Donald Trump’s campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton may be a sideshow in comparison to his matter-of-fact campaign to defeat planet Earth. Yes, he is campaigning to defeat all of 195 nations that signed onto the Paris Climate Accord, COP21. He likely thinks they are stupid!
“Global warming is a total and a very expensive hoax!” which is only one of many Trump tweets on the subject of climate change.
He is running for the presidency, and in his first major speech on energy policy (May 2016) in Bismarck, North Dakota, which is smack dab in the heart of fracking country, Trump vowed to “cancel” the Paris climate accord.
He does have an alternative plan, more drilling, fewer regulations and approval of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada. It goes without saying that he’ll roll back President Obama’s climate change regulations. In a nutshell, Trump will roll back every major policy to slow down anthropogenic global warming over the past 10 years.
During an interview on The O’Reilly Factor on July 26th Trump, when discussing alleged climate change, said: “We’re adhering to these very strict rules and you look at China and you look at all these other countries, practically all of them, they’re not adhering to the rules and our jobs are being jeopardized— not jeopardized, they’re being taken away.”
No Donald, you’re dead wrong, China is adhering to very strict rules. China is the world’s leading employer of green jobs, employing 4.5 times more people in green energy than the U.S. As a matter of fact, China views green energy as a “jobs creator.” China installed more green energy than the EU and the U.S. combined in 2015.
China Going Green is as much a practical matter as ideal because their residents in Beijing couldn’t breathe any longer with so much CO2 emitted by vehicles and coal-burning plants.
“Meanwhile, the latest analysis of China’s efforts shows that its large investments in clean energy are paying off, and it is on track to meet ahead of schedule its pledge under the Paris agreement to reach a peak in its emissions of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, by 2030,” Trump’s Laughable Climate Change Claims, The Hill, July 29, 2016.
As it goes, presidential candidate Donald Trump fingers China and spits in their face on national news. And still, China is trying to get off coal (somewhat); meanwhile Trump “digs coal.” So, as China awkwardly tries to take the high road, he’s taking the low road, digging ever deeper for more coal.
Trump Deceit
Donald Trump is applying for permission to erect a coastal protection wall, consisting of 200,000 tons of rock along two miles of beach, to prevent erosion at his seaside golf resort, Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland in County Clare.
“A permit application for the wall, filed by Trump International Golf Links Ireland and reviewed by POLITICO, explicitly cites global warming and its consequences — increased erosion due to rising sea levels and extreme weather this century — as a chief justification for building the structure,” Trump Acknowledges Climate Change – at His Golf Course, Politico, May 23, 2016.
According to “former South Carolina Republican Rep. Bob Inglis, an advocate of conservative solutions to climate change, ‘Donald Trump is working to ensure his at-risk properties and his company is trying to figure out how to deal with sea level rise. Meanwhile, he’s saying things to audiences that he must know are not true. … You have a soft place in your heart for people who are honestly ignorant, but people who are deceitful, that’s a different thing,” Ibid.
Greenland’s Big Melt – A Harbinger of Bigger Seawalls
Greenland is directly north and west of Ireland on the globe. It is one of the world’s largest bodies of ice at 1-to-2 miles thick, enough to raise sea levels by over 20 feet. The Donald’s golf course is in direct line of fire. Maybe he should build a bigger seawall. 200,000 tons simply won’t do it!
Here’s why: “Greenland’s massive ice sheet has started its annual summer melt earlier than ever before, according to stunned scientists who said they had to recheck their calculations before releasing the results,” Greenland Ice Melt off to Record Early Start,” CNN World, April 15, 2016.
NASA’s comment: “Rising sea levels more dangerous than thought.”
Greenland experienced 95% melt all across the ice sheet as far back as 2012, a first in recorded history. It’s the first time in modern history that nearly the entire ice surface turned to slush. Thus, scientists are witnessing history in the making. Something is causing record ice melt, but what is it? Trump’s plea to build a coastal seawall indicates climate change is damaging his golf course. It’s the same problem further north and west in Greenland.
“Last Thursday, Greenland’s capital hit 75°F which was hotter than New York City. This was the highest temperature ever recorded there in June — in a country covered with enough ice to raise sea levels more than 20 feet. It comes hot on the heels of the hottest May on record for the entire globe (NASA),” Greenland Hits Record 75°F, Sets Melt Record as Globe Aims at Hottest Year,” Thinkprogress, June 15, 2016.
Global temperatures are hitting new record highs every year and almost month-by-month. The message is adolescently simple: Global warming is accelerating. As for evidence, worldwide glaciers are melting at accelerating rates of speed. Ergo, the seawall business has a very bright future. It’s a growth story.
The Donald in the Limelight
Interestingly, Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and one of America’s wealthiest billionaires and also the UN special envoy for cities and climate change, spoke at Hillary Clinton’s nomination convention.
Mr. Bloomberg is heading a new global taskforce that will highlight financial exposure of companies due to risks of climate change. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England said the taskforce would help financial markets understand the “mounting climate-change risks.”
All of which brings to mind, maybe Mr. Trump should consult with the task force before he decides on the dimensions for his new seawall. 200,000 tons may be way too small.
On second thought, that won’t work. Mr. Bloomberg’s the person at the DNC who said: I am a New Yorker. I know a con when I see one, lime-lighting his fellow New Yorker Donald Trump last week in Philadelphia. As it happens, Mr. Bloomberg has access to the best business research in all of America, maybe in the world, via Bloomberg News with offices in 192 countries.
Further to the point of Mr. Bloomberg’s speech, he called Mr. Trump a “dangerous demagogue” and “thru his career Donald Trump has left behind a well-documented record of bankruptcies and thousands of lawsuits, angry stockholders, contractors who feel cheated, and disillusioned customers who feel they’ve been ripped off. Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s running his business. God help us! I’m a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one,” (Michael Bloomberg Speech at Democratic National Convention, July 27th).
Well, at least he didn’t call The Donald a slime ball, or did he?
Anyway, as for the golf course in Ireland, not to worry, there’s always the routine fall back into bankruptcy if the 200,000 tons doesn’t hold. It won’t!