President-Elect Trump, the U.S., Climate Change and
Sustainable Development
The UNFCCC has been
signed by all 197 UN member nations, as well as the European Union (EU), State
of Palestine, Niue and Cook Islands.
A voluntary, non-binding international agreement, 103 UNFCCC signatory
governments had ratified the
Paris Climate Change Agreement as of Nov. 9 morning.
That includes the U.S.,
but only because the Obama administration was able to draft the agreement in
terms that have enabled him to bypass a Senate vote.
President-elect Trump has
said he will abandon the agreement, which throws a rather large wrench in the
global drive to mitigate and adapt to the numerous and profound effects of a
rapidly warming climate.
A Nov. 9 mass email
by Friends of the Earth typifies expectations of things to come,
at least on the part of environmental NGOs. “It’s clear that President Trump
will be the greatest threat to the environment in living memory.
He’ll fuel
climate chaos by digging up even more dirty fossil fuels. He’ll ‘cancel’ the
Paris climate agreement. And he’ll undo President Obama’s Clean Power Plan –
all while increasing giveaways to Big Oil and Big Ag,” the environmental NGO
wrote.
Among other things,
Friends of the Earth promised to lobby Democratic members of Congress to make
use of the power of the filibuster. “We’ll push them to use it to stop
dangerous bills from making it to Trump’s desk. And we’ll turn up the heat on
Congress to reject the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) international free trade agreement.
“We’re also going to take the fight outside Washington,” the environmental NGO promised. “For the next four years, we’ll work to pass state laws to protect our planet. And we’ll push companies like Kroger and Olive Garden to help end destructive farming practices.”
Delivering on campaign
promises
There’s only so much
even a U.S. president, with or without the support of Congress, can do given
the division of U.S. governance between state and federal levels and the scope,
scale, and nature of the U.S. economy and society.
Trump rode the rising
wave of middle-class dissatisfaction with the federal government all the way
into the White House. Rather than building walls to stop immigrants from
entering and working in the U.S., he should promote a fair, equitable means of
enabling them to do so.
After all, the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, a
heritage commemorated on the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor and one we
can, and should, continue to be proud of.
If the President-elect
genuinely intends to follow through on his campaign promises to restore the
U.S. industrial base, boost job creation and prosperity for all, we humbly
suggest that he look to the future rather than pandering to the vested
interests that represent an industrial era, technology and ideas of government
that no longer exist or continue to diminish.
Building on President
Obama’s legacy of supporting and stimulating development and deployment of renewable energy and clean technology should loom large
in this regard, as should the Obama’s administration embrace of public-private
partnerships that promote inclusive, equitable and environmentally sustainable
economic development.
By doing so, the
President-elect would not only help move the U.S. further forward in building a
vital, resilient and equitable U.S. economy and society, he would help assure
the U.S. continues to play a leadership role in foreign relations and
addressing pressing issues and challenges that extend well beyond national
borders.
You may have to delve
deep to imagine our new president doing this. Perhaps as deep as the often
bizarre results of experiments in sub-atomic physics, but stranger things do
happen.
