Friday, May 20, 2016

Trump’s Bizarre Climate Beliefs Would Jeopardize Meaningful Global Climate Action - by Joe Romm

Donald Trump’s climate science denial and dubious deal-making skills just raised the stakes of this election to “existential.”

As Reuters reported Tuesday, the presumptive GOP nominee said he would seek to renegotiate the Paris Climate Agreement, “spelling potential doom for an agreement many view as a last chance to turn the tide on global warming.”

For the mainstream media, Trump’s dangerous recklessness on the gravest national security threat the nation faces was mostly lost amid the incessant barrage of jaw-dropping things Trump has said to Reuters (and others), including that he would love to talk with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
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Certainly it is uniquely reckless and self-destructive to undermine the world’s best — and, indeed, only — hope for preserving a livable climate for ourselves, our children, and the next 50 generations to walk the Earth.  In addition, Trump’s nonsensical explanation eviscerates any notion that he might translate whatever deal-making skills he has in the business world into the world of international politics and negotiations.

Paris Agreement a Ridiculously Good Deal for the United States
Trump demonstrated his complete ignorance of the Paris deal when he told Reuters, “those agreements are one-sided agreements and they are bad for the United States.”  He said, “at a minimum I will be renegotiating those agreements, at a minimum.  And at a maximum I may do something else.”

In reality, if the Paris Agreement is “one-sided,” it is one-sided in favor of this country.  The agreement is a ridiculously good one for America — for your kids, for my kids, and above all for Donald’s kids.

The normal climate of North America in 2095 under business as usual warming (i.e. no Paris agreement) according to a 2015 NASA study. The darkest areas have soil moisture comparable to the 1930s Dust Bowl. Click to Enlarge.
Why?  First off, the United States put the absolute bare minimum climate target on the table (see below).  Yet in return the other nations of the world unanimously agreed to try to save our butts from this:

Indeed, to avoid this very outcome, the nations of the world agreed to keep ratcheting down their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions levels to keep total warming “to well below 2°C [3.6°F] above preindustrial levels” — with a preferred goal of 1.5C.

Read more at Trump’s Bizarre Climate Beliefs Would Jeopardize Meaningful Global Climate Action

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