Trump and Climate

13 Comments

1. I’m an American and I can tell you many of us think that the ascension of this fourth-rate, brainless, moron to a job for which he is ill-equipped is our darkest hour. I will pull no punches. There is no question in my mind he is personally guilty of treason and should be hauled off to prison for the rest of his life. As to the climate issue, our good, worldly former president made.a statement on Paris which you should find and read. It provides hope.

   • I was actually happy when he got the Republican nomination, as I just assumed there was no way he could ever get elected and you’d have a Democrat government again. But I was obviously wrong.

     It’s also scary the amount of division there is between the two sides at the moment – from here it looks like each side has its own set of media, which just feeds the division further. From where I sit it looks like the left is rational and the right resorts to slogans and name calling – for instance I saw something about global warming being caused by “libtard’s” heads exploding recently – but I’m sure it feels different if you’re part of the right.

     • In fairness, there is some hysteria and misinformation on both sides. Also, for the record, I called my representatives’ office in Congress recently. Although it’s clear to anyone with their eyes open that there was massive collusion between tRump (not a typo) and Russia, I did not ask for impeachment. I asked for a special counsel which, lo and behold, happened that day. If by some magic cHump (not a typo) is innocent and the fools around him are guilty, so be it. But despite the utter stupidity and willful blindness of the idiots who continue to follow him, this situation is not some media creation. And yes, each side has its own set of ‘facts.’ As the so-called president himself might say, sad. My only hope is that if he does last four years, the damage can be contained. He is a cancer on the world.

2. And you made your point extremely well. As a Brit living in the U.S., I’m deeply saddened by the news today, particularly because my homeland has been promoting and succeeding in reducing carbon emissions. It wasn’t ever likely he was going to sign up to the Paris accord (after all he believes climate change is a hoax).

   The U.S. is further distancing itself from the rest of the world, with his xenophobic rhetoric, and jingoistic tendencies. America will suffer deeply from this man I’m afraid.

   • It feels like New Zealand’s been pretty lax on cutting emissions so far, but hopefully we’ll get on it. We’ve had nine years of right wing government, so we might get a left wing coalition involving the Greens this year – it’s hard to know what will happen, as neither party has a charismatic leader.

     • Let’s hope the outcome is good for you guys.

       • And let’s hope that NZ comes out OK in John Oliver’s feud with them. 🙂

3. I tend to shy away from writing about politics on blogs, but good on you for posting this. As a Canadian, I watch what’s going on south of the border and wonder how far it will go. There was talk about whether he even can withdraw, if the wording won’t allow it – I’m sure legal teams are checking it round the clock. In the meantime, he can be seen to be doing something for his base without actually doing anything.

   Forgive my ignorance, but if ony Nicaragua and Syria didn’t sign it, does that mean even North Korea did? Or did nobody even ask them?

4. I just answered my own question with two seconds of Googling. North Korea did sign it.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Agreement#Parties_and_signatories

   • And Nicaragua only didn’t sign it because they didn’t think it was stringent enough. And Syria has a lot going on.

     • And then there’s Trump. Hooboy. But I do think they’re gonna find out they can’t withdraw so easily.

       Did you see Macron’s speech? The whole thing is great, but right at the end, at 3:06, totally trolling Trump. So great.

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzcrSvF7ZJA

       • Actually, despite most of the world’s wishes, tRump can and did pull out that easily. It does not require Congressional approval. (The irony is that the thing is voluntary anyway. cHump and his lackeys are using this to reinforce their pathetic ‘America First’ chant that appeals to their troglodyte followers.) The interesting thing is that it takes several years to withdraw and so (more irony), the withdrawal won’t take effect until the day after the next Presidential election in 2020. So theoretically, if someone wins who isn’t mentally deranged a la Putin’s puppet, he or she could reverse that decision on taking office. But that’s only if A) the rest of the world community still wants us and b) China hasn’t taken our place on the world stage. (BTW, it will likely by a ‘he’ that is in charge next time again. Many people in America hate women including many women. 53% of them voted for a misogynist “pussy-grabber.”) We are a completely fucked-up country.

       • I’ve never actually watched Macron. Pretty cool!