Exemptions and Consequences

August, 2026

Lee and I just returned from a trip to our cabin outside Wawa, Ontario. It was likely our last visit. After 27 years of ownership, it’s been sold, with closing set for the end of August.

It was a great trip. We saw a fine bull moose browsing aquatics, the bugs were few, the weather near-perfect. Loons were singing, blueberries were ripening, fishing was superb.  It was a carbon copy of so many trips to that beloved wilderness. The cabin, the quiet, the river, the raw northern forest, will all be sorely missed. 

Too many of our good Canadian friends have died over the years but we visited those still among us. Good folks. Welcoming. Even as the leader of our country threatens theirs with annexation and tariffs and accuses them of negligence for allowing wildfire smoke to drift beyond their southern border.  Our Canadian friends don’t hold us accountable for the rants of our commander in chief. They instead give us the benefit of the doubt and treat us as respectable, likeable neighbors. As our unconstitutional war with Iran pushes Ontario’s gas prices beyond $7 USD per gallon ($9.82 in Canada currency), our northern friends smile in the doorway and invite us in. 

The war in Iran and the smoke drifting into the states have a common denominator. According to CTV News, wildfires in Ontario are the worst on record and can be explained by hot and dry conditions amplified by climate change. The Iran war is releasing massive amounts of CO2, fueling further climate disruption.  And it’s not just the war, but the US military in general that is a major contributor to greenhouse gases. 

A new documentary titled Earth’s Greatest Enemy exposes our military as the planet’s biggest institutional polluter and climate change contributor.  Call it what you want—the pursuit of peace, world domination, a quest to uphold America’s global capitalist empire, but our military burns through some 270,000 barrels of oil every day, adding 55 million metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere—more than most nations. According to the documentary, a Boeing Pegasus, the military’s premier aerial refueling and transport aircraft, spews more CO2 in one flight than the average American does driving a car for 40 years.

The film explores other environmental concerns linked to established bases—radiation and heavy metal pollution, water contamination, wasteful and toxic disposal of munitions—and visits the ongoing threats from sonar on aquatic life. The navy enjoys special exemptions from laws protecting sea life and deploys sonar approaching 240 decibels that can travel up to 300 miles. The effects on marine life are devastating, injuring or disrupting a myriad of life every year. 

Our military has enjoyed unquestioned support from both sides of the aisle for decades, and it’s unlikely we’ll see substantive change over environmental concerns. We give them a free pass, consequences be damned. 

We saw more insects in Canada than we do in the heartland—butterflies, grasshoppers, unidentifiable smudges on our windshield and bumper. There was a province-wide fire ban while we were there so we couldn’t enjoy cooking over an open fire on the bluff above the river, but we could still enjoy the view—the passing waterfowl, the muskeg-stained water, the southern breeze that swept the sky of choking wildfire smoke. 

Fires have always been a natural and necessary part of boreal forest ecology, but their frequency and intensity is on the rise, as long predicted. The moose and wolves, the bears and beavers and loons are all impacted, though innocent in the matter. We have brought it on, and could still adopt policies and attitudes that would prevent the worst of what’s to come. 

When we make an exception for an agency most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, we open the door to corporate and individual exemptions. It’s the pot calling the kettle black, not that it applies to an administration having little to no regard for environmental health. 

We’re saying goodbye to a wild and pristine place threatened by actions we refuse to condemn. There are consequences. We’re seeing them now.