Climate Change and The Trump Con

As sociopath and environment despoiler Donald "Rump" Trump nears the announcement that the U.S. is backing out of the Paris Climate Accord -- joining Syria and Nicaragua as environmental pariahs -- the question of motive remains. Saving jobs? The fading coal industry only employs 53,000, while the solar/renewable energy sector employs 374,000, more than the oil, natural gas and coal industries combined. With utilities and industrial plants having converted to other energy sources, coal won't be coming back as a major energy source. Also, major corporations have also lined up in support of the U.S. remaining in the accord. Fossil energy pressure? Yes, that's a big part of it, especially from the coal interests, but a number of major fossil energy companies (Exxon, BP, and Chevron) have voiced support of the Paris agreement. Our view: Rump's delusional and reactionary "nationalist" view that  America does best when it acts alone and looks to the past, coupled with his perverse desire to destroy the legacy of the first African-American President who will always overshadow him, are likely the motivations.

As Natasha Geiling notes at Think Progress, Rump's decision should also put to rest any remaining questions about first lady daughter Ivanka "Complicit" Trump's interest in climate change or her influence with her father. We hear "sources close to Ivanka" saying she's an advocate for protecting the climate from man-made carbon emissions, but have never heard her speak publicly about it. Either she's ineffective in persuading her father (despite having the world community, corporations, and overwhelming public opinion at her back), or her advocacy was a pretense geared toward preserving her "brand" with the majority of Americans who believe the climate science that we must reduce carbon emissions or doom the planet. We're going with the pretense option.