Will President Trump destroy the Planet?

In the week since Donald Trump became President Elect, he has already rescinded upon some of his election promises. Take, for example ripping up ‘Obama Care’ – he’s now saying he will keep the parts which make sense. At the same time, Trump is standing by certain pledges such as the desire to build a wall along the Mexican Border.

On the matter of Climate Change, however, since the result, Trump has remained uncharacteristically quiet.

Now would be a good time for Trump to state his intentions.

Why TODAY of all days?

As I write this post, the 22nd gathering of representatives of all nations at global climate change talks, draws towards a close in its final day tomorrow. This conference - referred to as COP22 Marrakesh - is significant because it builds on the momentous, historic agreement made at COP21Paris in 2015 and ratified into international law.

Whilst nations and scientist agree that vital action needs to be taken to avert global warming, Trump blithely Tweets;

“The Concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive”

Overwhelming Numbers

It is well documented that 97% of scientists agree that increased atmospheric temperatures pose a threat to our way of life.

This will take the form of change in rainfall patterns causing further droughts and flooding – like the floods we saw HERE IN THE UK ie not the other side of the world - last boxing day (2015) and loss of species required for food and resources for a population set to reach nine billion plus.

The current aim is to curtail warming to 2% above pre-industrial levels by reducing greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, mainly comprising of CO?. Both developed and developing countries, including the two main offenders, China and the US, made this commitment in 2015 at COP21.  Trump in his own personal wisdom has stated that he will not support this agreement.

Codes to the Red Button

We talk about the power of one man who has the codes to trigger nuclear Armageddon, but will his current silence cause a slower, more insipid destruction of humanity?

If Trump chooses to surround himself with scientific advisors from the minority 3% camp, he could easily continue to convince himself of the validity of this isolationist viewpoint.

Meanwhile, we have John Kerry, the current US Secretary of State, who is a keen advocate of positive environmental action, as demonstrated in his interview with Leonardo DiCaprio in the documentary Before the Flood, which I posted about last week. In Kerry’s speech at COP22, he was clearly embarrassed and saddened by the prospect of the US’s change in direction.   

If the US, with Trump at the helm, reneges on its commitment does that mean that the rest of the world will have to pick up the slack (there’s a lot of it) and move faster to reduce GHG emissions.

Is that fair?

Will we have a choice?

What pressure can be exerted upon the US?

End on a High Note – The Good News is …

Ultimately, the President Elect is a business man. Perhaps he will listen to the call of the corporations. As I write, a statement has just been released by around 360 organisations, including the likes of Nike, Starbucks, Gap, Intel, Unilever and dozens more Fortune 500 companies, urging him to take heed of environmental issues.

As with many aspects of this pending Presidency, time will tell. However, with scientific clarity on the matter, time is a commodity we do not have a lot of to play with.

It’s up to Us to Act

As more and more customers are demanding environmental safeguarding in their buying decisions, it makes commercial sense.  There are things your business can do with Coral Mountain helping, to reduce the effects of climate change.

Call (0113) 2892208 or mail me today and we can start taking about how easy it is to become greener.