A potential climate catastrophe awaits the world if Donald Trump walks into White House a second time. Trump’s first presidency revealed to the world that he was unfavourably disposed towards taking any steps to mitigate the impact of climate change, and there is every possibility that he will not change course for the better if given the keys to the White House again.
Authors
Abhiroop Chowdhury, Professor and Executive Dean, O.P. Jindal Global School of Environment and Sustainability, O P Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana
Summary
On June 10, the daytime temperature in Phoenix, Arizona, touched 45 degrees Celsius. Addressing voters there that day, Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump was reportedly indifferent to the heat-related exhaustion some of his supporters suffered as he dismissed wind turbines and electric vehicles as part of what he calls a “Green New Scam”. Clearly, Trump was his original self: an extreme climate change sceptic.
Trump’s record on the environmental effects of fossil fuels is all too well known. Less than a week before the Phoenix event, Trump said nuclear weapons constituted a bigger threat than global warming and expressed doubts over rising sea levels. Trump’s first presidency revealed to the world that he was unfavourably disposed towards taking any steps to mitigate the impact of climate change, and there is every possibility that he will not change course for the better if given the keys to the White House again.
Paris withdrawal domino effect
In 2017, he withdrew from the Paris Agreement. In the following year’s budget, his administration proposed eliminating US funding for the Green Climate Fund.
On his first day in office in 2021, President Joe Biden re-entered the Paris Agreement but if Trump wins again in November, there is a fear he will pull the US out again.
At least one expert fears that could start a domino effect, destabilising the global climate action landscape.
The immediate impact would be felt in the developing countries – India, Brazil and Indonesia, for instance – which have significant carbon sinks in tropical forests, coastal wetlands and large populations. A Trump presidency might demotivate developing countries to pursue conservation initiatives.
Published in: 360info
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