The other day I pondered a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. It was The New York Times of almost exactly one hundred years ago, October 2, 1925. On page 32, the headline: "Big Power System Planned in the South: Three Groups To Ask Right to Develop Tennessee River and Muscle Shoals: World's Largest Plant."
In 1933, the Ohio River spilled over, flooding Louisville, Kentucky. Franklin Roosevelt blamed soil erosion and forests lost to the timber industry, which were among the reasons conservation was one of the new president's top priorities.
Eighty years later, as we mark the anniversary of FDR's death, we are not just remembering the man, but horrifically, we are watching his life's work be gutted in real time by the destruction of Donald Trump and House Republicans.