Natural resources students fret over Trump

STEVENS POINT - Cate Lucas let a tear fall down her cheek. She wiped away another, then continued to speak.

Lucas, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, is graduating in December with a major in environmental education. She fought off tears Monday morning as she talked about feeling demoralized by the outcome of the Nov. 8 election and worried about what President-elect Donald Trump’s unexpected victory could mean for anyone trying to get a job in her field.

Trump has already promised to roll back federal regulations dealing with the environment, vowing on his website to “reduce and eliminate all barriers to responsible energy production,” and recently put Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic, at the head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s transition team.

Lucas didn’t hide her concern about the future, but also made it clear she’s not changing her plans.

“I think that it only lights the fire a little bit more,” she said, then reconsidered. “A lot more.”

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Ken Notes: Business could fix this in a heartbeat by hiring environmentalists and then asking them to figure out the economic side of the equation.