A Global Emergency – The Trump Campaign
The campaign of Donald Trump for the President of the United states rolls on with what we've come to expect from the billionaire reality tv star. The atmosphere of gleeful Tump supporters seems like spectators celebrating a public hanging a hundred years ago.
Everyone in the crowd, except the condemned, is having an awfully good time. Unfortunately, in this case, the condemned is the global population.
Instead of a noose, executioner Trump, in good cheer, promises to unravel the global Paris Climate Accord of 195 nations. It's an imperfect agreement. But it might, almost miraculously, serve as the basis for keeping global climate change below a catastrophic increase of two degrees centigrade.
“The concept of global warming,” tweeted the Donald, “was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
This, like many opinions of the Donald, is not reality based.
Unraveling A Global Climate Consensus ?
Led by the United States and China, 155 nations signed the Paris agreement at the United Nations in April. The U.S. and China are the world's two biggest carbon emitters, responsible for about forty percent of total global carbon dioxide pollution. The Paris Accord mitigation targets, although not legally binding, goes into effect when ratified by 55% of total global carbon dioxide emitters.
In a Reuters interview, the Donald opined, "I will be looking at that very, very seriously, and at a minimum I will be renegotiating those agreements. And at a maximum I may do something else."
What's at stake here, if we undo the Global Paris Climate Accord, is the unfolding of a global ecological catastrophe that will likely threaten the continued existence of global civilization, and whose effects will last on a geological time scale on a super heated planet.
We need, instead, to double down on the Paris agreement, and embrace a program for global ecological growth that profitably invests trillions in building a global efficient renewable energy system to replace fossil fuels. Either we make global economic growth mean ecological improvement or follow the path toward self-destruction.
Globally Not a Right Wing or Left Wing Question
The Conservative Party in Britain and Narendra Modi's BJP in India are ruling right wing parties pursuing strong market oriented plans to deal with climate change. The debate in India and in Britain is over the best ways to reduce green house gas emissions, not whether it needs to be done.
In the United States, Barry Goldwater Jr. is strongly supporting solar power and net metering. In NH, conservative former State Senator Jim Rubens, a strong environmentalist, is challenging Senator Ayotte in the Republican primary.
But it is only in the United States that a major political party, the Republican Party, remains enthralled by the interests of the fossil fuel industry. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is appalled.
What Must Be Done
Now is the time for Republicans to insist “hands off” the Paris Climate Pact and to advance a conservative climate change agenda. But that's unlikely to impress the Donald.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. It's time for the the Democratic Party and their Super Delegates to bite the bullet and pick the far more electable Bernie Sanders over the much weaker candidate, Hillary Clinton.
Failing that, Bernie Sanders must become Clinton's vice presidential nominee. Bernie can bring the millions of his supporters, and many Trump voters, out to vote in good conscience for a sustainable future.
The executioner, the Donald, is smiling, readying the noose. Bernie and Hillary, it's bigger than ambition. Now's the time, before it's too late.
________________________________________________
Roy Morrison's book Sustainability Sutra will be published March 7, 2017 by Select Books in NY.The Chinese translation of his book Ecological Democracy will be published in 2016 by China Environmental Press in Beijing.
Fact check:
Paris accord
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/04/13/3768185/paris-ratification-rush/
Trump plan on climate accord
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-exclusive-idUSKCN0Y82JO
India BJP
"At first meeting, Modi council okays 4 new climate initiatives"
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/at-first-meeting-modi-council-okays-4-new-climate-initiatives/
Britain
"Climate change one of the most serious threats we face, says David Cameron
PM makes forthright defense of coalition's record of action on man-made climate change during prime minister's questions"
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/26/climate-change-serious-threat-david-cameron-prime-ministers-questions
“Q&A: Barry Goldwater, Jr.’s fight for solar power”
http://midwestenergynews.com/2015/09/08/qa-barry-goldwater-jr-s-fight-for-solar-power/
The campaign of Donald Trump for the President of the United states rolls on with what we've come to expect from the billionaire reality tv star. The atmosphere of gleeful Tump supporters seems like spectators celebrating a public hanging a hundred years ago.
Everyone in the crowd, except the condemned, is having an awfully good time. Unfortunately, in this case, the condemned is the global population.
Instead of a noose, executioner Trump, in good cheer, promises to unravel the global Paris Climate Accord of 195 nations. It's an imperfect agreement. But it might, almost miraculously, serve as the basis for keeping global climate change below a catastrophic increase of two degrees centigrade.
“The concept of global warming,” tweeted the Donald, “was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
This, like many opinions of the Donald, is not reality based.
Unraveling A Global Climate Consensus ?
Led by the United States and China, 155 nations signed the Paris agreement at the United Nations in April. The U.S. and China are the world's two biggest carbon emitters, responsible for about forty percent of total global carbon dioxide pollution. The Paris Accord mitigation targets, although not legally binding, goes into effect when ratified by 55% of total global carbon dioxide emitters.
In a Reuters interview, the Donald opined, "I will be looking at that very, very seriously, and at a minimum I will be renegotiating those agreements. And at a maximum I may do something else."
What's at stake here, if we undo the Global Paris Climate Accord, is the unfolding of a global ecological catastrophe that will likely threaten the continued existence of global civilization, and whose effects will last on a geological time scale on a super heated planet.
We need, instead, to double down on the Paris agreement, and embrace a program for global ecological growth that profitably invests trillions in building a global efficient renewable energy system to replace fossil fuels. Either we make global economic growth mean ecological improvement or follow the path toward self-destruction.
Globally Not a Right Wing or Left Wing Question
The Conservative Party in Britain and Narendra Modi's BJP in India are ruling right wing parties pursuing strong market oriented plans to deal with climate change. The debate in India and in Britain is over the best ways to reduce green house gas emissions, not whether it needs to be done.
In the United States, Barry Goldwater Jr. is strongly supporting solar power and net metering. In NH, conservative former State Senator Jim Rubens, a strong environmentalist, is challenging Senator Ayotte in the Republican primary.
But it is only in the United States that a major political party, the Republican Party, remains enthralled by the interests of the fossil fuel industry. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is appalled.
What Must Be Done
Now is the time for Republicans to insist “hands off” the Paris Climate Pact and to advance a conservative climate change agenda. But that's unlikely to impress the Donald.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. It's time for the the Democratic Party and their Super Delegates to bite the bullet and pick the far more electable Bernie Sanders over the much weaker candidate, Hillary Clinton.
Failing that, Bernie Sanders must become Clinton's vice presidential nominee. Bernie can bring the millions of his supporters, and many Trump voters, out to vote in good conscience for a sustainable future.
The executioner, the Donald, is smiling, readying the noose. Bernie and Hillary, it's bigger than ambition. Now's the time, before it's too late.
________________________________________________
Roy Morrison's book Sustainability Sutra will be published March 7, 2017 by Select Books in NY.The Chinese translation of his book Ecological Democracy will be published in 2016 by China Environmental Press in Beijing.
Fact check:
Paris accord
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/04/13/3768185/paris-ratification-rush/
Trump plan on climate accord
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-exclusive-idUSKCN0Y82JO
India BJP
"At first meeting, Modi council okays 4 new climate initiatives"
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/at-first-meeting-modi-council-okays-4-new-climate-initiatives/
Britain
"Climate change one of the most serious threats we face, says David Cameron
PM makes forthright defense of coalition's record of action on man-made climate change during prime minister's questions"
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/26/climate-change-serious-threat-david-cameron-prime-ministers-questions
“Q&A: Barry Goldwater, Jr.’s fight for solar power”
http://midwestenergynews.com/2015/09/08/qa-barry-goldwater-jr-s-fight-for-solar-power/