Trump’s Paris betrayal: the stupidest decision of the 21st century.


Agent Orange aka #45 is a Train wreck that has happened and America will pay dearly for his bad decisions.

SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH

I don’t often write blog articles with the sole purpose of commenting on news items, but as a decision today by President Donald Trump deeply implicates climate change–without a doubt the most serious problem facing every American and every person on earth right now–I felt I couldn’t let it go by without at least a few words. My academic expertise is in the history of climate change, I’ve taught courses on the history of climate change (and wrote about them, here and here), and most post-academic career involves climate change, so I believe I’m qualified to speak on the subject.

Trump’s decision to abrogate the Paris climate change accord, at least where the United States is concerned, is not merely a strategic misstep (though it is), a betrayal of American trust and power…

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8 thoughts on “Trump’s Paris betrayal: the stupidest decision of the 21st century.

    1. My hometown New York is fighting back.

      Our city and state leaders say that New York, long at the vanguard of environmental issues in the United States, will continue its support of the Paris climate accord.
      In 2015, 195 countries signed onto the agreement aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. But yesterday, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the pact.
      Soon after, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Twitter that he would issue an executive order to maintain the city’s commitment to the Paris agreement. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a tweet that the decision to withdraw was “reckless” and that he would issue an executive order at the state level.
      As the White House dismantles the environmental regulations of the Obama administration, our city and our state are playing leading roles in combating climate change, said Steven A. Cohen, the director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
      “New York City is the most energy-efficient community in the country,” Mr. Cohen said. “We use mass transit more than anybody else, we live in smaller spaces, and we are well on the way to sustainability.”
      New Yorkers consume less than half the energy of the average American.
      And we’re working on reducing our footprint even more.
      In 2015, New York instituted the ambitious OneNYC plan, which will attempt to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, largely through making buildings more efficient.
      (Buildings account for nearly 75 percent of the city’s contribution to climate change.)
      The city is also expanding its recycling program, aiming to eliminate the waste it sends to landfills by 2030.
      This shouldn’t come as a surprise; New York City has long led the way to a sustainable future.
      Recycling was introduced here back in 1895. A municipal waste program was set up under the sanitation commissioner George E. Waring Jr. and separated household garbage into food waste, trash and ash. The program included the sweeping of streets and efforts to divert trash from being dumped into the Atlantic.
      Still, there’s more that can be done in New York, Mr. Cohen said, like creating more permeable surfaces to help cope with flooding.

      1. Very proud of NYC. My state of CA is doing well, too, but there are blatant exceptions like public transit and living in smaller spaces. We have a long way to go, but there are some encouraging directions.

      2. Yes. Similar problems in terms of affordable housing in New York. My rent is going up and I wonder how I will be able to retire.
        The homeless situation is out of control. People are sleeping inside the subway trains, on the platforms and outside on the street inside cardboard boxes.
        I’m always reminded that I am one paycheck from being in the same circumstances.

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