Will Trump be a disaster for climate change?
One of the more worrying things about the results of this election is the Donald's approach to climate change. As I'm sure many of you are aware, Trump has gone on record invalidating climate change as a hoax:
http://mediamatters.org/video/2014/01/06/fox-regular-donald-trump-decries-climate-change/197432x
And now he's President of the United States, the second-largest greenhouse gas polluter in the world. Just let that sink in for a moment.
Trump has also pledged to repeal Obama's Clean Power Plan, instead implying he'd bring back coal:
"This Obama-Clinton directive will shut down most, if not all, coal-powered electricity plans in America," Trump said of the Clean Power Plan. " They're shutting down all over the country. Remember what Hillary Clinton said? She wants to shut down the miners, just like she wants to shut down the steel mills and steel workers."
He's said that he'd cut funding to American climate change funding, claiming that the enviroment "will be fine":
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-epa-dept-of-education
"Environmental Protection, what they do is a disgrace. Every week they come out with new regulations. They're making it impossible --"http://www.bna.com/trump-says-plan-n57982082131/Wallace interjected, "Who's going to protect the environment?"
"They -- we'll be fine with the environment," Trump replied. "We can leave a little bit, but you can't destroy businesses."
"We're going to put America first. That includes canceling billions in climate change spending for the United Nations, a number Hillary wants to increase, and instead use that money to provide for American infrastructure including clean water, clean air and safety," the Republican presidential candidate said Oct. 31 at a rally in Warren, Mich. "We're giving away billions and billions and billions of dollars," he said.
And finally that he plans to pull the US out of the global climate change deal established in Paris after two decades of negotiation, that aims to limit CO2 emissions across the planet:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-36401174
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/26/reuters-america-update-3-trump-says-he-would-exit-global-climate-accord-slash-us-oil-regulation.html
And with the Republicans controlling the Senate and the House he could potentially do all these things.
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Yet we are currently at a point of human history were many scientists have us at the brink of entering dangerous territory regarding global warming - sh*t like mass flooding, heatwaves, superstorms etc. - yet a recent study has forecasted that if these kinds of plans are implemented, carbon emissions in the US could find themselves up by 16%, or 3.4 billion tonnes compared to a Clinton presidency, if he serves two terms:
Or in other words, the negative impact of a Trump in the White House could be felt for generations to come.
Thoughts? Will the environment be "fine" like Trump predicts? Will Congress see sense and block him? Is it all a Chinese hoax? Or are we actually royally screwed?