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Wild Side: The proof of Trump's plans is in the (Christmas) pudding Land, water, and air quality could suffer under the administration of Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as president Jan. 20, including Tunnel Creek wetlands on Bureau of Land Management lands in Southern Oregon. Photo by BLM Tuesday Dec 27, 2016 at 7:35 PM Dec 27, 2016 at 7:35 PM By Joseph Vaile KS Wild At this year’s round of Christmas parties, I noticed that one uninvited guest kept creeping into the conversation.  You know who, right? The guy with Twitter trigger-itch. The one with the interesting hair and orange-ish skin tones. I think you know of whom I speak.  I was just trying to enjoy some eggnog, but everyone wanted to talk about was Donald Trump.  The conversations usually started with something like, “Do you have a feeling of impending doom?” or “Are you ready for the total annihilation of the planet?”  It sounds dramatic. Overstated. Full of fear-mongering. But, it’s not just my friends and loved ones at Christmas parties that are sounding the alarm.  Jody Freeman, a former energy counselor to President Barack Obama, was asked about Trump’s stance on climate change, an issue Trump has said he would keep an “open mind” about. But Trump has also said (in — what else? — a tweet in 2012) that "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." Knowing that Trump often says one thing, does another, and then says something to contradict himself a second or third time, Freeman's take makes sense to me: “The proof is in the pudding, and that means we ought to look at who he picks to run the essential agencies.”  So let’s just look at what is in the Trump pudding so far. Let’s look at Trump’s picks to run the essential roles in our government.  For Secretary of State: Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon, the world’s largest oil corporation and a leader in funding climate change misinformation campaigns.  Head of the Environmental Protection Agency: Scott Pruitt, famed climate change denier who is currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the EPA.  For Secretary of the Interior: Congressman Ryan Zinke, who the League of Conservation Voters gave an Environmental Voting Record score of a dismal 3 percent, reflecting his votes against key environmental issues during his tenure.  It all sounds so unbelievably bad. If the health of our land, air, and water weren’t so important to our lives, our children, and humanity, it would be nearly comical. Selecting a person who wants to get rid of the EPA to run the EPA is pretty ridiculous, right? Even Republican George W. Bush’s EPA Administrator, Christine Whitman, voiced major concerns about Pruitt.  After the eggnog and a round of cookies discussing the national political stage, the next question is always: “How will these anti-environment picks affect us in the Rogue Valley?”  It’s unclear how it will play out, but the concerns are many. For one thing, the national forests that surround our valleys are more at risk than they have been in a generation. As corporate-leaning administrators take over positions in our public land management agencies, there is a very real possibility that vast swaths of public lands will be simply handed over to extraction industries. If I had to guess, I would say that our public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management are most at risk.  With so many oil and fossil fuel executives gaining positions of power in government, we might also see a serious push for pipeline construction across our region to ship gas overseas. Protections for clean water might also take a back seat to corporate mining interests, and we could see a push to develop mines in the headwaters of our rivers.  While all the doom and gloom is depressing and these nominations will certainly enable powerful corporate polluters, now is not the time to give up. I have faith that we will see social, environmental, and economic justice groups band together to fight back more than ever before.  Every step of the way, from the cabinet picks, to the policies, we can be there. We can challenge assaults on truth, equality and our very life support systems. Who knows? Maybe Trump will change how he actually governs in his never-ending quest to be admired by as many people as possible.  We need to pay attention. Because we know with Trump, the proof of the pudding is how it actually tastes. Joseph Vaile is executive director of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild, 541-488-5789, www.kswild.org). His Wild Side column appears every three weeks.