Keller is an ecologist, working to conserve and restore the natural relationships among living things and the environment.  He lives and works in Port Charlotte, Florida and Freeport, New York with his high school girlfriend (wife and jewelry creator) Marge. 

As a non-party affiliated ecologist and a veteran, how do I feel about the presidential election? Having spent the last decade and a half working towards the restoration of the natural world, I am distraught that a majority of the people who voted cast their ballot for a climate denier with fascist characteristic

s. 

The president-elect is also on record as being disdainful of those who serve in the armed forces; he refers to us as losers and suckers. This guy is not my choice. But the people have spoken, and it is time to move on, to assess the problems and adjust my work to help achieve a livable and equitable world.

The underlying economics of our society is serving as a foundation for fascists to pray on, similar to what happened in post war Italy and Germany. While corporations and rich people are thriving financially, more than 40 percent of American families are in poverty or living paycheck to paycheck, according to the United Way. Almost half of Americans are financially desperate, making them susceptible to vote for an authoritarian figure who promises to improve their well-being.

Corporations have disproportionate influence because they have been granted corporate personhood by the Supreme Court. The rights originally meant to protect human beings from the potentially oppressive powers of our government now belong to the corporation. Corporations claim these constitutional rights in federal court as they attempt, often with success, to overturn, weaken, or get around laws designed to protect the environment, worker safety, public health and a myriad of other laws including campaign finance laws. Money in campaigns has been ruled by the Supreme Court as a First Amendment right, not only for the wealthy, but also for corporations.

As a result, the interests and fortunes of regular people are too often put aside, in favor of the greedy needs of corporations and wealthy people. Vested interests can be vicious, and in the case of the fossil fuel industry they would rather, as Naomi Klein puts it, kill off life as we know it than leave profits in the ground. While most American businesses are honest, business interests can deceive, misinform, and buy influence at the expense of public health and safety. Misunderstanding of critical issues like climate change is not an accident.

Disinformation programs are a primary tool employed by corporations and the rich to obscure the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to global warming.
With a president-elect who claims that climate change is a hoax and often lies to forward his own interests, misinformation is going to become an
even greater problem. All these problems are, in my view, likely to be exacerbated by a climate denying wannabe dictator’s plans to occupy the White House for the next four years. But the president-elect is not the root cause.
People would still be suffering from an inequitable economic structure, corporate personhood and rampant misinformation had the Democrats won the 2024 election.

These problems must be solved if our nation is to restore the inalienable rights our founders fought for: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – for all people (not corporations). Given the election outcome and our nation’s existing problems, what is an old patriot/ecologist to do? I imagine that I will continue to work in my own realm – on my property, at my house of worship, in the local preserve – to eliminate emissions (stop use of fossil fuels) and enhance/ restore natural ecosystems.

This type of contribution is small in the global context, but it sets an example, and most importantly it is the right thing to do. I can see investing in the adaptation of our lifestyle to protect our life, limb and property from rising seas and more frequent and severe weather. On another front, I imagine working for a national non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is social and economic justice, the elimination of corporate rule and establishing that money is NOT free speech. The Move to Amend (MTA) coalition strives to address the root causes of America’s underlying problems: inequity, corporate rule, inordinate influence of wealth and misinformation/lies. This two-pronged approach – working in my own local ecosystems and nationally with MTA- seems the best way for me to contribute to the attainment of a livable and equitable world.

First posted in Critical Times (pg.11)


William (Coty) Keller is in his third (nonpaying)career as a local ecologist, striving to conserve and restore the natural relationships among living things and the environment. In previous (wage paying) lives he served in the U.S. Navy (commanding two ships and teaching national security affairs at the Naval War College) and taught college for two decades (mostly in graduate management, on Long Island). Keller lives and works in Port Charlotte, Fla. and Freeport, N.Y. LEARN MORE: https://ecopapak.org

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