On Monday, I blogged about 298 words that The New York Times reported that the Trump Regime does not want US Government agencies to use. Yesterday, I blogged about an additional 53 words and topics that PEN America identified that weren’t on The New York Times list.
I hoped that would be the end of it. Silly me!
Today we’ll consider 22 of the words and combinations of words that the US Department of Agriculture can no longer use, according to leaked memo issued by the department’s Research Services Division. The New Republic reported on the list online. The report indicated that there were dozens of other words in addition to these 22 the article highlighted.
Here we go….
- climate
- vulnerable
- safe drinking water
- greenhouse gas emissions
- methane emissions
- sustainable construction
- solar energy
- geothermal
- nuclear energy
- diesel
- affordable housing
- prefabricated housing
- runoff
- microplastics
- water pollution
- soil pollution
- groundwater pollution
- sediment remediation
- water collection
- water treatment
- rural water
- clean water
The New Republic article reported that according to USDA’s Northeast area financial management, travel and agreements section head, Sharon Strickland, agreement including “these terms or similar terms cannot be submitted.”
This is to ensure compliance with Trump’s Executive Orders.
A problem that Trump has not anticipated is the fact that most farm equipment runs on diesel fuel. Since he has never stepped foot on a farm, much less driven a tractor (which I have since before I was old enough to drive a car), he probably doesn’t know that.
What if microplastics are discovered in soil on a farm? There will be no way for that to be reported, so I guess we’ll have to just ignore it.
On March 29, Secretary Chris Wright of the US Department of Energy had called for the expansion of geothermal energy. On March 30, Sharon Strickland’s March 20 memo was leaked saying the USDA can’t use the word.
Is it possible that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing?
Can we, as citizens, utter the word “geothermal” or not? We need a user’s manual.
I do not live on a water system. I grew up and once again live out in the country and I rely on water well. Therefore, “rural water” piqued my interest. Do you know what “rural water” is?
According to the US Geological Survey, “rural water use” is “self-supplied water used in suburban or farm areas for domestic and livestock needs, and includes domestic use, drinking water for livestock, and other uses such as dairy sanitation, cleaning, and waste disposal.”
Maybe I’m biased, since I’ve drunk well water most of my life, but the above-listed uses of “rural water” sound important to me. “Safe drinking water” and “clean water” do, too.
If I’m going to eat fruits or vegetables grown on a farm or eat chicken, beef, pork, lamb, or any other meat raised on a farm or fish sold in the United States, I want to know that the water used to raise all that food was clean or relatively clean.
When I have to have a new well drilled for my household use, I’m glad that someone from the county health department is required to test that water and certify that it is safe for me to drink. If I had to depend on the USDA to do it, I would be out of luck.
And what about “soil pollution” and agriculture? If there is an oil spill on a farm, I think someone in the government should take action to monitor the situation and certify that the agricultural products coming from that farm are safe for us to consume. Do we not assume that’s something the USDA does?
Government is supposed to do those things that we cannot do for ourselves. I don’t know there was an oil spill. Even if I hear about the oil spill, I cannot visit that farm to take soil samples. I don’t have the scientific skills necessary to test those soil samples. I don’t have the scientific skill to test produce, milk, or meat samples from that farm and certify them as safe to consume.
If the USDA cannot talk about soil pollution or water pollution, where does that leave us? What about this is going to “Make America Healthy Again”?
Part of my brain is stuck in pre-January 20, 2025, so it is telling me my examples are extreme… that this would never happen in America. But fire a lot of the USDA employees and then tell the few that are still there not to use certain words. Sounds like a recipe for a disaster to me.
My thoughts
I live in North Carolina It is one of the top five pork-producing states. In 1996 and 1999, respectively, Hurricanes Fran and Floyd caused extreme flooding in the eastern part of the state… where most of the pigs are raised. Thousands of pigs drowned which caused dire and immediate health problems. Lessons were learned and safeguards were put in place for the future.
But what if another hurricane hits coastal North Carolina and in a matter of hours kills thousands of pigs? We have a State Department of Agriculture, but if you live in Kansas do you want to rely on another state to certify that the seafood coming out of the rivers and Atlantic Ocean that are downstream from those farms is safe for you to eat?
My point is that we are the United States of America, and we deserve a reliable national system of food inspection.
How is the US Department of Agriculture supposed to monitor crops or the safety of our food without using terms like water pollution, soil pollution, groundwater pollution, sediment remediation, water collection, and clean water?
How is any government agency supposed to operate without using these words?
Our country is in deep trouble when words like “clean water” cannot be used by every government agency.
Can someone please stop the madness?
Until my next blog post
Watch for my blog post tomorrow about a few of the things that have happened since January 20, 2025 – the day Trump took the oath of office without placing his hand on the Bible. A mere technicality that ten weeks after the fact doesn’t seem so important.
Pay attention to what’s happening.
Keep reading reputable nonfiction and fiction.
Don’t compromise your principles.
Remember the people of Myanmar, Thailand, Ukraine, and western North Carolina.
Janet, a disgruntled political science major
Janet's Writing Blog 
I can’t take much more of this.
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OMG Janet. Just when we think it can not get any worse, we are proved wrong. I almost wish we were back in the good old days of government speak when between the gobbledygook and acronyms, we may not knew what they were saying, but at least it could be said. It is sad when being awake at the switch means being woke and we can not use ordinary words that might save people’s lives because they upset some bureaucrat or plutocrat’s sensibilities, I noticed when trying comment earlier that it is much harder to leave a comment, even when using WordPress info.
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What Trump is doing isn’t just ordinary politics. It’s destruction. His downfall would be a relief, but in the meantime, he’s dragging not only America down with him — he’s affecting all of us. He bans words, as if he believes that the truth disappears if you stop saying it out loud. He waves around tariffs and sanctions as if he’s waging war on common sense. And no one seems able to stop him. Not the judges. Not the media. Not the people who are supposed to keep him in check. Who then? I honestly don’t know. And that scares me. It’s staggering how far this has already gone.
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Thanks for keeping us informed, Janet. I appreciate your commentary and thinking about this.
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This list is the craziest so far. I can’t imagine how they could fulfil their function without using these words. You can only hope that it’s so impossible that they’ll soon start ignoring the rules – Trump might lose interest and move on to something else. Like tariffs!
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I can’t either, Liz. This is a nightmare on steroids.
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Ah, yes… the good old days, Pat. (December?) As far as leaving comments… “they” are probably monitoring my blog now. I’d rather die for freedom than live under tyranny. I can’t seem to shut up any more. I guess I’m so old I don’t care what they do to me. I want my four great-nieces to be able say some day that at least I tried to save a little bit of the world for them.
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I’m convinced that the courts aren’t going to save us and Congress isn’t going to save us. It is going to take millions of ordinary people taking to the streets to save us… and I hope enough of the police and military personnel are on our side when that happens. Trump doesn’t care if he brings the whole world down in ashes, as long as his name goes down in history. Way too many people (mostly men, of course) in the US House and Senate were still just repeating Trump’s lies today about “short-term pain, long-term gain.” Our Vice President said tonight, “Things are already turning around.” I don’t know what he is smoking! Meanwhile, Trump was on Air Force One this afternoon flying off to God knows where… maybe to visit his friend in Russia. I don’t trust Trump one bit more than I trust Putin, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they are in this together. Why didn’t Trump put tariffs on Russia or Belarus? I keep thinking Americans will wake up, but too many of them worship Trump and get all their “news” from the Fox News Network. They are so brainwashed, if Fox News ever turns on Trump his followers will turn against Fox News and continue to sing Trump’s praises. It is, indeed, staggering how far this has already gone. Americans love Canada and Canadians, but we don’t want Canada to become the 51st state. Americans know very little about Greenland, but we have nothing against it or its citizens. We certainly don’t want Greenland to become the 51st state. President Carter probably shouldn’t have sold the Panama Canal to Panama for $1.00, but he did. We don’t need to steal it back and Trump needs to stop lying about China operating it. I’m nostalgic for the “good old days”… like maybe 2024?
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You’re welcome, Rebecca, — and thank you. I’m afraid if I keep thinking about this I might just lose my mind. And my commentary might just land me a free trip to El Salvadore. I need to brush up on my Spanish….
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I know! I don’t want to see any more word lists from these people. They should all ignore the word rules because Trump ignores all the rules. Makes up rules as he goes along. The courts can’t keep up, much less stop him apparently. Oh, the tariffs… he said, “Tariff is the most beautiful word in dictionary.” That shows how limited his vocabulary is. He and his minions and Republicans kept reminding us today that we’ll have “short-term pain for long-term gain.” I’m 72. I can’t possibly live long enough for the world to recover from all the pain he has inflicted in 73 days. Tomorrow is Day 74, but who is counting? Watch for tomorrow’s blog post.
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“Tarriff” is the Republican word for a tax.
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I think you’re discussing it in a rational and straightforward way. Good to take breaks in the information flow, though.
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Janet, in my opinion, you are spot on!
Jim Gilmer
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Thank you for your comment and for reding my blog. Yes, it is… and pain and cruelty and stupidity….
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That’s what I intend to do this weekend.
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Thank you, Jim. We must stay strong.
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It is all very Orwellian.
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Hi, Kim. Welcome to my blog! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. You are absolutely right. It’s a textbook case. And the parallels with 1930s Nazi Germany are chilling. I apologize to the UK for the way our President is treating you. He is evil, and we learned last November that half of the voters don’t care.
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As an outsider I am pleased you are not going to shut up. Janet…and if WP take umbridge then they will knock at my door-sigh-I too am too old to care..however I will keep banging on about micro plastics in food and safe water blah blah blah and as most of my readers are from the US I hope it helps your cause from afar x
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Hello, Carol, and thank you for finding my blog and taking the time to leave a comment! Thank you for your support from “the outside.” I wish I were seeing this from the outside! It’s horrible being in the midst of it. I never expected to have to fight for democracy in America at the age of 72, but here I am. I just quickly checked out your website. As a lifelong recipe collector, I look forward to looking at it again. Thank you for speaking out against micro plastics in food and safe water. That problem is going to grow exponentially while Republicans are running the show in America. It’s as if they have a vendetta against Mother Nature. Thanks again for leaving an encouraging comment!
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Vance is a particularly nasty piece of work in my opinion. Wilfully ignorant too.
My sympathies to you for having to live through this. And yes, the Nazis certainly do come to mind.
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I agree with you about Vance. He is nasty and creepy. (Well, they both are nasty and creepy.) Leading up to the Inauguration, many of us were saying we thought Vance would be worse than Trump. That’s the predicament we’re in. Even if somehow Trump is forced out, we’re stuck with Vance, so what have we gained? Now the bond market has taken a hit because other countries aren’t buying US bonds and American investors who would normally buy bonds when they’re afraid to buy stock aren’t buying bonds either. Meanwhile… Trump is in Florida playing golf this weekend because that’s what he does. Operating Air Force One, security, etc., they say every golf weekend costs the American taxpayer $3 million. Meanwhile, Americans are wondering how to pay for groceries, and the White House spokesperson this afternoon repeatedly said, “President Trump knows what he’s doing. Trust him.” HA! Economists are saying we should expect the stock market to plummet on Monday if Trump doesn’t negotiate something with China this weekend. It’s hard to do that and play golf at the same time.
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It’s a pity that there isn’t a virus that targets smug rich men….
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Our press is saying that this is Trumps “Liz Truss moment.
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You make a good point, Kim!
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Oh Kim, we can only hope! But Liz Truss only stayed in office for seven weeks. We’re 12 weeks in as of April 14th. Thank you for the comparison, though. I’ll take a glimmer of hope anywhere I can find one! By the way, I’m posting a rare Saturday blog post in a few minutes because my head exploded this afternoon. When we absolutely think things can’t get worse….
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