Princess of pristine
Speaking of the princess…she’s sharing Trump’s idiotic “cleanliness” interpretation of environmentalism.
“Pristine” ffs. It’s the comprehension of a resort-owner. There must be NO DIRT anywhere. We need CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER and PRISTINE OCEANS AND BEACHES.
The hell we do. Sterile environments are by definition hostile to life. Biology needs a lot of muck, and it generates a lot of muck. Princess Ivanka makes it sound as if we should bleach everything. (Ask the coral reefs how that’s working out.)
I cannot wait to see the back of these people.
I will admit that environmental science sometimes uses the word “pristine” to describe an ecosystem, but they do not mean the same thing. They don’t mean raked forests and nothing seen for miles. It is common to describe Prince William Sound as pristine before the Exxon-valdez; that just means nothing had been dumped into it, and it was a well functioning ecosystem.
I think now I’ll stop using the word, even if textbooks continue. I don’t want to be “Trump” clean.
Ah yes, that’s a point. I’d forgotten that other meaning. I wonder if it’s one of those words that have slipped.
After a quick Google I suspect it has – the first meaning is “in original condition” and the ones to do with purity and cleanliness come after that. Pristine original condition swamps ain’t pristine like Ivanka’s teeth. Confusion ensues (including mine).
In fact, most people wouldn’t think of pristine original swamps as pristine at all, because it is too associated with cleanliness, and there is very little about a swamp that is clean. They are wonderfully untidy. Some of my happiest hours have been spent stomping through swamps, and I always come out smelling, well, not nice. But I do love it.
So do I. There’s a wetland on the edge of Lake Washington here where there’s a boardwalk through the marsh, so you can get a look at it without stomping on it and without getting wet. The wetland is considerably smaller and less wetlandy than it was before Seattle was built, but it gives us a little taste.
That’s one thing I miss in Nebraska. The area of Nebraska where I live is horribly short on wetlands. I have to go at least an hour for anything. But a 100 mile drive will bring me to the Lincoln salt marshes, and inland salt marshes was not something I had in Oklahoma. Trade off, I suppose.
Yes, I love the traces of them we have here. They are mostly gone but not entirely.