice to say here that this system directly impacts the climate on planet earth
and determines whether that climate renders this “3rd rock from the
Sun” uninhabitable over time or not.
The fact that 20+ million people are suffering famine
or near-famine conditions at this moment (now in 4 regions at once) is a shrill
troubling sign. Climate affects weather, which in turn affects agricultural
conditions (water supplies, soil health, pestilences, etc.), and if people
can’t grow food, famine follows. Sometimes politics and power struggles are
involved, but resource shortages always
cause turmoil and tension.
This is not Trump’s “Chinese scam.” If anything, China has been
stepping into the leadership vacuum we’re leaving open in the fight against global
climate change because it recognizes it will benefit, too. The 2003 report
projected what might happen to China this way, and they seem to have gotten the
message:
“Longer, colder winters and hotter summers caused by
decreased evaporative cooling because of reduced precipitation stress already
tight energy and water supplies. Widespread famine causes chaos and internal
struggles as a cold and hungry China peers jealously across the Russian and
western borders at energy resources.”[5]
Trump would have been briefed on all this: what, we might
wonder, is he trying to accomplish or to prove
by ignoring the dangers, rolling back progress and possibly pulling the U.S.
out of the Paris agreements? That it’s “U.S. against the World?” This is a
fruitless, delusional (Neptune) position, given the
interconnected, global scope of the challenge.
As ruler of the oceans, Neptune thus has a lot of say-so in
whether humanity survives into the next centuries on this planet or not (the
planet will survive without us, by the way—in fact, it might thrive without us). The fate of the EPA
matters, not just for its own sake as a distinctive government agency (founded
by Richard Nixon, believe it or not)—it matters because its problems are our problems.
We’ve been focused on the
rug being pulled out from under health care—if we care about health, we can’t
be complacent about the EPA, either. These dynamics work together seamlessly—on
the local and the global level.
That’s how Neptune rolls.
So, will Trump and Pruitt be allowed to destroy America’s
environmental progress in the name of corporate profit? Let’s examine the
astrology for some clues.
To manage the scope here, we’ll use the U.S. Sibly chart as
“ground zero” for this study, next to the EPA’s effective “birth”
chart. To represent the present challenge, we’ll complete the triwheel
with the Election Day 2016 chart. We have every reason to believe that
Trump’s election marked a challenging threshold in this issue, so it will
undoubtedly lend some insight.
Triwheel #1: (inner wheel) US-Sibly
chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10 p.m. LMT, Philadelphia, PA; (middle wheel) EPA,
December 2, 1970, 12:00 p.m. ST (no exact time known), Washington, D.C.;
(outer wheel) Election Day 2016, November 8, 2016, 7:20 a.m. ST
(sunrise chart), Washington, D.C..
Interchart Mutable T-Square:
EPA Sun widely conjoins EPA Neptune
(Sagittarius) and opposes Sibly Uranus (Gemini); this axis squares Election
Neptune (Pisces). The tension in this configuration sort of says it
all, if Trump’s motives for undermining the EPA (Sun) are to remove any
obstacles to building up our military
and fossil fuel sector jobs (6th
house Uranus). The square from Election Neptune (Pisces) helps to
cloud the nation’s thinking (Neptune over Sibly 3rd
house) regarding the benefits and risks at stake.
Unfortunately, with the EPA’s radix Sun under the influence
of its Neptune, maintaining its integrity and ideals can be a
challenge. It was also, from its inception, at odds with Sibly Jupiter-Venus
(quincunx from Cancer)—economic interests have always had a love-hate
relationship with environmental efforts and the regulations that go along with
them. This is reinforced by EPA
Chiron (Aries) square Sibly Jupiter-Venus (Cancer). Allowing security
issues (Cancer) to “trump” environmental priorities is sort of baked into the cake.
Interchart Mutable
Grand-Cross: Sibly Neptune (Virgo) is opposed by Election Chiron (Pisces); this axis squares Election Saturn/Venus (midpoint,
Sagittarius)- EPA Mercury (Sagittarius) opposite Sibly Mars (Gemini). Transiting
Chiron has finally separated from transiting Neptune, but here, it’s
threatening to wound the nation’s “dreams and aspirations” (Sibly Neptune);
enter Election Saturn/Venus (Sagittarius-incidentally, conjunct
Trump’s natal Moon) with its compelling quest to grow America’s military as a
route to financial gain (opposite Sibly Mars), and we can see the potential
for misguided adventures.
War has a curious way of loosening restrictions on some (the
corporate world) while it puts added restrictions on others (travelers,
refugees, immigrants), so clear minds and dedicated corruption watch dogs (a
rare commodity in Neptunian times) are needed.
Interchart Cardinal
T-Square: Election Pluto (Capricorn)
opposes Sibly Sun (Cancer); this axis squares Election Jupiter-EPA Uranus-Sibly
Saturn (all Libra. It’s good to remember that this election chart would
have been the same, no matter who won
the presidency, but this configuration suggests that, even though Trump crows
about his role as a change agent, the presidency and the nation (Sibly Sun)
would be undergoing a Plutonian transformation anyway.
The added factors of
Election Jupiter and EPA Uranus suggests that a “shake-up” of
Congress and the EPA is right on cosmic schedule. There are positive and
negative ways to navigate these changes, of course, which is where Trump’s influence
matters.
Jupiter isn’t particularly powerful in Libra, but being in
mutual reception with Sagittarius Venus gives it a bit more clout.
Interestingly, we usually equate Jupiter with the GOP and Saturn
with the Dems (the GOP hates regulations that restrain business in any way; the
Dems believe regulations can be an important tool for balancing out the
inequities inherent in capitalism).
It follows that in this tense t-square, we see the GOP at
odds with POTUS (Sun), which isn’t too far from the reality. The GOP is probably
more responsible for slowing down Trump’s legislative aspirations than anyone,
and some of them are even speaking out against Trump’s “holy grail”—his “big,
beautiful wall.” Lawrence O’Donnell characterizes the relationship as “Trump
v. Capitol Hill” in his latest report.
As for the EPA’s prospects with this “shake up,” it’s
helpful to notice that its Uranus is also sextile its radix Sun and
Election
Saturn (both Sagittarius) and trine EPA progressed Sun (Gemini, not shown),
so it may be fairly resilient. Even so, with Election Pluto (Capricorn)
square radix Uranus, a certain amount of turmoil and transformation can be
expected. That’s Scott Pruitt’s job in a nutshell, so the challenges are far
from over.
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| https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-01/epa_horizontal2017-1.jpg |
Election Moon-EPA Node-Sibly Moon conjoin (Aquarius) and
semi-sextile/quincunx Sibly Pluto opposite Sibly Mercury (Capricorn-Cancer). We
can expect that the EPA will be forced to give corporate interests (Capricorn) precedence
over environmental ones, but this interesting convergence in Aquarius suggests
that public outcry and activism will be the most important countervailing force.
It’s also interesting that these Aquarius points directly
oppose Trump’s natal Mars (Leo, not shown): it’s very
possible that his will-to-overpower public sentiment on important issues like
the EPA will meet with sufficient resistance. It does appear here that public
sentiment is aligned with the EPA (Moons-Node) and more likely to
oppose Trump.
Interchart Cardinal
T-Square: Election Mars-EPA Moon-Sibly Pluto
(Capricorn) oppose Sibly Mercury (Cancer); this axis squares Election Uranus
(Aries). The Moon is a bit uncertain here, since
the EPA chart is a noon chart, but we can see here that Wall Street (Pluto)
has been riding high on the promise of environmental regulation rollbacks. Even
so, gone are the days when fossil fuels drive the Market entirely: billions are
being invested in clean energies and clean energy-based industries, and many
Market watchers feel that the “good old days” of carbon-intensive industries
like coal are simply never coming back, no matter how protectionist we become.
Oil and natural gas pipelines are another story, and the controversies will undoubtedly
continue there.
Final thoughts
Returning to that important Neptune-square-Neptune
transit that’s in progress at the EPA, the orb is already very generous, so the
period for soul-searching and re-envisioning its mission is rapidly turning
into a call for action. Unfortunately, the agency is not out of the woods and
free to move full-steam-ahead, yet—Neptune will continue transiting
square the EPA Sun well into 2018.
This will probably mark Scott Pruitt’s
tenure as Secretary of the agency, unless being actually involved in its
mission wakes him up to its importance. Coming out of a Neptune transit is a lot
like waking up, so stranger things have happened.
It’s enlightening to see how tightly the EPA’s destiny connects
with public sentiment (the Aquarius connection discussed above). It makes
sense: transiting Neptune also squares Sibly Uranus, the planet disposing
our Sibly
Moon, so long story short, what happens to the EPA happens to us.
So, if we allow ourselves to be lulled into complacency and delusionary
thinking about the environment’s resilience and of our rightful “dominion” over
Nature (after all, our IRAs aren’t doing so badly these days), we’re coming
down on the wrong side of this Neptune transit.
If we allow ourselves to fall into the “false choice”
mindset—i.e., that we can either
create jobs and feather Wall Street
nests, or we can steward the environment,
but we can’t do both—then again,
we’re on the wrong side of this Neptune transit. With Neptune, the answers are never either/or; they’re always all
of the above, and then some.
Since Coleridge envisioned his infamous shipboard calamity,
the “albatross” has come to signify an onerous burden that somehow never goes
away. In fact, the “albatross” was a blessing—a sign of a safe voyage—on that
ship, and killing it was the tragic error. About as bad an idea as killing the
EPA would be. Nature calls the shots in the end, and the hubris of denying its
power is a “hellish thing,” indeed.
There’s a lot of talk about the next wave of innovation in
technologies on the horizon—robotics, AI, “smart” everything: instead of
designing autonomous vehicles and destroying more job sectors for human
workers, how about directing some of this massive innovation to creating that
clean energy-powered infrastructure that other nations are achieving even as we
speak?
Neptune transits undermine progress by overwhelming us with inertia—we may go through the motions of
activity (the kind that happens in a recurring, labyrinthine dream), yet
nothing really breaks through as progress
until we “wake up.” I’m hopeful that the Trump administration will, for better
or worse, be the “wake up call” that we need. This need extends to many key
areas of government, and even to our role as the “leader of the free world,”
but the time has never been more critical for our relationship with the EPA and
with the environment itself.
Efforts to roll back federal control of public lands and
national parks, to drill for oil in the Arctic wildlife refuge, among other
environmentally-sensitive areas (remember the BP oil spill in the Gulf?) are
all on the table right now. Can we shake off Neptune’s inertia before
it’s too late? A few thoughts from the New
York Times puts it all into perspective:
“President Trump’s environmental onslaught will
have immediate, dangerous effects. He has vowed to reopen coal mines and moved
to keep the dirtiest power plants open for many years into the
future. Dirty air…kills people. It’s much the same as his policies on health
care or refugees: Real people (the poorest and most vulnerable people) will be
hurt in real time.
But there’s an extra dimension to the environmental
damage. What Mr. Trump is trying to do to the planet’s climate will play out
over geologic time as well. In fact, it’s
time itself that he’s stealing from us.” [emphasis added]
Next stop, the budget battle!
Raye
Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former educator. A graduate of
the Faculty of Astrological Studies (U.K.), Raye focuses on mundane,
collective-oriented astrology, with a particular interest in current affairs,
culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public concerns such as
education and health. Several of her articles on these topics have been
featured in The Mountain Astrologer and other publications over the years.
She is
also available to read individual charts—contact her at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.
© Raye Robertson 2017. All
rights reserved.
[1]
Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall, “An Abrupt
Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National
Security,” http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/v1003/readings/Pentagon.pdf.
Accessed 4/25/2017.
[2]
Schwartz and Randall, p. 13.
[3]
Schwartz and Randall, p. 12.
[4]Robert
Hand, Planets in Transit: Life Cycles for
Living. Whitford Press, Atglen, PA, 1976, pp. 462-463.
[5]
Schwartz and Randall, p. 13.
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