THIS week Channel 4 covered two very significant moments in the early presidential days of Joe Biden. They were in sharp contrast to the rhetoric and actions of that man, Trump, in those very dark days that hopefully have been consigned to the past.

Biden has suspended oil and gas drilling leases in Alaska’s Arctic wildlife refuge, reversing Trump’s “flagship” policy, whist an environmental review is carried out.

The region is home to vast oil reserves but also to polar bears, that use it’s coastal plain as a breeding ground, caribou, snowy owls and other wildlife. It’s one of the few remaining areas of true wilderness that exist on the planet that’s home to more than 200 species of birds that migrate there to breed.

The local people call it the sacred place where life begins because 130,000 strong herd of caribou go there every year to have their young.

The refuge which spans over 19 million acres of land is the largest wildlife sanctuary in America. It was clear in Channel 4’s piece, that there is no way that oil and gas drilling can be done there, that doesn’t hurt the environment, animals and human communities in the area.

Bernadette Demientieff was interviewed. She is the Executive Director of Gwich’in Nation Steering Committee. The Gwich’in people are one of the native occupants of the area affected. She said that although Biden’s decision was a step in the right direction it’s not exactly what they were hoping for as they were pushing for permanent protection.

I was struck by her following statement: “I’m not an environmentalist or an activist, I’m simply a mother and a grandmother trying to protect my children’s future so that they have a place and a future in our homelands. Many of the Gwich’in people (also Inupiat and other native Alaskans) didn’t come looking for the fight. These people came to our homelands and tried to make decisions about our future without involving us and we are not going to stand for it. We are going to resist.”

She went on to say it was very important to many native Alaskans and Alaskans generally whose voices were not being heard and had been totally disregarded and dismissed. They were trying to put a stop to the continued colonisation that’s happening through oil and gas development. She stated, “We have dead fish in our lakes and rivers, dead birds literally falling out of the sky from starvation. Our leadership (of Alaska) just chooses to ignore the first peoples of this state.”

Listening to Bernadette talking with such steely resolve born from years of being ignored by global corporations, increased my faith in humanity. She was a very impressive woman. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating however, as I’m sure judgement will be reserved by Bernadette and her people awaiting the outcome of the environmental review.

Joe Biden also honoured the victims of the annhiliation of a thriving black community in Tulsa in 1921 at the hands of a white mob, at an event to commemorate it’s 100th anniversary. He stated, “This was not a riot, this was a massacre”. Again such a contrast to Trump. Mind you I had never heard about this atrocity until now. It has been pretty much erased from America’s history since it’s occurrence. Would reporting of it have been so prominent prior to the death of George Floyd? I think not!

It’s so heartening that this “leader of the free world” (although I loathe that term) and his deputy Kamala Harris chime so much in their values with our very own First Minister and colleagues.

It just shows how quickly history can change. That man Johnson and his incompetent and corrupt chums were in thrall to Trump. However, as in the Proclaimers song it’s now “Trump no more...”. With any luck, and a fair wind, we might be able to soon sing, “Johnson no more, Rees-Mogg no more etc”. I certainly hope so but until we become an independent nation, it’s not up to us. Meantime, have it out with those in the “Red Wall!”

Ivor Telfer
Dalgety Bay, Fife