Donald Trump‘s announcement of withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord is, of course, appalling and destructive. Time and again, day after mind-blowing day, the man reveals his ongoing bestiality and his small, miserable focus on shoring up support among the American dumbshit class.
I feel a certain amount of shame, yes, that I come from a country stupid enough to elect a man like Trump to the highest office in the land, even as I know that this latest horror is temporary (i.e., a four-year blip) in the grand scheme of things.
At the very least Trump will be gone by January 2021, but the damage to the planet, not to mention the United States’ standing as a leading, well-engaged player on the world stage, will not be marginal. It will be, in fact, substantial.
Trump is a stone villain — a manifestly despicable human being whose arrogant interests and worldviews are lowering the bar into the mud. Each and every day we need to remind ourselves who voted for this malignant asshole, and act accordingly on behalf of common-sense humanity.
From Todd Stern‘s 6.1 opinion piece in the Washington Post, “Trump Just Betrayed The World“: “Trump’s decision will be seen as…self-centered, callous, hollow, cruel. The ravages of climate change have been on display in recent years in the superstorms, floods, rising sea levels, droughts, fires and deadly heat waves that will only get worse as the carbon index mounts. Vulnerable countries will look at the United States, the richest power on Earth, the largest historic emitter of greenhouse gases, and think — even if they do not say — how dare you?”
From 6.1 N.Y. Times editorial, “Our Disgraceful Exit From the Paris Accord“: “Perhaps most astonishing of all, a chief executive who touts himself as a shrewd businessman, and who ran on a promise of jobs for the middle class and making America great again, seems blind to the damage this will do to America’s own economic interests. The world’s gradual transition from fossil fuels has opened up a huge global market, estimated to be $6 trillion by 2030, for renewable fuels like wind and solar, for electric cars, for advanced batteries and other technologies.”
