How may one man bring down the most successful country in the world?
12
China's old one-child policy is looking better and better for the whole world.
7
While there is some effort on the part of nations to really try to manage the environmental disaster which threatens the planet, the attitudes of America and some other countries shows that there is no universal agreement. Naturally, these countries either have governments which do not care about the future, do not have a science based citizenry, or have autocratic governments leaning on fossil fuel concerns for their support.
America has abandoned the expected role of a nation with supposed rules of science and rules of law as foundations of a society. Apparently, America never was really grounded in these rules because the country has abandoned common sense to support an administration intent on turning back the clock. America is at this point in time because the country never overcame the divisive undercurrents of racism and cultural differences.
At the point where America needs a steady government, Trump and his divisive and ignorant policies has made the situation worse. America now has become the leading naysayer in a world where conspiracy theories and ignorance seems to be appealing to many.
9
I have been reading articles like this for more than 20 years and human behavior has only continued to worsen. During that time even a mention of personal conservation has disappeared from our conversations, and apparently the youngest generation of Americans now assume that "someone will work something out". So, we will continue to kill off entire species; we will continue to grind the forests into the ground, deplete the water, make the air unbreathable and life unlivable and finally unsustainable. But, fair dues, along the way our SmartPhones will remain charged!
7
Look, Donald J. Trump is not a well person. I had an uncle who would explode into a tirade when we (my entire family) visited him. His face would literally turn beet red. He became uncontrollable, on the verge of perhaps hitting someone. I told my mother he should seek out a therapist, perhaps get put on a medication tailored to help him (not "drug" him") so he wouldn't get so worked up. She said he was just emotional, not "crazy". I agreed, but I tried to explain that there are different kinds of mental disorders besides schizophrenia, etc. Anyway, he's no longer with us, and I loved him in a way (a very smart guy, well read, he could wiggle his ears without moving anything else,,,).
What I am trying to say here is that "president" Trump was never able to play the role of POTUS as he was/is required to do. It takes a person who can step outside of his "private businessman" personage and assume a public servant role. This has to be 90% or better in this case of great responsibility as is stated in the swearing-in speech he recited 2 years ago. You may age 4 times faster than normal.
you may have to make critical decisions at any time of day or night. If you are not prepared to serve your country for four LONG and ARDUOUS and emotionally draining years, you are the wrong person for the job. Trump was never prepared to accept the responsibilities bestowed on him, and now more than ever he needs to step down. And await trial which is sure to come...
7
Over millions of years, evolution has selected for members of our species who are good at making babies and protecting our babies and ourselves from saber-toothed tigers and hostile invading tribes. Now we have fancier caves and fancier spears, but we still think like cave people. We have overrun the planet and overtaxed its resources. We are on the verge of poisoning our only home with our waste. More competition will just kill us all faster. Will we choose to evolve quickly to act together to save our climate and the future of our species on this planet, our only home? Or will we stick with the extreme short-term thinking of our cave dwelling ancestors, and wipe ourselves out? Will we pass our most important test ever? Or will we continue to flunked?
9
In my opinion, trump is not only a domestic terrorist, he is also become a terrorist worldwide. Greed has no conscience. This crime family belongs behind bars.
8
China and India did get a great deal, unreported until Trump started acting up.
1
A suggestion: find some way to get this article and its many thoughtful comments on to the desks, by recorded delivery, of every legislator in Washington, every member of the president's cabinet including the president, and every member of the Supreme Court.
7
You know, pacts, promises and vows like thoughts and prayers make us feel good to say and support. But it now seems pretty clear that looking to politicians and government "leaders" is not going to bring about the hard changes that need to be done. Instead, each of us has to take a serious look at the way we conduct our lives, at our individual disconnect from the natural world and face up to the gathering storm. What you and I do despite our profit-interested nations bobbing and weaving to avoid tackling the problem is the only true path of action. We didn't all make this mess but we've all got to live with it. So sorry Marshall Islanders.
2
We don't need a wall to prevent people from Mexico and points south from entering the USA. Trump already has a highly effective policy to keep them out of the USA.
Refuge children are taken away from their parents, caged, receive no food, no water, and no medical care. They die.
One girl died.
Then a few days later a little boy died.
One death may have been sad circumstance. Twice indicates a policy -- Trump's policy to treat poor children with great cruelty.
Parents outside the USA who learn about Trump's cruelty, duly carried out by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will not come here with their children to improve their lives, since Trump's policy is to end their children's lives.
3
We had an opening, right after 9/11, when Americans were hungry to make sacrifices for our future. Anything was possible at that moment - if only Al Gore’s election win hadn’t been stolen. A very pivotal moment in history. Instead George W. Bush advised us to go shopping, consumption to protect the fragile economy at that moment. I have grieved to recall that missed opportunity. The mind reels at what we could have accomplished if that rare moment of American solidarity had been properly directed with the vision of a true leader.
9
Greed is what brought us here. This is the culmination of a couple of centuries of avarice. If we don't recognise it, the planet will balance the books by ridding itself of us. And in a couple of hundred centuries, nature will reclaim this paradise we live in, without us as parasites. Nature will not be the loser. We will. It's what we deserve for losing faith with the gift we were given. We don't deserve it. As for him, he's a sad pathetic wreck of what happens to human beings when they are not loved for themselves. When greedy adults abuse and shame and shrivel the souls of their children. More of the same greed. We need, at the very least, to take back civility, respect for others and their rights as human beings and a call to everything civilising. Therein lies a truth about what it is to be human. Treat this inhumane being with humanity whilst at the same time, moving that centre of power off the stage. The lack of empathy, compassion, which is what makes us human, describes a being who does not fulfil the description, human being. But those of us who have compassion, need not follow. Let us lead the world quietly away towards true human fulfilment and full human realisation. Each of us, in every way we can, every day we have left. Let us take back our power. At once! Immediately! If not sooner!
138
Did the editorial board that 2 days ago demanded endless war in Syria consider the carbon footprint of endless war?
5
Nice work "Green" Party voters!
6
The reason Trump and the GOP get away with false statements is because there is little pushback. Though the majority of the American people believe anthropogenic climate change is real, it didn't even register as a mid-term election issue for Democrats. There is little political will to address it because there is little public will to address it.
Ask your congresspeople if they've read the 2018 federal report signed by 13 government agencies that warns climate change threatens our health and economic security. Have they read the 2014 Pentagon climate change report that warns climate change threatens our defense and national security? Keep asking until they've read them. Ask your friends to join you in this quest. Don't shy from bringing up climate change in conversation. Keep it front and center. Cause if the public doesn't care, politicians won't care.
7
Soon we will pass the point at which any honest politician can say that avoiding catastrophic climate change is still within our power. Things like Trump are actively throwing that power away, out of sheer greed, self-interest, spite, and wilful ignorance. When we're there, let's be sure to name the consequences after those who caused them, in their honor, lest we forget: Hurricane Donald, the Exxon-Mobil Breakaway Ice Sheet, the Bob Murray Extinctions, the Inhofe Famines... In all seriousness, this is a historic moment, and those who choose the side of denial and inaction will indeed live on in infamy, perhaps for many generations to come.
5
@Joe. In the late 1980s, the UN told us we had until 2000 to reverse climate change or entire nations would be washed away by rising oceans. In 2006, James Hanson told us we had 10 years to stop climate change. The year 2012 was also cited by Raj Pachauri of the UN as the point of no return. In 2012 Prof Wadhams of Cambridge gave us poor humans 4 years. In 2009 British Prime Minister Brown said we had 50 days to save the planet! In each case, we were assured that the science was settled! So yes, some politician at some point will again cite a point of no return, and that prediction will be a wrong as all the others
2
I only wish Donald Trump were the only problem. Facts are unfortunately facts. The biggest problem is 7 Billion people on Earth; and growing every day. More people alive then all of history combined. I am afraid our small planet cannot sustain that many people. Not offering ideas except that is the new reality. Secondly; we humans are slow to react to clear and present danger. Rachel Carson warned us 60 years ago. Only now; when climate change is in our face do we start taking this seriously. Typical. Last is the all powerful corporations who have a huge financial stake in denying reality in that it means the loss of their business empires. All of this simply means we know the looming disaster is coming; what on earth are WE prepared to do about it. A good place to start is rejoin the Paris Agreement; STOP listening to any crap coming from the Alt-Right neanderthals and try and do whatever you can do to reduce your carbon footprints. Your Great Grandchildren will be thanking you.
9
A rogue, corrupt federal government that has quietly repudiated The United States Constitution and the express Tenth Amendment constraints upon its unbridled power imperil our nation about ten thousand times more that President Trump imperils the planet. But that's okay with The New York Times editorial board.
Our next president should promote a program on the order of the Interstate Highway System and the Manhattan Project, combined, to transition away from fossil fuels as rapidly as possible.
A fantasy? Consider this: When the USSR threatened to cut off fossil fuel supplies to France, the French initiated a crash program to 'go nuclear' and within 20 years time began producing 80% of it's electricity with nuclear power. France now has the cleanest air and cheapest electricity in all of Europe!
We have the technology to completely transition away from fossil fuels by 2050 if not sooner. Google PRISM.
5
A 70 years old Trump is bent on destroying the environment for short term gains while the next generations will suffer the most. Astonished to see such a villain quickly rose to power like Hitler. It is America’s fault and biggest offense.
7
The New York Times has printed so many attack pieces about Donald Trump that even if their argument has merit, they have totally discredited themselves as any kind of impartial source. Perhaps they can do their bit to save the planet by ceasing publication and stop chopping down all those trees. What will save the planet is not to impoverish ourselves with well-intentioned but foolish restrictions on economic activity, but better technology such as hybrid electric vehicles for example.
3
@T. Traub
Since when is denouncing political decisions by referring to proven facts and disastrous predictions somehow only "legitimate" if you only do so once in a while rather than each time that such decisions are being taken ... ?
And as you seem to be new to this debate: transition to clean energy CREATES jobs and economic activity and wealth, rather than doing the opposite.
Hybrid cars are indeed a good start here.
But as the NYT points out, Trump destroyed incentives for car makers to develop them. Instead, he's doubling down on massive fossil fuel subsidies.
Thanks to the NYT, each and every citizen today can easily find out why that is wrong.
12
@T. Traub: The whole rotten Trump entourage just bawls tendentious and unresponsive drivel in our faces like Steve Miller to CNN and Sarah Sanders to the White House press corps. Trump's religious backers don't believe in science, they believe in Revelations.
8
I think that ultimately, in the future, the human race as a species, is destined to destroy itself. An excerpt from the Planet of the Apes movie - Cornelius: [reading from the “Sacred Scrolls” of the apes to Taylor and Dr. Zeus] “Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death.” Keep in mind that this movie is from 1968, before a lot of the current environmental problems that exist today, but when there was a threat of global nuclear war, hence the destruction of New York City and the Statute of Liberty scene at the end. Dinosaurs were the dominant species that inhabited and ruled the planet Earth for about 175 million years, until their mass extinction caused by an asteroid. Modern man, or Homo Sapiens, just in the short span of 2,000 years of the Christian calendar have already destroyed much of the environment by over population, pollution, rapidly depleting all of the earth’s natural resources, including clean air and water, and now face climate change, which may doom the human race and make the planet uninhabitable (for people). We may not even last for a few more centuries, but the planet will continue to exist for another 5 billion years before the sun goes Supernova.
7
Money, Money, Money. It's the rich man's world, the ABBA sung.
Many years ago as a kid I read a fairy tale about an emperor named Midas that got the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. Even what he was supposed to eat…
The incoprehensible shame is the world we are leaving to our successors.
5
one man...so much power.
who knew?
15
@ms hendley: So much nerve. They guy was a loser by almost 3 million votes in an election that cried for a run-off because no candidate had won a majority and the FBI director had created much ado about nothing in the midst of it.
13
@ms hendley
Destruction turns out to be easy for the truly incompetent.
10
I always wonder what jobs are created by many of these regulation rollbacks. What job is opened up by, say, allowing polluters to pollute more freely, or rolling back emission standards on cars? Maybe more doctors, to treat our polluted nostrils, throats and lungs.
Or maybe allowing HFC’s will open up more positions in the military and police, as the world and the country are increasingly destabilized by global warming.
I’m hopeful that New York and California’s outsize market power and regulatory zeal can keep the most harmful products off American shelves, but that’s little consolation for the destroyed American terrain or shortened American lives brought on by this shortsightedness.
7
I'm also concerned by Trump's inspiration of Bolsonaro. The ability of the Amazon and other tropical rainforests including the Congo River Basin and rain forests in places like Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to act as carbon sinks and the fact that deforestation contributes to the problem isn't discussed enough. Emissions are only one side of the equation. Carbon sequestration especially, by forests are the other. We not only need to combat deforestation, we should be restoring forests on a massive scale. The late Wangari Matthaai and her Greenbelt movement had it right.
5
A commenter inadvertently refers to a "naming" problem:
"2. It has been proven that today's atmospheric CO2 level is at 440ppm."
When Bill McKibben formed his environmental organization years ago, he named it "350.org" and wrote that the world would reach the "point of no return" if the atmospheric CO2 level ever reached 400 ppm. It's much higher than that now, of course. But when it first topped 400, several critics wrote:
"Bill, now that the atmospheric CO2 level is above 400 ppm and we're at the "point of no return," shouldn't we just give up, hunker down and prepare for inevitable doom?
Apparently, 400 ppm was NOT the "point of no return" after all. Even 440 ppm is not.
1
@MyThreeCents: The Earth far from radiation equilibrium with the sun and space, perhaps as many as 2 degrees Celsius already. Even if the CO2 concentration stops rising, the temperature will continue to rise.
3
@MyThreeCents
Why aren't you replying directly to my comment, and instead talk about "a commenter"?
1. There was a typo in my previous comment: current atmospheric CO2 levels are 400ppm, of course, not 440.
https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/graphic-the-relentless-rise-of-carbon-dioxide/
2. The earth is a complex biosphere, which means that there are MANY points of no return.
We're already in the sixth Great Extinction, for instance, so for all the species that became extinct last year, the point of no return HAS been reached.
That in itself cannot possibly be an argument to become cynical and no longer try to prevent much worse damage in the future, of course ...
4
@MyThreeCents. How is the unhinged left supposed to hysterically bash President Trump when you keep injecting facts and science into the mix?
1
I have been saying (out loud) for quite awhile, that Trump may be the AntiChrist (don’t laugh).
Now of course that can’t be true (I guess), but he’s doing a “fantastic job” of impersonating him. He has done and continues to do the complete opposite of what should be right or just, in every area possible, and from what any other sane human being would do—from filling his cabinet with unqualified and destructive people, to backing out of every and any kind of treaty, appointing family members to very top positions, continues to punishing and alienating allies, to bromancing (and probably colluding) with bad actors and criminals. He has no problem destroying the environment and gleefully watches as stocks plummet and federal workers lose their pay for however long that might be.
He has a strange and frankly inexplicable sway over his base and the Republican congress.
He actually does little if any work, and instead enjoys executive time untill 11am watching Fox News.
He purposefully lies as much as possible to the narion and the world, and accepts no blame— but will happily blame anyone else. He demonizes anyone and everyone, is responsible for taking children away from their parents, which has now resulted in two innocent young children dying in our custody.
He has the evangelicals snookered, and his base is his willing enablers. There is obviously much more I could list.
Someone please tell me how this entity now occupying the Oval Office, isn’t what I stated. Anyone?
3
@A J: These are millenarian times. It evidently happens every 1000 years.
@Steve Bolger
Yup!
The N.Y. Times recently reported on how numerous immigrant farm workers in California's Central Valley were poisoned by toxic pesticides that the Obama administration sought to phase out - and that Trump's EPA refused to ban.
The assault on the fragility of both human and animal life by the Trump administration continues to appall.
113
The surest way to reduce fossil fuel usage is to reduce population growth. Don’t understand why that option is ever discussed
3
@Jesse James
Because like so many common sense hypotheses, it has been proven to be false.
1 single American is producing as much carbon as 4 Chinese and 15 sub-Saharan people.
With only 6% of the world's population, the US (highest carbon footprint per capita in the entire world) is responsible for a whopping 20% of the world's carbon emissions.
At the same time, the world's population is expected to stabilize at 11 billion by the end of this century. Why? Because by then, all economies will be fully developed, and populations always start stagnating once an economy is fully developed. It's only in subsistence economies, where families have to produce their own food and child death is high while life expectancy is low, that having 10 children is absolutely vital, if the parents want to continue to live until they're 40-years old.
So reducing population growth would literally mean to mandate Africa to starve to death - even though the continent doesn't almost produce any carbon, and WE are the main culprits instead.
Needless to remember that such a "solution" would be completely immoral.
It wouldn't be a real solution though, because if we continue our own carbon emission, it will simply take a couple more decades before the planet reaches the exact same level of atmospheric CO2 as it would if we would not eliminate all non-Western populations ... .
Conclusion: the ONLY solution is for us to massively transition to clean energy.
3
@Jesse James
I think what you are saying is reduce population. Reduced population growth will only slow the inevitable.
The planet cannot sustain the onslaught of humans. The ecosystem is headed for collapse due to over population.
5
@Ana Luisa: Chinese and African people living in the US consume energy like the native-born.
1
Do you think that the rich will be able to enjoy their riches that they got when resources were still available, after climate change
really gets going?
2
@joyce. Ask Al Gore. Ask Obama’s donors who got rich off the solar companies funded with taxpayer dollars but are now bankrupt
3
@joyce - we may as well ask ourselves, our neighbors and friends this question, for to most of the world even average Americans are the "rich."
3
@Larry: I think folks like you make the US uncompetitive with China, which dominates the solar panel industry now.
2
I'll be honest: I'm not a huge environmentalist. I've always thought in the back of my mind that illegal immigration was a little out of control. I'm liberal on social issues but often wonder if political correctness hasn't gone too far. So, other things being equal, I might roll my eyes at the Trump Administration and say, oh well, the Republicans won this time around, let them put their (ugh) conservative policies into effect. But other things are not equal. The Trump Adminstration has an unparalleled record of blatant lies, denial of facts and expert opinion, disregard for the rule of law, and political expediency at any cost. So if I have to come down on one side or the other, I come down solidly on the side of logic and reason and, yes, environmentalism. As if it will do me any good in this day and age.
4
Both sides, it seems, are inclined to misstate the facts:
"Today already 40 cities worldwide are entirely carbon free - two of them here in the US."
Correction: No city, anywhere in the world, is "carbon free." ALL cities allow cars, for example, and nearly all cars use fossil fuels to operate -- even electric cars (as another commenter has pointed out), which don't themselves use fossil fuel but do use electricity produced in (you guessed it!) fossil-fuel power plants.
2
@MyThreeCents
I'm sorry, but once again you're confounding personal guessing and proven facts.
THIS is what "carbon free city" means:
"A zero-carbon city runs entirely on renewable energy; it has no carbon footprint and will in this respect not cause harm to the planet.[1] Most cities throughout the world produce energy by burning coal, oil and gas, unintentionally emitting carbon. Almost every activity humans do involves burning one of these fossil fuels. To become a zero carbon city, an established modern city must collectively reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to zero and all practices that emit greenhouse gases must cease. Also, renewable energy must supersede other non-renewable energy sources and become the sole source of energy, so a zero-carbon city is a renewable-energy-economy city. This transition which includes decarbonising electricity (increasing the importance of the sources of renewable electricity) and zero-emission transport, is undertaken as a response to climate change. Zero-carbon cities maintain optimal living conditions while eliminating environmental impact."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-carbon_city
3
@Ana Luisa: According to the Wikipedia article you linked, there are currently no such places. "There are two places that are prototyped to become zero-carbon cities: Masdar City, United Arab Emirates and Dongtan, China."
1
We need to stop producing CO2 in the amount we are. It is time to talk about the “N” word. Nuclear power does not produce CO2. In addition the new reactors can use as fuel the nuclear waste we have stored, solving the disposal problems. Also the new designs have passive emergency shut down procedures. No emergency power is required for safe shut down.
3
@Robert
1. It's too dangerous, as Fukushima has once again proven.
2. With the current, already existing technology, we could reduce our carbon footprint by a whopping 30% during the next decades already.
All that is needed is the political will to massively start implementing those technologies - which of course means ending the hundreds of billions in yearly fossil fuel subsidies, and using that money in a wiser and more morally responsible way.
2
Ana, the United States Navy has been using nuclear powered ships for many years without a nuclear accident. However, the Navy was not driven by the lowest cost and the power plants are maned by well trained professionals. Unlike most commercial power plants which are run with the lowest possible costs.
I’m doing my minuscule part. I have solar panels on my roof and bought a hybrid car. Now if I could only cut down on bottled water in plastic that will be on this earth long after I’ve departed.
33
@Shellbrav My local grocery stores have reverse osmosis filtered water stations. Every week I bring 6 1 gallon bottles (used to hold apple cider) to the store and fill them up for about 40 cents per gallon. It's cheaper than bottled water. It doesn't use plastic. And it tastes better since it goes directly into glass so nothing leaches into the water as it does from plastic. Through the week, I fill my stainless steel thermos and take that where-ever I go. Good luck to you in kicking the single use plastic habit!
15
@Shellbrav We must all remember, as we saturate the planet with plastic, that it is arguably a physical form of carbon dioxide that will never go away once in existence.
11
@Shellbrav
That's impressive!
It's surprising how many Americans who care are unaware of the ability to purchase 100% renewable energy from their utility marketplace, at very little extra cost.
I use small-ish glass bottles for water. I'm careful that they are placed so that they won't become a lethal projectile in a car accident.
I haven't checked with the company on whether there's any reason this isn't safe, but there are brands of spring water which come in glass and can obviously be hand-washed and re-filled with filtered home water. The cost per bottle is comparatively inexpensive so if one is lost or left somewhere, no big deal.
Good luck - I'll work toward a hybrid.
9
Fiscal conservatives and laissez faire proponents love to use the trite phrase of “kicking the can down the road,” to shame irresponsible spenders of government tax dollars who supposedly support massive government deficits. Yet, these same people have no shame about burdening future generations with the cost and harm of the sixth mass extinction, which is under way per Stanford University Professor Paul Erhrlich and other scientists.
The future costs present more difficulty than just a budget deficit. The cost of cleanup will be enormous, but the cost of lost species cannot be measured, especially if the species of plant or animal life has medicinal properties for humans.
2
I would change the title if this op ed from “Trump Imperils the Planet” to “Republicans Imperil the Planet.”
It is a grave mistake to attribute our current national nightmare to one single person. The Republican Party nominated Trump, and they have been either supporting, enabling, or excusing him ever since. The entire Republican Party is responsible for this attack on our planet.
7
The Paris Agreement was bad. This was known even when it was signed. The US agreed to very aggressive decreases in emissions and also agreed to give third world countries money to help them; more if we did not hit our target. This opinion piece ignores the fact that we've decreased emissions by 17% since then. All that while India and China continue to emit at will since they didn't have to commit to cuts or even keeping emissions neutral! Not to mention that under the agreement, they are third world countries?!!! This was a very bad deal. Obama just thought that if he promised aggressive reductions that the rest of the world would follow. They did not. This was not about cutting CO2 emissions globally, this was about redistribution of money. Period. Environmentalists didn't even like it, but now the NYTimes thinks it was good?! Bottom line: If we do not stop expanding the population of humans on earth, especially in regions that were never able to sustain large populations without destruction of forests and water sources, there can never be a reduction in CO2 by merely cutting emissions.
2
@Ma
In real life, even with the Paris Accord the US would CONTINUE to have the highest carbon footprint per capita in the world.
Imho you didn't even read it ... ? Am I wrong?
1
The people who voted most zealously for Trumpty Dumpty are those most at risk. The enviro records of the ruby red states are the worst in the nation and surprise - the life expectancy of the residents is dropping. All because they fell for the MAGA fantasy.
3
People don't need to have children to add something to knowledge and culture more enduring than a bloodline.
3
This has been going on for two years. Why mention it now?
Until we stop using fossil fuels and admit they make us ill as well as polluting the air, land and waterways, we will not move forward. Mr. Trump's refusal to see this is a bump in the road. The real issue is the will of the people to insist on inexpensive, clean solutions.
2
Consider that fossil fuels represent millions of years of stored carbon. You can't tell me that reducing the planet's ability to capture carbon normally and burning more and more of what took eons to lock up is not a man-made problem. It's all about reversing the trend, and ignoring it won't solve anything.
3
The world continues to develop, and fossil fuels drive that. It will remain so until non-carbon based energy sources can compete economically.
End of story.
12
Well yes. END of story. The whole story.
15
@Harlod Dickman
Wrong.
Today already 40 cities worldwide are entirely carbon free - two of them here in the US.
All over the West, year after year new measures are being taken to reduce fossil fuel energy, end plastic bags, eat less meat, produce more organic food, install wind turbines and solar panels, and so many other things.
In developing countries, amazingly, the same is happening too - with China being already the world's leader in clean energy consumption.
And most importantly, more and more governments are reducing fossil fuel subsidies and start subsidizing clean energy and clean energy cars etc.
It would be as absurd as it is false to try to deny these global tendencies.
And having the courage to face what is happening right here and now has always been what is needed to meet the challenges of our own generation and, just like previous ones, find solution and create a better world.
There's absolutely no reason to believe that somehow, just because of Trump and the GOP, the entire world would make a U-turn and now just try to ignore basic facts.
Conclusion: no more excuses, time to act! ;-)
20
@Harlod Dickman The Paris Agreement is a complete joke, its authors delusional. Aspirational documents, without strong legal teeth are nothing more than toilet paper to nations who want good climate change press but intend to flout the rules at every opportunity. That point can't be emphasized enough. The current solution to fight climate change is collapsing with breath taking speed. For example China has been by far the biggest coal producing country over the last three decades. The country accounting for over 47% of the world’s total coal output. About half of China’s coal is used for power generation, which accounts for over 80% of the country’s electricity output. And they're building more coal plants. Over 259 gigawatts of coal power capacity – equivalent to the entire coal power fleet of the United States. They have an agenda which they will achieve come hell or high water. Their actions speak much louder than their words. It's the same across much of Asia, where coal consumption grew by 3.1% a year from 2006 to 2016, accounting for almost three-quarters of the world’s demand for the most polluting fossil fuel. From India to Bangladesh to Pakistan to the Philippines to South Korea...coal use is up. Such is the supply & demand that prices for thermal coal, the type used for generating electricity, are at their highest since 2012, & have more than doubled in the past two years. A renewable-energy revolution is neither imminent nor pain-free. That's the inconvenient truth
5
We are on the brink of an absolutely revolutionary change in how we provide energy to meet burgeoning world demand, but we must we act soon. Fossil fuels have served us well, however, they are rapidly destroying the climate.
We must replace them very quickly! Cost effective green alternatives already exist, and these will provide an even more effective replacement for fossil fuels, as they scale up.
World leaders have a quickly vanishing opportunity to stimulate the green revolution and eliminate the use of fossil fuels.
We, the people who realize this fact, must hold the feet of these leaders to the fire and insist they act with the highest urgency, making this the top priority.
Tremendous opportunities: economic, cultural, scientific and ecological, accompany this crisis.
We have been far to slow in acknowledging that our grandchildren's lives depend on this; they are beginning to realize that reality, as we speak, and they're not too happy about it.
4
@Richard Bailey: The US public elects politicians to elicit magic from God, not scientists with cross-disciplinary vision to coordinate effective actions.
2
The problem is the result of too many people emitting too much carbon.
If humans don't take care of the emitting-too-much part, Mother Nature will take care of the too-many-people part.
83
@MC like any disease, if not stopped they eat themselves out of house and home.
3
That should read "Republicans Imperil the Planet'. Trump is doing everything that Republicans want him to do. And that includes Republican voters not just politicians.
6
Many thanks to the New York Times editors and journalists for documenting for posterity what Trump and his cronies are doing to our planet. My fervent wish is for wise leadership in the public and private sectors to never rest until this damage is rectified and our planet and all of its creatures are healthy.
As an aside, I also appreciate the work your journalists have done to bring attention to the frauds committed by landlords like Trump. Their tenants who are human beings deserve redress.
4
70% Americans buy SUV's and trucks, CA and France reject an increase in gas tax, most Americans eat a high carbon footprint diet of meat, bottled water, India and China are massively polluting, Paris Accord violated.
Trump is the only culprit, of course.
7
@R. R. No, but let's say he is the leader of the culprits
4
@R. R.
All countries except Trump's America accept to stay in the Paris Accord, and to at least not INCREASE encouraging fossil fuel energy.
MANY of them are doing much more already, as Obama did.
China for instance is already the world's leader in terms of clean energy consumption.
And today, you need 4 Chinese people to produce as much carbon as 1 single American.
So of course, Trump is imperiling the planet by going back to 19th century dirty energy and using taxpayer money to increase its consumption, at a time when we know that doing so accelerates global warming.
There's just no way to invent excuses here, you see?
1
@Ana Luisa You're incorrect, or at least misleading, to write this:
"All countries except Trump's America accept to stay in the Paris Accord, and to at least not INCREASE encouraging fossil fuel energy."
True, other developed countries have PROMISED to reduce carbon emissions. But they haven't. The US has NOT promised, but it HAS.
1
I am fortunate to be able to choose my use of 100% Green-e Energy National WindPower from WGL Energy.
I'm sickened by Trump's assault on the environment - national, regional and global. The appointment of dolts like Pruitt and Zinke, the cavalier pinching of public lands, the rollbacks on protection of wildlife in Alaska - and above all, the drive to reignite the fossil century. From Trump's pulling out of the climate accord to his extraction campaign, it's a blighted policy panorama like few others.
But in the meantime, there's us, as Pogo so wisely noted. Even as Western governments fail to make the policy transition to renewables, our lifestyles drive climate change. That's not just manufacturers, cars, energy; it's also 'big ag', livestock raising, deforestation, construction, container shipping - all huge emitters. The addiction to devices, tank-like vehicles, non-eco construction and development; supermarkets and shops stuffed with unnecessary 'stuff' shipped halfway around the world...basically, more than 'downsizing' is needed. Billions of us consume unsustainably.
I gave up eating meat years ago, recycle 95% of everything, consume local produce, use public transport, limit flights + energy use, have a wildlife-friendly garden, insulate. It's not enough. Only collective change will break the consumption habit. That, boycotting dirty industry, and voting in politicians with the vision to transition to a viable green economy and renewables.
The ultimate 'comfort zone' is the biosphere. It's all we've got. Fully recognizing that is the first step towards change.
7
This isn't Trump. Trump is nothing but an opportunistic salesman whose sole talent is finding a trend that exists already and exploiting it. Instead of cataloging the damage again, tell is who is behind this.
Trump arrived in Washington without any actual understanding of the government, and without contacts, advisers, and a huge list of experts who knew the place. Bush had Cheney, the toxic deus ex machina, to run his operation. Trump brought dim bulbs like Pence and outsiders like Mnuchin and Tillerson, weak supports for his own minuscule attention span, granite incuriosity, and Neroesque arrogance.
That all means that someone else is running this. Trump's whole ascendancy required powerful backers who remain in the shadows. They tell him what to do, say, and oblige him to work as little as possible to make their bidding real. Defeating Trump will serve nothing if this dark force isn't exposed, and replacing him with smarter Trump will kill the planet.
Two directives, then:
1. Keep Trump in office. He hurts everyone but he is the fever that weakens the GOP and the people he serves. Removing him prematurely will permit them to recover.
2. Remove the GOP comprehensively in 2020.
5
A conservative debate partner once said, while talking about climate change: "Why do you care? We'll both be dead before it gets ugly."
I didn't have the heart to tell him that's it's already ugly in his heart.
8
The articles in today’s NYT is among most important published about the Trump reign of error.
While he, his party and his army of propagandists spin the benefit to our economy from his gutting of government regulation the Times has revealed the long term damage, the costs of which are being paid by workers and residents today and will compound over the decades.
NExt: financial deregulation should get it’s time “in the barrel.”
Sadly, Trump’s base needs to read the real world impact of Trumpism and broadcast and cable tv need to get on board with the story.
2
The idea that Trump has the sort of impact to change climate is just silly, and the article seems nonsensical. Does anyone think the Paris Accords are anything but the start of a framework for global carbon taxes or that it will do anything to moderate climate change? Trumps efforts to change the pace of wasteful but feel good regulations with some sort of climate label are helping people and the economy. Far better to work on technical solutions to CO2, like sequestration, nuclear power, and efficiency than it is to try and turn down the standard of living for humanity.
1
@John
The US has the highest carbon footprint per person in the entire world.
With only 6% of the world's population, we're responsible for 20% of the world's carbon emissions.
And it has been proven that it's the high level of atmospheric CO2 that is triggering global warming.
So of course, when Trump decides to increase America's carbon emissions even more, he accelerates global warming.
That's not "silly", it' a proven fact.
Time to update your info ... ;-)
4
Trump's assault on the environment lends urgency to his removal from office before Jan 2021. If it were just a master of his criminality in the various investigations, we might be able to wait until the 2020 elections to boot him out of office. But the carbon alarm is ringing loudly and we can't afford to squander two more years.
3
"...the mounting threat of global warming."
Sorry, but can't even prove that "global warming" is any kind of threat at all. The planet has been cyclically warming up and cooling off for hundreds of millions of years. It's gone through two warming-cooling cycles just in the last 2000 years, the first warming of which may have helped the establishment of the Roman Empire and the second the end of the "Dark Ages," the rise of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the growth of civilisation in northern Europe.
You certainly can't prove that any warming that's actually occurring is anthropogenic. As even the UN has noted, climate is mathematically chaotic, meaning that not only is it difficult-to-impossible to predict the effects of any induced change of conditions, you can't reliably work it backwards to find out what caused any effect you see--given a tornado, you can't possibly figure out which butterfly flapped its wings to cause it. CO2 concentration might or might not have anything to do with it--and that it might cause worming in the controlled environment of a greenhouse means nothing in the vast, chaotic, environment of the atmosphere with thousands of known, unknown, uncontrolled, and uncontrollable variables.
And finally, more species have gone extinct over the millions of years of life on this planet than exist today. Extinction is just part of evolution.
2
@Henry Miller
1. It has been proven for a century already now that atmospheric CO2 traps the heat radiated from the earth, and by doing so warms the earth and the planet's climate.
2. It has been proven that today's atmospheric CO2 level is at 440ppm.
3. It has only been this high more than 4 million years ago - as has been proven.
4. We know how much gigatonnes of CO2 human activity produces each and every year, AND how that DIRECTLY increases atmospheric CO2 levels.
5. It has been proven that since two centuries, there is global warming, whereas from the point of view of climate history, we're at the beginning of a new Ice Age (= permanent ice on both poles), so we should be cooling down.
6. The last two centuries, the earth's climate is warming up faster than ever before. THAT is why many species can't adapt and are becoming extinct.
7. Having more than 80% of living species becoming extinct has happened 5 times before, in the earth's history. Human beings have never witnessed something like that. We do know, however, that we depend on many of those species for our food chain to remain intact.
8. When water and food become scarce, that will obviously trigger wars.
THAT is why there are no excuses and we have to act, and act now, rather than letting greed dictate your behavior, you see?
8
@Henry Miller. well said! Science and reality are on your side!
1
@Henry Miller - here's who would tell you you are wrong:
97% global climatologists, U.S. Pentagon, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Geological Service (USGS), U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Weather Service (NWS), Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NASA, FEMA, NOAA, former Trump Administration Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former Trump Administration Secretary of Defense James Mattis, EXXON, Chevron, Shell, British Petroleum (BP), Apple, Microsoft, Walmart, AT&T, the New York Times, the Vatican, Smithsonian Institution, Harvard, MIT, the Red Cross, World Health Organization (WHO), Cargill, Bayer, Monsanto, Weather Underground, Scientific American, National Science Foundation, Popular Science, Union of Concerned Scientists, etc. Plus independent and academic scientists around the world whose work involves climate data: biologists, geologists, horticulturists, foresters, zoologists, entomologists, oceanographers, etc.
2
American automobiles sell poorly in foreign countries due to low gas mileage. Trump has aggravated the situation by lowering mileage standards. Another example of Trump not understanding the consequence of his actions.
2
@RAW. I wasn’t aware President Trump banned American automakers from making fuel effective cars. What you’re describing sounds like the free market in action
1
US automakers make more $profits on SUVs and trucks. So, Ford is dropping most of its car lineup to focus on SUVs and trucks...with lower MPG. They are in the profit business not the ‘efficient transportation’ business. Higher MPG requirements are needed so they adapt to this climate crisis.
1
@Bascom Hill. Like I said, it’s the free market in action. Nobody wants those small deathtraps
On December 12, 2015, the Paris Climate 'Agreement' was signed, with the term 'agreement' formulated to enable President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry to pass it off as not 'obligating' the U.S. internationally. This was hokum.
Congress should have been tasked to vote to ratify this treaty. It would have failed, as Obama did not have the power or the inclination to sell the plan to Congress.
And President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the obligations of the treaty. Whether he should have submitted it to the Congress for ratification (it would still have failed) is a question that might be asked.
Still, as a successor in the executive, he had the authority to withdraw from what was established as an executive agreement binding only on the Obama administration.
And the U.S. in still improving its clean energy profile. It is still moving energy technologies forward. It is not, however, allowing itself to be used as a piggy bank for the schemes of the U.N. Green Climate Fund, a role no other nation picked up when Trump laid aside Obama's 'mantle.'
1
@rcrigazio
In real life, however, we're all in this together.
And Obama already doubled America's solar energy jobs, took a lot of good (= science-based) decisions when it comes to simultaneously saving and regulating the auto industry, and the Paris agreement is a historic U-turn, compared to what had been possible globally until then.
In the meanwhile, the US remains the biggest polluter on earth, with the highest carbon footprint per person .
As to the Green Climate Fund: Europe actually pledged and then indeed already paid more to it than Obama, remember?
Fact is, global warming is the fault of the entire West and its two centuries of dirty industrialization. THAT, together with the fact that the West has the highest carbon emissions per capita, is why we have to lead here.
So no more excuses, time to act.
Small term personal greed has never been a laudable moral value, but it has never been more sinful than today.
@Ana Luisa Obama poured hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into solar companies started by his donors that are now bankrupt. His donors made billions!
1
He puts the planet in peril on sooooooooo many levels .
1
Did "developing countries" commit to pollution-reduction in the Paris agreement? Answer: No, unless "developed countries" pay entirely for it by "mobilizing" tens of billions of dollars each year for use by the "developing countries." Absent that mobilization, a developing country needs to do nothing at all, and I've never heard that any of them has. I've also read that no "developed country' has actually funded any portion of its "mobilization" commitment, nor given any hint of when that might happen. If that changes, I will be interested to see, for example, how French taxpayers feel about funding pollution-reduction efforts by Bangladesh.
Nor has any "developed country" met any of its own pollution-reducing commitments, or given any hint of when it will. I understand the US has reduced its carbon emissions since 2015, but that none of the "developed countries" that remains a party to the Paris agreement has.
Is any of this incorrect? If it's all correct, does it not bother you?
1
@MyThreeCents
Developing countries, by definition, pollute MUCH less per person than the US.
And of course, they too have the right to get their people out of poverty, and as a consequence, develop their economy.
And it's we, developed countries, who caused global warming in the first place, remember?
That's why the only realistic solution here is that the developing countries skip our own dirty industrialization phase as much as possible, and immediately switch to clean energy already.
They won't be able to pay for it entirely though, so if WE want to avoid natural disasters for our own grand-children, we HAVE to contribute to helping developing countries develop their economies in a smarter way than we have done.
As to Europe: its politicians have pledged and already paid more to the Green Climate Fund than what Obama did. And yes, of course European citizens support this decision. It's because it's just plain common sense, you see?
5
@Ana Luisa I understand you may be kidding (if so, please forgive my credulity), but just in case you're not: The definition of "developing country" has nothing at all to do with the country's pollution level. True, developing countries tend to pollute less than we or European countries do, but a developing country is entitled to receive and use tens of billions of dollars each year from developed countries whether it pollutes or not, even if its pollution level rises dramatically.
As Casey Stengel, the crusty old Yankees manager, liked to say: "You can look it up."
As for developed countries "helping" to pay for pollution-reduction efforts by developing countries, I suggest you look that up too. Developed countries have to pay for 100% of those efforts; a developing country isn't required to pay for any of it. Maybe that's the way it ought to be since the developed countries pollute much more, but that's the way it is, fair or not.
@MyThreeCents
With all respect, but I wasn't kidding at all.
Of course China's clean energy industry isn't 100% financed by the West. If you think it is, could you please send some studies to back up such a claim ... ?
And yes, apart from climate change, for decades already the West is trying to invest in developing countries. That's not only because doing so helps us economically, it's also because it's the only way to obtain world peace. And of course, the fact that the West has plundered the rest of the world for more than a century has something to do with it too...
2
The time has come to change the name of our species from homo sapiens to homo brutus. As we stare into the abyss of extinction of our own doing, it becomes clear that for a species to knowingly commit suicide is the ultimate display of idiocy. Other species have disappeared by consuming themselves out of existence, but no one would accuse them of being stupid. We on the other hand, consider ourselves exceptional, the “wise ones”. Exceptionally stupid would be more accurate. And particularly absurd for the entire race to be at the mercy of the unhinged machinations inside the skull of one of its members.
But there are hopeful signs that we might avert disaster. Solar panels continue to improve. Renewable energy is becoming more affordable. Demand for and production of electric cars is growing. Birth rates continue to decline, slowly, but surely. More people are embracing a more ethical and sustainable plant-based diet. So the future can be bright if we’re smart, but we can’t call ourselves homo sapiens until we earn it.
4
Bedlam. Two days ago, an editorial in this paper used that word to describe the Trump Republican White House. The word is remarkably apt.
Bedlam. Environmental destruction. Climate change fecklessness. Sabotaging health care to the tune of $500 per citizen. Trade and tariff chaos. A Syria pullout that only makes Syria worse. Closing government for a silly wall. The list goes on and on.
5
You know, it's amazing that people with degrees, people who have been educated, are willing to sacrifice all of existence for a short term monetary gain. The greed on display by select countries, including ours, is the worst side of human behavior that might have ever existed on this planet.
9
I tried to read this. I really did. I just had to stop when they claimed higher emissions (we are actually at the forefront in reductions) and that "devastating wildfires and flood" are the responsibilities of climate change when we've had those for millennia. This column has neither facts, or logic on it's side - but hey, it's a new day and the job is to tar and feather Trump at any cost - we get it. Don't think you are fooling people who actually understand how all of this works. You aren't. You are ensuring him another 4 years.
3
@Kknoppo
1. In 2018 US energy-related CO2 emissions are projected to rise.
2. The frequency, scale, and severity of “devastating storms and wildfires” have risen steadily to levels never seen before in recorded history. The conditions for this rise are directly attributable to global warming.
3. There’s no apostrophe in the possessive pronoun “its.”
3
You are preaching the choir. Try publishing it in right leaning news outlets/ it is needed there more than here (nyt)
3
The issue is that coal is a cheap, simple way to generate power. For many countries it is the most practical way to do that. Most countries need to provide more electricity to their citizens. They cannot afford to wait for technologies that might be cost effective in a few decades, or use methods that require more capital than is available. Railing at Mr. Trump is irrelevant.
3
I believe the devastation of the environment will be the most lasting legacy of Trump. It doesn't look like his other grand goal of becoming an authoritarian dictator is going to pan out for him.
3
My impression is that whatever Obama does/supports, Trump will do the opposite. If the two were driving on the same 2 lane highway, Obama would have to come out and say it is best to drive on the left; then and only then would #45 drive on the right. Rather than argue about climate change and saving planet, perhaps Obama and/or his supporters need to say "... we have to destroy the planet and Trump is making sure we achieve that goal..." Of course maybe saving the planet can be shown to add value to the Trump organization properties. That is a tactic no one has tried.
2
In the Trump Doctrine nothing supersedes chasing the almighty dollar. Not the environment, not human rights, not placing country first, not family, not decency, not calling out demagogues and certainly not respecting the opposition. At it's center is greed, overindulgence, selfishness and above all pettiness. It succeeds when it normalizes these behaviors and others begin to accept them without comment. Everything that Americans used to hold dear are considered unnecessary and 'politically correct'. We are a pariah nation under this leadership.
4
It astounds me that people vote for this. Repeatedly. Republicans are the party of destruction. I cannot fathom that people are so indoctrinated that they believe Republicans are doing anything in their interest.
5
@Margaret The only indoctrination I see is a cult of environmentalism, based on bad science and nearly a century of bogus claims made by "experts" that we will have to engage in a more "progressive" lifestyle, less we destroy the Earth. Decades of phony science, hockey stick graphs, computer models that didn't add up, and a general lemming-like adherence to climate change (we all remember when it was "global warming" before the Earth went back to cooling) dogma is much more damaging then anything Trump has done. I can't fathom how despite evidence that you can see with your own eyes, people keep falling for this nonsense.
@Kknopp
No, it’s still global warming. You too can see the evidence with your own eyes. Could it be that you feel compelled to reject anything you think “progressives” believe?
4
I increasingly find myself angered (outraged, really) and saddened by the acts and behavior of what amounts to a handful of people, and how their shortsighted decisions are destroying the one planet we have, the one we all share. If only one thing could constitute a crime against humanity, this would be it.
5
Ironically the more we talk about it the more carbon dioxide we expel. Nature is cruel. Perhaps if we shut up and let it do what it wants it may turn out to be kind.
1
How absurd--8 billion people on the planet, US 320 million. Right.
1
@Alice's Restaurant
It’s not absurd. Trump’s environmental policies will damage this country and its 326 million people (and those who haven’t arrived here yet) in ways large and small, including but not limited to the long-term consequences of global warming. He is a catastrophe, and he likes it. What’s absurd is the idea that he has been entrusted with any responsibility for leadership or the well-being of others.
4
@bob
Might want to consider rewiring the constitution if it bothers you so much, and while you're at it, talk to the 800 million living in India--among other nations--about their power-grid design, to start with, anyway.
1
Yes, it's Trump but he's a symptom not the cause.
The real culprit is the American lifestyle.
The American lifestyle is built on fast food, fast deliveries of products that are designed to wear out or become obsolete and cheap energy. It's a lifestyle that generates throwaway coffee cups and throwaway bags. It's a lifestyle that tells us it's okay to live 50 miles from work. It's a lifestyle built on convenience and single service packaging.
And, it's a lifestyle that we are exporting to the rest of the world.
We are all culpable. We are all complicit.
Yes, we need to demand better environmental policies and safeguards from our elected leaders whether they are Democrats or Republicans.
But we also, each of us, need to change our lifestyle. We need to look at each item we buy--from food to clothing to energy to everything else--and say "This item constitutes an expenditure of limited resources. Did I need this? Was there a more sustainable alternative?"
Any sustainable choice that a consumer makes fights climate change. Choosing to use less, throw away less, waste less are all choices that can help to reshape the US economy and reduce our collective carbon footprint.
5
While the article does state that the chief motivation of Trump is to gut any and all environmental gains achieved in the Obama Era...it conversely gives our president far too much ethical benefit of the doubt in surmising that he opposes those aforementioned achievements because he believes them to be antithetical to economic growth. For that to be the case would be to assume an intellectual curiosity or philosophical agency of which President Trump has proven time and again he is bereft.
His chief motivation is animus writ large..and most specifically anything to do with the Obama legacy. If BHO had been the "Up with Coal!", fossil fuel President, the Trump administration would be shutting down the government until we had wind turbines walling off the southern border and every coal factory was converted to a solar panel production plant.
3
Beautiful illustration by Enzo Perez Labourdette
4
Trump cares about developing projects that make him money or collecting money from hotel stays or golf game fees, etc.
That your children or grandchildren might have to subsist in an unhealthy environment with an in debt national budget does not matter to him at all.
2
I've noticed over the past year that NYT has finally started giving climate change and environmental issues the attention they deserve in articles and has spoken up strongly in defense of common sense in editorials. Thank you for joining the cause of keeping our only home habitable.
7
Pope Francis said recently to oil company managers you harm the environment you harm humanity. The phrase is right out there you are committing severe sins. Now the Pope is for saving the climate why are his Catholics in the USA voting for the culture of corruption GOP and Trump? They are committing these severe sins by siding with Trump who supports destroying our air ,water and life. Trent Lott a former Senator from the south is a lobbyist writing laws right now for the oil executives so they won't be prosecuted when the deadly toxic product coal finally destroys our great country. The GOP are playing both sides of this issue and it needs to stop .
2
For decades we have enjoyed "three steps forward, one step back." Now we are all taking "three steps back and clawing our way one step forward." It has always been easier to destroy than to build. Democracy has become a sand castle on a shoreline facing the political tsunami of Donald Trump. Our grandchildren need to be afraid.
4
"no country should have to sacrifice their economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability.”
Well, Griffith, just one thing: an UNSTABLE environment will mean HUMAN LIFE will be endangered. In even simpler terms, terms you just might understand, there will be NO ECONOMIC PROSPERITY, and NO ENERGY SECURITY, if the population of the planet cannot survive. Get it?
8
It is heart warming that President Trump is responsible for decisions made by Australia, Germany, Poland and Brazil. What amazing power Mr. Trump has as compared to say, Obama. Maybe there should be another Nobel Prize awarded. Also, I thought that in the last climate meeting in Poland, U.S. representatives were able to hash out verifiable inspection of China and a new Chinese accord to move forward by 2025 as opposed to 2030 to lower emissions.
Now as regards to our country, our water is the purest it has been in decades and in areas where it has fallen short like Flint, aggressive steps are being taken to improve. We no longer have acid rain. More and more waterways have been cleaned up and one can once again swim in local natural water. Carbon dioxide emissions in this country is on a downward track and windpower is growing as well, despite the thousands of birds killed by these scythes.
I want the editorial board to cite how many of them drive hybrids or electric cars, or car pool to work. How many have second homes which are solar powered. How many of them drive to the Berkshires in SUV's or fly private jets.
I think it is going to rain today so I am looking forward to another editorial tomorrow blaming Donald Trump for the precipitation.
3
@dr jeff, it’s almost embarrassing the size of the bullseye Trump has put on his back, leading many foolishly to believe that they can actually shoot straight.
1
@dr Jeff
US CO2 emissions are going up this year. Trump’s policies will degrade water quality. The editorial board members’ individual behaviors have no relevance to the validity of their environmental views and arguments; such ad hominem attacks are fallacious and scurrilous.
1
The bizarre short-sighted reality is that those who think they are helping the economy or business interests forget that without a planet to do business in they are dooming themselves, along with the rest of us.
4
The headline should read Trump AND THE REPUBLICANS Imperil the Planet. The Republicans remain supportive of Trump's wreckless and backward environmental goals.
4
This continues to be the defining experience of humanity since 1979 when "30 Years Ago We Could Have Saved The Earth" (NYTImes;8.9.18) Since then I have invested many hours in the Earthlobbyist dot com project. The Primary Directive of Earthlobbyist is to meet people presenting Climate Change Denial Syndrome (CCDC) so we can talk with them about their climate change beliefs, where they live which can be accomplished only by physical travel. An Earthlobbyist will visit public meetings, coffee-shops, beauty salons, diners, bars, houses of worship, sports events or schools and just talk with people. For this I seek sponsorship and others who will join me making this same commitment.
Why is no one taking into account the fact that "nuclear winter" can counteract global warming in a day?
2
Contrary to Mr. Griffith's argument failure to protect the environment from the ravages of climate change will destroy any chance of continued economic prosperity and energy security. Drought will make large regions of the US agricultural belts deserts. Rising sea levels will destroy our coastal infrastructure and the economies there. Wars will start over water resources and arable land diminished by the collapse of glaciers. Science tells us these things and that the damage will be irreversible, but science could be wrong. Trump and Mr. Griffith want us all to bet our grandchildren's future that it won't.
Without "environmental sustainability" we will descend into the savage world depicted in the Mad Max films. The difference is that after the collapse of the Roman Empire the physical environment was basically unscathed. The people were able to sustain themselves and rebuild civilization. That won't happen this time. Of course, the climate deniers mayl opt for genocidal solutions for their own descendants. How could that go wrong, right?
1
For the umpteenth time, please place the responsibility where it belongs, "The Republican party Imperils the Planet"
4
Our planet had close calls for the better with both Gore and Kerry. What is it that a powerful force seems bent on the de- evolution of humanity?
Maybe a big reset is just what the universe wants to see. It’s almost as if some greater power is playing a great game...with us and our planet.
2
Just like the K-T boundary, a line in the geologic record of the Earth, which marks the end of the dinosaurs and most other terrestrial creatures, presumably due to an asteroid colliding with the Earth, there is now the DJT* boundary being marked by many forms of industrial pollution being deposited into the geologic record. Who will survive after Trump has done his damage?
* DJT stands for Donald John Trump, the current environmental disaster that may be as deadly as the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs.
2
Trump is only the tip, of the tip, of the tip of the Iceberg. I work with someone who said to me during my attempt to have an intelligent conversation " I'm not mad the U.S is still making nuclear weapons; I'm mad we're not using them!". If America thinks this is an isolated example of extreme ignorance, they're wrong. I work with others......family men, veterans, taxpayers in very well paying jobs; there are plenty more shocking stories go along with my comments above.
If America wants to change our country, the world, and the planet, they need to understand that millions of people couldn't care less about their neighbors, the environment, Nature, and even the future of their own children. Accept reality.
Start there, and progress can only continue up. I hope.
6
WHEN TRUMP Trumps the other world leaders by Trump-ette-ing his anti-life agenda, it brings to mind the observation that the GOP believes that life begins at conception and ends at birth. You'd think that the "pro-life" people who shout and monopolize our political discourse, demanding that women sacrifice control over their own bodies so that the GOP ideologues and idiot-o-logues "prevail." Prevail over what? A dying planet whose life forms they poison? Perhaps it is true that a camel will more easily pass through a needle's eye than a wealthy person enter into paradise. How much more unlikely it is that Trump, the putrifying mountain of blubber and filth, would fit through? He may well have made deals with the Devil. But where does that leave the rest of us? Around the edges I start to see businesses using recyclables. But until there is a carbon tax that reflects the cost of cleanup of the planet, there will be no significant shift. One thing on the horizon, which will probably disappear from the horizon over the next few decades are wind turbines. Now there are wave energy generators that are roughly the shape of wind turbines. Yes there's always a concern about how much disruption of the natural environment will occur. The impact will be between limited disruption in areas close to the wave turbines versus acidification of the oceans that will kill off most life forms. We can shrink the carbon footprint by orders of magnitude. But it won't ever disappear.
During WW II, the country was educated to conserve, to grow food, to make common sacrifices, and it worked. As someone wrote, we need an informational initiative to get a larger % of the population involved in recycling, walking more, avoiding plastic bags etc - I am amazed at how much plastic one middle-income American can consume in a single day without any effort. As a population we could make a difference.
2
@MN
As a population we can make big difference.
Don't sit back and wait for the government to do it for us.
Commit this New Year to carpooling, public transportation, walking in nature, eating less meat, taking care of our health, caring for our neighbors and co workers.
4
Great, yeah, put it all on Trump! Forget about the decades of policy from both sides of the aisle that have led us to this extremely perilous position. Forget about the senators on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that approved of Ryan Zinke in a 16–6 vote before he began dismantling the Department of the Interior. Forget about David Bernhardt, likely Zinke replacement and former Big Oil and Big Ag. lobbyist, who will probably continue Zinke's legacy. Forget about President George W. Bush, who withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001. Forget about the entire republican party, whose 2016 Platform denies even the existence of climate change.
Democrats have had their failings as well, but at least they have historically leaned in the right direction.
This is not a Trump Problem. Trump is just the tip of the rapidly melting iceberg. This is a Republican Problem, why can't we call it like it is?
8
The Editorial Board is spot on in its emphasis on the Administration's failure to treat climate change as the #1 national and international security issue, BUT I was disappointed in the lack of emphasis on the international economic challenge of solving the problem.
Some of my scientist/engineering/technologist colleagues believe as I do that we can make the transformation away from fossil fuels but much more emphasis must be placed on potential solutions that have the potential for improving our quality of living and extending our lives.
I cite the work of Dr. James Powell, the inventor of superconducting Maglev and its application as a means to create a solar energy source that can deliver energy cheaper than coal-fired electric power generation.
Powell also has described an atmosphere CO2 "scrubber" to reduce the content of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
There are also other solutions like fusion reactors which may be able of producing very cheap electricity.
Thermal differences in the oceans and in certain spots on the Earth might be a source of cheap electricity.
Bottom line the issue is time sensitive and urgent. It will be a challenge in all dimensions social, economic and political, but intelligent leadership needs to focus on international solutions.
1
We appear to have a collective death wish. The environment is something that exists somewhere else, beyond the comforting glow of our laptops, outwith the confines of our safe cities.
It's something that we know we rely on, but it's always someone else who'll take care of it somehow.
Planetary systems won't break down in a linear controlled fashion. They'll break in discontinuous ways we can't predict. Tipping points will be reached. Feedback cycles will amplify bad effects. It will be quick and it will be deadly.
How many failed harvests would it take for civilisation to start to implode? How do we start to cope with the millions of climate refugees from low lying areas when the sea starts to invade?
Whoever is here in sixty years time, having borne witness to the carnage wrought will look back and laugh in bitter irony at how worries about the cost of doing something stopped us doing anything.
6
@Richard Smith Indeed! But who determines that the knowledge you evince will not drive other nations to desperate measures against a superpower dominated by the GOP and its ilk? If I had a nuclear sub and had strong reason to conclude that US GOP politics was going to kill off my progeny...I'd do something before too late. Let's worry about that. Or can we trust that all the world will quietly accept its children's doom at the hands of our Republicans?
1
The only hope for humans is that the affects of global warming create population reduction events that decrease our CO2 output enough to slow temperature climb. Small pockets of humans may survive in very specific locations.
I see no ability for humans to act logically in the face of evidence. Collectively we are too susceptible to myth.
1
While the current government may be doing bad things, there’s no reason individual citizens have to. Buy an electric car when you need a new one; use public transportation when you can. Conserve water where possible (shorter showers, use drip irrigation around thirsty plants/trees; replace your lawn with drought resistant creepers or mulch, stones, pavers, etc); get rid of gas burning yard appliances and replace with battery operated trimmers, mowers, blowers. Get a nice sweater and enjoy a slighter cooler home this winter. Reduce meat consumption to 1x weekly. Don’t shop from companies that act irresponsibly (do a little research). Finally, vote. Ultimately, the government is “the people.” While industry in general will take advantage of loop holes and, certainly, soulless invitations by misguided leaders, it is possible to give the worst of the lot a wide berth. With this crowd, consumer dollars talk the loudest.
5
It is very discouraging to see the backward direction the country is going under the current president and his administration towards the environment.
The hidden costs of fossil fuels have to always be considered when making decisions for our future and for future generations: including extraction of fossil fuels through coal mining, underground mining, and surface mining: the land use noise and habitat fragmentation, and land disturbed from drilling wells, access roads, processing facilities and pipelines associated, offshore drilling and disasters like the Deepwater Horizon blowup and spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The environmental costs of transporting coal by train and oil by supertankers, with the fact that they are finate sources so unsustainable. Fossil fuels are large greenhouse emitters including CO2 and greatly contribute to global warming, their extraction process can generate air and water pollution, as well as thermal pollution from water heating in plants, air pollution from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and fossil fuel waste and coal waste.
There is worldwide movement toward limiting oil and gas and using renewable sources because of all these hidden costs. Just buying energy efficient cars, using LED lights, getting energy needs from solar, retrofitting and making your home more energy efficient, and using more energy efficient appliances can help us all go in a better direction.
3
This remedial, backward and spiteful administration is getting more dangerous by the day. From the inability to tell the truth about anything to massive corruption and salacious scandals it seems no one can stop the train wreck of trump from careening off the tracks and destroying all around it. Those who believe a reality tv game show host can run a complicated nation state must be asleep at the wheel. Time now for the checks and balances built into our government to take effect. The madness will be stopped and the party responsible will pay a huge price.
2
The blood of this planet is on the hands of those who pulled the lever for DJT in the 2016 election.
That disgruntled minority had a choice- do I hate HRC more than wanting to gamble away the well being of the US, and our allies and the planet.
We knew DJT was unfit and delusional- and a liar who would stop at nothing to get his way.
Add in the GOP allergy to science and a narcissistic candidate who is not bright and you make the rollback of all environmental legislation progress for the past decade possible.
Elections have consequences!
I am beginning to think you have to be able to pass a civics test to be able to vote.
That alone would wipe out half of DJT’s base.
7
"...the administration is taking the country, and the world, backward...."
Taking humanity backwards is the evangelical agenda, 80% of whom voted for Trump because Pence was VP on the ticket.
To vote GOP is to vote 'back to the future' where back alley abortions kill thousands yearly, women are property and relegated to domestic servitude, where GLBTs are bludgeoned, where people of color have a hard time voting if at all, where robber barons pillage the land and environment, where few have good health care, and where no one is allowed to fix any of this...
We are watching this happen, right now, in real time.
3
As a non wealthy person i find it difficult to care anymore. I am defeated. I no longer have the energy to make any kind of sacrifice with regard to climate change. This is a battle for the wealthy, for people who do not have to think about their basic day to day needs (food, shelter, transportation, and such) and do not have to bargain shop. If they are not going to lead this fight and make real sacrifices then why should the rest of us?
2
@arusso
Because there are many more of the rest of us.
4
So what is a viable argument that keeps the US in a dominant position economically, and militarily vis a vis other players in the world.
It is simpler to criticize than make actual solutions.
You’ll recall that when Dems from California tried to introduce simple recycling in the congressional cafeteria years ago and the Republicans simply couldn’t be bothered. It was too much for them to separate their soup bowl from their paper cups. They mocked the whole thing.
We need all of our individual actions AND leadership. Of course we’re capable of making a difference, we just have to demand it of ourselves and our government.
This isn’t like landing on the moon, it’s a true existential undertaking. I know humankind is up to the task. Now, if we could only come together in recognizing our peril.
7
I have to say several things. One: I don't like Trump, didn't vote for him, but holding him to blame for trends & decisions that predate his election in some cases by decades is ridiculous at best. Two: The false Sainthood of the Democratic Party. Who turned a blind eye or signed off on the decisions everyone here is deploring. They are no more innocent of doing the bidding of corporate donors then the Republicans, people shouldn't pretend otherwise. Three: I note as is the standard "Sacrifices must be Made" but that is for the poor and the working class to make NOT us professionals in our bubbles we are to important for that. Speaking if only for myself I have no interest in changing my thirty minute commute to and from work by private vehicle to a 2 hour each way commute so others can feel good about themselves. NO Sale, You people want Sacrifices you make them we are tired of having our interests sacrificed so a bunch of people sacrificing nothing can feel good about themselves.
1
is it not just a shame a president of US is in the destrcution of planet frontrow name and China's now lifetime chairman Xi is in forefront to help out at least in the PR media!
1
Let me suggest a Trump protest symbol, his OK sign.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Show OK signs, perhaps with both hands, at the same time:
OK? OK?
Trump, dictates what is OK and what is not OK. He is boss, now.
But do we have to take it, without pushing back, in simple ways?
Rambling on and on, by analyzing Trump's words and action, usually has little affect. Mostly, it is soon forgotten.
"Action speaks louder than words". Trump acts. Critics ramble on.
So, I ask people to take action with symbolic gestures like:
OK? OK? OK?
-----------------
Are we the US of Trump, now? It that OK?
1
President Trump's environmental policies are not his only existential threat to the world. He recently rattled the U.S. nuclear saber by announcing that he's taking the U.S. out of the INF treaty limiting short- and intermediate-range nuclear weapons.
That doesn't mean much to the U.S., but it means U.S. tactical nuclear missiles stationed in Europe could hit Russia long before conventional Russian ICBMs could be launched in a counterstrike at the U.S. In response, Russia has announced a new long-range hypersonic nuclear missile that it says would be almost impossible to stop.
What did we expect the Russians to do? "Mutually assured destruction" is still the primary deterrent to a nuclear first strike, and with an aggressive, impulsive president like Trump holding the U.S. nuclear trigger, any U.S. enemy or rival is going to make sure MAD remains a reality.
Right now the U.S. looks like an international vandal state at best; other countries must assume it could be much worse than that. Under Trump, the entire world is now faced with two dire climate choices: runaway global warming or nuclear winter.
1
We are living in dark times that will get worse with trump in office.
3
Thank you for bringing the disastrous direction the US has embarked on. This will be the worst part of this Administration's terrible legacy, with the longest lasting effect, and the most difficult one to rectify.
Climate-change deniers and environmental polluters are either ignorant or reckless about the country's (the world's) well-being - or both. Clearly Trump has set the gold standard for recklessness and ignorance. He is the worst president in US history, and his removal from office would be a first good step to correct the disastrous course he has sent us on. The damage Trump could do would be much reduced, however, if the Republicans in the House and Senate would use their brains and enact forward looking laws and policies instead of looking only one election ahead and submitting to Trump's low-IQ instincts.
Voters should never forget that is was not only the Trump Administration, but also a complying congress who imperiled our country's future.
2
Is this really about Trump, or the realities of America's political system and power in the world? Consider: Trump was elected by a about 63,000,000, a minority. This 20% of the US population have been able to impose their will on the rest of us.
Now consider that those 63 million voters represent a minuscule .0086 of the word's 7 billion. That tiny minority is leaning on the gargantuan lever of American economic, political, and military power. Trump is just the fulcrum.
That a minority could have put a Trump in power is bad enough, but for them to be able to project that power in a way that causes suffering and hardship throughout the world?
No country should have this much power.
8
While governments may be careening in the wrong direction with the speeds of tornadoes, there are people in the corporate world, CEO's, consultants, stockholders, who are rational thinkers. If only out of self interest, they understand, an inhospitable planet means they won't be in the money making business. Trump can roll back gasoline mileage standards for cars, but car makers can choose to implement them anyway. Trump can say "dump your toxic effluent in the rivers" but that does not mean the factories and mines will necessarily do so. Walmart says to manufacturers "make your packaging smaller" and voila, before long, every company that sells to Walmart is using less resources. I happily noticed toilet paper from a major manufacturer that no longer uses cardboard cores - I would note that all the companies whose products are made from recycled paper (toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, napkins) all still use cardboard cores. Having written to one of those companies over 5 years ago about it, they responded that they have had many inquiries on the matter, but chose not to change.
May the captains of industry awake. May we plant more trees and protect the ones we have. May we sequester huge amounts of carbon (and actually not just slow but reverse the carbon in the atmosphere) by implementing regenerative agriculture and spreading even 1/4" of compost of grazing lands.
Everyone on board!
4
What HASN'T Trump pushed backwards in our world? From his careless neglect on climate change and endangered species to closing our borders to refugees seeking a better life, to the rise in racism, bigotry and hate. crime violence instigated by his nasty base supporters, to his weird relationship with Putin, and his cold and indifferent approach with our NATO allies....and so on...the man is ruining everything around the world and yes, tipping us backwards at a dangerous pace.
6
Humans could replace Fossil Fuels with primarily Nuclear power and Renewable sources within twenty years if there were a real effort to do so.
The first problem is that Fossil fuels are the very base of capitalism and are the most profitable commodity ever. Eliminating their use would require a restructuring of how capital works.
I personally think the current capital model has reached the end of it's resources in that it is now opposed to the most valuable resource humans have, the atmosphere of the only known habitable planet.
This is entirely possible with the technology we have and the Fossil fuel lobby knows this and has consistently demonized Nuclear power which is actually the smallest footprint and safest form of power generation we have.
The two civilian power accidents which released radiation were very preventable and new generation reactor systems do not have those flaws. Also both accidents are very minor compared to the vast amounts of waste burning fossil fuels release into the environment daily.
5
I have a suggestion for your next editorial: List the things Trump has done that do not imperil the planet or our country. It will be very short, saving a lot of paper and print. Remember: brevity is the soul of wit.
6
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge had been off limits to drilling for decades until Congress, late last year, approved an amendment sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, to open it up.
Yeah, that was an amendment yo the "must pass" Republican TAX Bill ... er , TAX GIVEAWAY.
They bought Murkowski's vote with that amendment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/us/politics/artic-national-wildlife-refuge-drilling-tax-bill.html
"This latest effort has two distinct advantages for drilling proponents. It avoids a certain Democratic filibuster because of special rules being applied on the floor for considering the tax bill. And it simultaneously secures the vote of Senator Lisa Murkowski for the tax measure."
Murkowski sells out for big oil.
Susan Collins sells out for the PROMISE of money for medicaid for Maine (which the Senate never has considered). McConnell took Collins for a ride.
We need to vote out ALL of the Republicans.
Every. Single. One.
9
There was a time when Republicans cared about the environment. Now they don't care about anything other than getting themselves re elected no matter what the cost.
Their phony slogan about making America Great Again is simply outright fraud. They could care less.
There was a time when conservatives believed in honesty, morality and fairness. No longer. They seem to despise everyone, and if things don't go their way like this phony border wall they simply blame some unknown liberal, or the media for their supposed miss fortune.
True conservatism no longer exists. The fact that broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and their cohorts think they are true conservatives is proof of that.
The true conservatives, if there are any left, have thrown in the towel instead of standing up and fighting for their country and their party.
5
cravenness and avarice in geometric toxic combination
4
No price too high for cheap energy.
5
Who knew? There really is a deep state - a deep state dedicated to snuffing out the only planet we have for immediate gain to a few entitled old men. They're the cranky wealthiest old folks who are dedicated to accumulating and corralling wealth right up to their last breath - why? Indeed, as they accumulate wealth they leave the planet and the rest of us poorer.
The longer it take Mueller to remove trump - the worst and clearest and most present danger to our nation and planet - the less chance we have of saving ourselves from him - and from a cooked Earth or a smothered Earth in a nuclear winter. Trump, like the wealthy old folk still raking in the wealth 'til death do they part, doesn't care. He'll continue to destroy everything until his last breath. Why? 'Cause he's president and we're not.
2
The IPCC recently said a $240/gallon tax on gas was needed to fight global warming. Why aren’t the Times and the Democrats fully supporting this common-sense measure? Why aren’t they demanding that all IPCC suggestions carry the force of law?
1
I put Richard Nixon as President just below The Grifter-in-Chief as the worst presidents. OK, maybe W is #2. All Republicans. But Nixon did sign the bill creating the EPA.
1
According to our Vice President , the earth is only 5400 years old. Therefore , we should accelerate to the apocalypse and all it's glory. Now if we could only find that anti-Christ , for his tasks to complete and the puzzle would be done. Where could he be ??
6
We all live on the same planet; our tiny space ship earth can only survive if we treat it with respect. The photo taken of the earth by our astronauts should drive that point home again and again.
Trump is part of the gobble, gobble economy that serves only greedy and the stupid. We must be rid of him soon if the future is to have any chance at being livable.
2
You give Trump way too much credit, NYTs.
"American energy production, you wouldn’t always know it, but it went up every year I was president. And you know that whole suddenly America’s like the biggest oil producer … that was me, people."
—Obama 11/27/18
Good that you are criticizing Trump for his anti environmental policies. But you are giving Obama way too much credit for his tardy efforts
The good policies you praise were only enacted, and in some cases only proposed, in Obama’s last two years in office. Imagine if he had showed the same zeal as the Trump administration. We would have made great progress toward a more sustainable economy and it would be much harder to reverse
I also would not rhapsodize over the Paris agreement, a voluntary pact with no teeth. When the international community wanted to increase global trade, they set up GATT and other binding treaties and powerful institutions to enforce them. For climate change, we got Kabuki theatre and virtue signaling
2
Let's be clear. This is not about harp seals, or whales, or wolves, or grouse. This is about our children and the survival of the human race.
This is about destroying our habitat so that the billionaires can keep the value of unused coal and oil on the books at current values. When oil and coal are obsolete the value of the koch bothers wealth is going to be significantly less. Same with all the rest of them.
They have been dumping their waste in our rivers and we have been paying for the clean up. Where else do industries get to slough their costs onto taxpayers thus increasing their profits?
republicans howl to the moon about leaving our children and grandchildren some debt. They don't care a fig about leaving them an uninhabitable planet.
Would Teddy Roosevelt be such a hero in our mythology had he let the buggy whip manufactures put a stop to the production of cars? I think not.
8
I really like the Swan vs. Vulture illustration, even though it plays on our recent love of swans as other than the Queen’s roastables, and of course, denigrates vultures, our recycling champs. Goodness, light and windmills are just not in the worldview of today’s me-first, me-only proponents, who are generally in the majority, either by choice or necessity.
The more relevant picture is that of a cloud of ten billion humans eating itself out of its home within a generation from now. A Petri dish nearly filled with mold and beginning to die out is more like it.
6
I think it would be wonderful if the auto makers still stepped up to the challenge, and other industries as well. If the capitalists want to run things, there's still no reason why they should run them into the ground.
2
If only there was some way to geoengineer a massive volcanic eruption, perhaps using some type of subterranean or seabed nuclear device.
The last time Krakatoa erupted, average temperatures globally dropped nearly 2 degrees celsius for several years.
Perhaps Trump will save the world from global freezing!
Trump is comparable to a rather large asteroid that hits the planet, but doesn't cause a nuclear winter right away. It will take decades, but we are never seeing the sun again. Whether he is catalyst or cause, it is indeed time for the center left to figure out how things went so horribly wrong.
There is nothing simple about the answer; it is some version of a perfect storm produced at the confluence of social, economic, psychological, medical (opiates), political, technological (web based rumor mongering and hysteria, disengagement of people from the real world and their disappearance into the hyper reality enabled by their cell phones and palm tops) and other forces.
I have personally witnessed dramatic transformations. Mr. Human Rights (Jimmy Carter) gives way to a dangerous Reagan - who starts the rapid decline to national bankruptcy with profligate spending coupled with tax cuts and escalating debt. Clinton gets torpedoed by sex, and we eagerly choose a guy who begins his term with the worst terrorist attack in history, and ends it with the biggest economic decline ever - punctuated by two wars that waste blood and treasure. Obama's dawn in America is quickly overshadowed by the midnight and acid of Trump with a gleeful audience.
These things should tell us how do go about things differently the next time around. Obama asked as he left office "were we too soon?" The better question would be, "is there any chance of getting back from this far gone?"
4
Just curious where was The Time when Trump was building this quasi-criminal empire that has now taken us all over? The media created and nourished this monster and now we're all stuck with him.
5
All this wining is hypocritical WE have to change first
+ Get solar
+ Then an electric car
+ Dry clothes outside
+ Walk
+ Consume less
+ Avoid meat
+ Fly less
Or buy a boat as the earth will change into a 'Waterworld'.
1
Why would Trump deliberately change policies that would result in increased levels of global warming along with incredible financial loss and loss of life? Comparing financial loss to financial gain (more coal plants, relaxing emission requirements) , the financial loss is much greater than financial gain. The only answer that makes sense is Trump is evil.
1
We are doomed thx to trump. Where do I book a reservation on the next shuttle to another planet. Ours will be uninhabitable but trump doesn’t care because he will be 6 ft underground.
2
that's the art of the deal according to Trump. doing everything the lobbies order, doing everything Putin commands. that's more like the art of bowing...
2
All this has happened in just under two years? Wow! Trump has managed to wipe out a half-million years of human progress in less than half a term!
2
@Ed L. --- The point is that Trump cut the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement - not that he's the cause of climate change. Try reading it again.
2
@Tim
The tricky thing about climate "agreements," "accords" and "protocols" is that Congress must ratify them for the U.S. to participate in them. Like Kyoto before it, Congress never ratified Paris. Obama attempted an end-around by issuing an executive order on Paris. It was ineffectual, of course. Perhaps the left's wrath should be focused on their representatives in the House and Senate (who represent Americans' interests after all) instead of one ideological enemy in the White House.
2
@Ed L. And the reason it did not pass congress is that the Republicans, having gerrymandered themselves in, control the house, and the tiny-populated "red" states have the same number of senate seats as the multi-million populated "blue" states. "Ineffectual, of course" only because it was reversed not by an ideological enemy, but by a troglodyte, ignorant, boorish president who gained office by stealth and dishonesty. And I'm a Canadian, btw, so my view is perhaps more neutral than some.
4
What is truly mind-boggling is that even when his oil man Sec. Rex Tillerson lobbied to stay in the Paris Agreement, Trump paid no attention (earning the expletive-laden moniker). There are only two things on his agenda:
- self aggrandizement
- dismantle Obama
5
The biggest threat to the environment are the 15,000 nuclear missiles that the US and Russia have this very moment targeted at each other and the military confrontation with Russia advocated by the editorial board of this newspaper.
1
Planet of the Apes, here we come. We already have the orangutan.
4
Got it, NYT.
Trump does the following:
imperils the planet
is a corrupt businessman
lies continuously
dyes his hair and probably had a hair transplant
will cause an economic breakdown
secretly collaborated with Putin to steal the election from poor hapless Hillary who was too distracted by colluding with Debbie Wasserman Schultz to steal the Dem primary from Bernie Sanders to realize what was happening
never visited our troops overseas during Xmas season ... uh, until yesterday
drinks the blood of children
causes sane people to go insane (though he does help the cable news and late-night TV show ratings considerably)
empowers neo-Nazis all the while he recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to fire up his base; and despite the safest countries for Jews from antisemitic violence are actually in right-wing countries that minimized unvetted Muslim immigration and don't coddle the Israel-hating Far Left
swears during dinner hour
and worst of all, always forgot to send a birthday card to his mother
But don't worry: he'll be impeach or resign any day now. And if he does go full fascist in the meantime, he'll be voted out of office anyway in two years with Camilla, Beto or Liz W or even Uncle Joe coming to the rescue with the help of a clever flank attack by Maxine Waters and Reverend Al.
That is unless the Russians spend another $200K or so on Facebook and Twitter memes that once again brainwash millions of unsuspecting Americans.
2
December 27, 2018
The imperial imperils only if we the people let him play his politics in the name of gross incompetence and in stupendous violation of his oath to protect and defend the nation – inclusive of the nature of our exitance and in all its delights to enjoy – transending the brute retro primitivism of the politicans cultural conversation – in feeble catonic retheroic babble and its high water mark 2016 campigin with the lightning eyes of Rudy Guilliani etc….
Jja Manhattan, N.Y.
1
The bigger states with the larger metropolitan populations did not vote for Trump by at least a majority of fifty-five percent, if not more. They also comprise the industrial engine of the economy that produces most emissions. If they, minus Texas for now. get together and set realistic goal following the examples of California and New York, they can act to maintain continue progress to save the environment. The energy company lobbyists in Washington will work against this, but they don't have unlimited power, especially with a Congress partially or completely in Democratic hands. If the Senate goes blue in 2020, Trump's agenda will be stopped; in the meantime, the House has ample power to block him. Even with the the regression in the courts, people outside the science denying and irresponsible corporate interests can be partially held at bay until sanity comes back to the national government. I also suggest that Jim Comey take out a Sierra Club membership, if he hasn't got one already- just for appearances sake.
2
I am skeptical about the causes, seriousness, and solutions advanced by the people who argue global warming is an existential threat . If it is as serious then as this article maintains, then "activists" should be in favor of: 1) a policy of fast tracking the generation of electricity through nuclear power; 2) to produce zero emission energy, curb the power of the EPA and others, and allow the damming of rivers in areas that are "environmentally sensitive" ; 3) a carbon-tax that is immediately refunded to tax-payers; 4) because of scarce resources, reallocate government sponsored research away from diseases, and into expanding research in energy, carbon sequestration, etc.; 5) in general all levels of government should be allocating resources as if global warming were an existential threat (think of World War 2).
Instead, I suspect activists would admit that global warming is a problem, but not an existential one. Still, mosquitoes are a problem. If alarmists argue it is an existential problem but do not support programs that would reduce carbon emissions because they are too costly/unpopular/whatever, then they either do not know the meaning of existential, or they are inconsistent. In the absence of alarmists embracing policies that will actually reduce carbon emissions and/or ameliorate the problem, then count me skeptical. I cannot believe the seriousness of the problem, and the policies they favor and disfavor indicate that they do not believe it either.
2
@qazmun
Have you studied climate science much? Where does your skepticism arise from?
It is hard to take solutions to a problem, proposed by a skeptic of the problem, seriously. They take on the air of self interest and irrationality.
I know many people working frantically on ways to arrest our fall. One of the biggest frustrations is dealing with the wave of misinformed or uninformed climate change deniers. You could personally help greatly by checking your own level of knowledge. It is in your power to do and is a necessary precursor to achieving a sustainable human population on Earth.
6
@Some Dude
Did you read what I posted? If yes, would you explain how your comment relates to my original posting?
It seems to me that if all the warnings about climate change come true, this will create a lot of jobs.
3
@Independent
It threatens human survival. Planning on working when dead?
4
The Trump Administration has been the executor of an anti-environment strategy that has been developed over the last decade or so between the DC insiders, and outside funders (e.g., coal). We make a mistake to conclude that this is all being done by a few crazies. The right wing of the R- party has been winning the public argument over the last decade of environmental overreach that has cost jobs. There is a collective failure of messaging, political organizing and business strategy. Rural America - particularly those that depend on the agriculture - are not engaged (nor necessarily seen as a necessary stakeholder) even though they will see the greatest near term economic risk from climate change. The urban poor are a side note. The “yellow jacket” protest highlights the failure of well intentioned, scientifically and economically sound long term policies that are positioned to fail socially and politically in the near term. The failure to partner and consult with those that at greatest short term economic risk and incorporate equity as a fundamental plank in the design, implementation and communication of environmental policies will allow vested interest to use jobs versus the environment to fuel further nationalism oriented views. We need to re-examine environmental policy making from the persective of people and politics not policy alone. Remember, most environmental laws were signed by Nixon because the environment was a widely held difference maker.
How about this implication. Put aside the very important aspect of human survival. How about this: If we don’t become the global leader and leading exporter of cleaner, renewable, and more efficient energy technology, China, Germany, Russia or someone else will. If we’re alive, things might not be so grand under that scenario. Do we really want a country like China or Russia to beat us and own global energy tech? This is a very real scenario.
3
Humankind's unique capacity is our ability to measure and analyze present circumstances and, armed with knowledge, predict future outcomes. In this light, the profoundly cynical quote from Mr. Griffith is frightening for anyone who believes that we, who live in the present, have an obligation to those who will live in the future. That is, if the species survives. Unfortunately, Mr. Griffith and Donald Trump believe that only our lifetimes count. The rich and powerful authoritarians, they believe, will survive the longest, and the devil take the hindmost. Sad.
1
I'll pick on some wording here. This editorial has a hyperlink on the words "global levels of carbon dioxide" while the linked article gives the same numbers for "carbon dioxide emissions". These are not the same thing. One is how much is currently in the atmosphere, and the other is how much is being added over time. It's similar to asking "How much water is in that bucket?" and getting the answer, "I'm adding 5 gallons per minute."
4
"No country’s backsliding, of course, compares with Mr. Trump’s. "
This is a false statement, which I presume was made because the NYT did not consult experts in energy policy.
Not stated in this piece is that Trump is a huge supporter of keeping *green* nuclear power plants (NPPs) running while NY Gov Cuomo and California wants to shut down NPPs creating more greenhouse gas emissions.
Gov. Cuomo who is anti-green responding to special interests that is planning on shutting down the Indian Point NPP which provides 1/4 the electricity of NYC and Westchester Country.
Similarly, California closed one NPP a few years ago and is planning on closing the last NPP in a few years.
Closed NPPs means more greenhouse gases.
It is California's needlessly low gasoline tax that contributes to excessive greenhouse gas generated by cars, a point not made in this piece having nothing to do with Trump but everything to do with California govt. Increasing the gasoline tax by 50 cents or $1 per gallon over 3 years and putting the funds into subways and high speed rail would dramatically lower greenhouse gas use.
Use your people in your "Upshot" division to run simulations about greenhouse gas emissions if 1) Trump's policy of keeping NPPs running was implemented and 2) raising the California gas tax by 50 cents or $1 and putting that money into subways and high speed rail.
Then write a new editorial backing Trumps NPP policy and raising gas taxes in California.
3
@David MD
The metals used in reactor core containment vessels are exposed to neutron bombardment and become brittle. Reactor vessels are good for 30 to 40 years and then must be decommissioned. There will be many NPPs decommissioned for this reason in coming years. Still unresolved is who will pay the huge bill.
In addition, early reactor designs placed heavy emphasis on actively pumped cooling systems, the failure of which threatens core containment failure. Fukushima was one such failure. Newer liquid sodium cooled reactors promise safer and longer operation.
We can't generate or way out of this. We need to decide, globally, that humanity is on Earth for the long haul. We must adopt a different ethic which values survival over profit, egalitarianism over greed. Under no stretch of imagination will Trump, or Trumpinistas, rise to that challenge.
1
@Some Dude
The NPP shut down in CA in 2013 was San Onofre, with unit 1 starting in 1968 with units 2 and 3 in 1883 and 84.
They were shut down for political reasons by people who do not respect greenhouse gas and the environment.
The trouble is that people who claim to be green in fact are against NPP which are green. Trump is for NPP and yet the NYT and others label him as anti-green which is a falsehood.
Since you live in CA, you must realize that the very low gas tax contributes to excessive greenhouse gas generation and that by simply raising the tax by $1 per gallon the state would have a significant impact in lowering greenhouse gases.
Again, the fact that CA has such a low gasoline tax is not Trump's doing, but again rather that of the state of CA which is also responsible for turning off the NPPs.
The NYT and other MSM is so interested in Trump bashing that they are not addressing the premature closing of NPPs and the very low gas taxes in CA that incentivize greenhouse gas production.
If there was a way for somebody to get rich by saving the planet,
the planet would be saved. (Rich meaning money rich).
@Robert McKee
In other words, if catastrophic global warming were real, entrepreneurs would be investing in it, because they're greedy. But if no one is making money off this threat, what does it say about the threat?
Going backwards is an understatement and it's not only climate change, it is the rollback of important environmental regulations so that polluting industries have no moral responsibility to protect anything other than their profit. Water, air, wildlife, food....destroy it all because in America today, profit is much more important than life itself.
2
National Geographic is keeping a running list of how the Trump administration is changing environmental policy. The majority of Americans care deeply about the environment... Democrats must review this running list and effectively communicate it to voters in 2020. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/how-trump-is-changing-science-environment/
3
This is a deeply discouraging state of affairs. I have children whom I cherish. The very planet I am handing them to live on will soon not support them.
I wonder how the Star Trek plot would end if a political movement arose in deep space based on the profitability of dismantling the Enterprise for scrap? Maybe that's a way to get the point across. Earth is a spaceship.
It is fantastically ironic that on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 "earth rise" photo, mankind has fallen into the thrall of feckless and foolish leaders, more adept at lying than leading. They threaten the survival of our species, meaning, more concretely, our children. We must stop them. Also, for all you upward bound types ready to colonize space, if we can't get this planet right, what in blazes makes you think there's any hope elsewhere. This planet is the easy one.
Humanity's last stand is environmental sustainability. I have no expectation for any help from Trump, the GOP, or any of the right wing "populist" movements around the world. We do have to halt the destruction of Earthl's life support systems.
1
The US leadership in combating climate change is important to the whole globe. When years of trying to understand and cope and find a way to implement change started to bear fruit, the old industrial fossil fuel interests got very scared and Trump was the result. These old and finite
fossil fuel interests, Big oil especially, have to see the opportunity before them in renewables. Renewables like wind, tide and solar have huge potential and many jobs. Electric cars will help, especially when they can be charged with solar electricity. We know what direction we need to go in, but the mindset has to change. It has to change, because the alternative is unthinkable. Technology has to make another leap to help solve our ability to get through this. We need to put collective effort into the future sources of energy. We also need to respect the environment and control our population. Control will happen one way or another. It is best to control population voluntarily before the earth controls it for us. It is best to respect the earths life before life can no longer cope with the rapid changes. Waiting too long is suicidal.
1
Why not call this what it is? Crimes Against Nature. These actions will result in mass extinctions and mass mortality, impoverishing the future. This is Climate Trauma!
1
Maybe when China is as clean as the USA...
As per usual, we've got another issue people want to plant squarely on Trump's shoulders. And as per usual, it's ridiculous to do so.
These headlines are insidiously promulgated, and too many people buy into them.
WAY TOO MANY!
2
Someplace warm, a smile and a dip in the river?
I’m sure you Stein voters are thrilled with the results of your protest against Clinton with your supposedly “Green Party” votes. We now have a speeding freight train towards total destruction of the climate because you couldn’t put aside your Russian-funded, Fox News-inspired, anti-Clinton hate to think about the larger reality of how our presidential voting system works. The Electotal college makes it impossible for a third candidate to win. In reality, you had only two choices and you Green Party voters chose Trump. Enjoy your Karma!
1
@left coast finch
Maybe save a little rage for the GOP, Trumpinistas, and corporate robber barons / oligarchs? Trump would have lost in a landslide if America was mentally sound.
It is quite clear to every thinking person that the environment is the bedrock of our economy and health. When it is degraded everyone is degraded. No one escapes, no matter how much money they have.
What we are seeing is the fondest dreams of the right wingers being rekindled - unbridled capitalism with no controls whatsoever. At least that is the ultimate goal of the Trump toadies. Total destruction of the environment to make fast money. No concern whatsoever for the health of people, let alone wildlife or the broader environment. In other words, a return to the world of the pre-1960's when capitalists could just kill people the name of profit and laugh about it while raking in the cash.
In the long run, Trump and his cronies will be seen for the con men they are. True psychopaths who could not care less about anyone or anything if it does not benefit them personally. Many thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, will die in the meantime.
Why Trumpers support this troglodyte is beyond comprehension.
2
Trump knows but just two Human Qualities:
Self-Love & Greed . . . Period !
I question whether he has "any" love for his wives or children as well and sees them merely as his possessions and "I made that".
What real man would engage in at least the two affairs we know of, shortly after his wife gave birth to his youngest son.
Simply put, Trump is the most pathetic excuse of a human being anywhere.
He does not care if he helps kill our planet, so long as he can make a profit doing it . . .
He surrounds himself with greedy fossil fuel executives and other polluters who pat Trump on the back and tell him how much money they are all making.
He shuns everyone who disagrees with him or does not fawn over him with compliments.
Trump simply does not have the intellectual capacity to understand the many damages to our country and our planet that he is the direct cause of. . . and he does not care.
What is even more sad than how much Trump Imperils the Planet - is the GOP leadership who stands behind him on every step.
3
This brings back the old saw about what the person on Easter Island said as they cut down the last tree:
“Jobs, not trees.”
3
Reality to the NYT. Reality to the NYT! Stat!!
The Paris deal was a sham. The United States has reduced it's emissions more than any other nation but that's not enough.
You want pain for your "Global Warming", ah er, "Climate Change" for the American people when you know well it is China and India doing the polluting now.
3
@J. Scott That’s the reality that no one wants to face. China and India will increase emissions at a greater rate than America can decrease. Europe even had increased emissions last year.
@John
The USA has been the Boss Hogg in energy consumption for decades. We've been exporting energy dependent heavy industry in more recent decades, to China and India. We still want to consume the output, just cheaper than if we produce it here.
Here's an ethics question: Do you, personally, have a right to consume more of the planet's resources than someone who happened to be born in a developing nation? Is your right to drive a gas hog vehicle stronger than their right to eat? If not, how do you ground your argument? The U.S. still consumes more resources, per capita, than any other country. We're the ones that need to find alternatives that maintain a high standard of living. It wouldn't hurt to waste less in the process.
1
Actually,Trump is ruining everything decent people stand for in the US and abroad.We all know that - but we do not understand why this man still is occupying the White House?How much has to go to hell before power is taken away from him?
1
@Hank, It's too late to stop or changing anything about climate change.
1
@Lee Holland
So, party like it's 1999? Should we just hang it up?
1
There is no economic growth on a dead planet. It is tragic that this administration is hell bent on destroying our life support system, which exists in a delicate balance.Have we reached the tipping point? I believe so. I hope that those involved with Our Children's Trust win - to preserve the planet for our children and future generations. Otherwise human parasites will go extinct too.
1
And good riddance.
@Doc
How so?
1
Let’s be fair. Trump has been good on a few things. North Korea, the withdrawal from Syria, not pursuing proxy wars with Russia. His tax policy, his judicial nominations, and other right wing efforts are really Ryan and McConnell’s. But of all Trump’s chaotic actions, his dismantling of environmental protection and is by far the worst. The man simply has no care for the natural resources on which our lives depend, or for the poor people who will suffer and die because of the toxins he is enabling his industrial donors to spew into our air and water. It must be said he is no different from any Republican in this regard, but it’s hard to avoid the feeling that Trump has a particular relish for the destruction of the planet. It makes him feel good, seemingly. It’s probably just that he likes to be liked by wealthy and powerful people, and giving them free rein to exploit and destroy for their profit ensures their gratitude to him. But the price will be paid. Not by Trump, or by his wealthy friends, but by their grandchildren, maybe; and certainly by the poor of America. You may say China allows pollution, and we need to be competitive. But China has the biggest program to develop sustainable energy in the world. China has infrastructure far superior to ours, because the auto industries don’t try to wipe out its public transportation. Trump is making America polluted again, and you are going to experience the consequences.
1
“We strongly believe that no country should have to sacrifice their economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability.”
Translation, we are going to grab all we can get right now today and to hell with future generations. That includes our children, our children's children, and all who come after.
Avarice, indeed one of the seven deadly sins.
6
@Edward
Deadly to everyone else, it turns out.
The global temp record is full of truck sized holes.
I've looked at individual temp station data in Texas (all) & Africa (stations with 1000+ months of reporting) using Berkeley earth, which is the GHCN plus some other stations. Berkeley and NOAA show the same trends: I picked Texas because I'm familiar with it. I've also visually inspected (not yet analyzed) other US and global areas & patterns looks similar.
Here's what I've found:
-- All raw station data has been adjusted up: In Texas the avg station adjustment is over +.6 C per century. In Africa it is over +.3 C.
-- In Texas data for adjacent stations (same town or within 60 miles) with over 1000 months reporting often conflict -- some trend up, some down. No topographical differences -- which is virtually impossible.
-For TX stations with 1000+ months, raw data shows a slight down trend, not up. The raw data avg trend is -.07 C per century - adjusted is +.56. 61% of stations trend down.
-Virtually all long term stations in Africa are on or near the coast, the interior had virtually no coverage.
-The raw data for many stations (particularly Africa) is almost uninterpretable and should never have been used (huge gaps in reporting, unusual swings).
-This is a maybe, but it looks like data for newer stations is over weighted.
These are major issues. Bad raw data shouldn't be used, it should be tossed. And if all raw data is adjusted and there is a bias (up or down) then there is an agenda.
1
We can't blame the whole thing on Trump of course, but as someone who lives in an indoor world, whose outdoor excursions primarily include golf courses and ski slopes, Donald Trump is highly removed from the natural world, and like the earlier industrialist Robber Barons of the nineteenth century, views nature as something to exploit for profit. He is indeed regressive. The problem is, how do you convince the voters that climate change is real? That's the challenge. Trump won't be around forever, but attitudes are slow to change. Will it take more disasters and loss of property and lives to convince people that the Earth's resources are not infinite, and that their actions do matter?
3
America is seeing declining emissions and nothing Trump says or does will change this. No one in America is going to build a coal plant when they know Trump is temporary. The real problem is China and India. They continue to build new coal plants. Their emissions growth isn’t expected to cap until 2030.
4
@John
Carbon tax, baby. Big beautiful carbon tax.
In despair I write that now everyone needs to look at our planet
in terms of World Triage. What can we save (in all arenas) by people agreeing to particular actions? What is "toast" no
matter what we do now, as is the polar bear, according to Yvon
Chouinard of Patagonia, a man now turning his company,
to fully face saving the earth? And what will survive
on its own? This is beyond politicians and borders, although
politicians, borders, corporate policies, and individual
entitlements and greed across the board are all culpable.
Soil, waterways, the oceans, cities perched inches above the
shorelines of seas and oceans, insects (without which all is
chaos, as EO Wilson succinctly puts it), clean enough air to fill our lungs, and ending pesticides and plastics to clean our own
bodies as well as all waterways. This is the deepest quest for soul
searching answers to questions we as a world have not had to face in all our human history, in order to literally save as many beings, great and small, as possible. World Triage calls on
each and every one--no matter what our politics are, no matter
the level of our entitlements. The moment is now.
4
And continue moving in the wrong direction. We embrace video on demand and video entertainment on the Internet. More than 50% of Internet traffic is entertainment video. Do you have any idea how much energy for running and cooling the video servers and network routers is used in the huge data centers of Google, Netflix, Amazon, etc. to satisfy our entertainment needs and give us that personalized individualized experience ? Ultimately, we the people are the consumers of energy. We all know what to do (long list of suggestions posted). But our addictions keep us from changing our ways. Stop blaming Trump, the Chinese, or the Indians. We have options at our disposal. Small cars, LED bulbs, broadcast TV, solar panels, etc. etc. etc.
3
Think how difficult it is for most people to change their food diets and eating habits to lose weight, control blood sugar or lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Think how difficult it is for alcoholics and drug addicts to get clean, make new friends and ways of socializing, create new work and sleep habits, deal with their family and financial problems, leave the old neighborhood. That is how difficult it will be for us as individuals and social "animals" to save our children's and grandchildren's lives from climate disaster. Very few of us are committed to such change or strong enough to do it. Our identities and status are still defined by how much stuff we own, how comfortable and clean our homes, offices, cars and bodies are, by convenience, speed and ease. We are not willing to give up any of that and for now, all of it is based on polluting energy and waste. Our most cynical leaders know it and are not brave enough to challenge us and take the political heat. Just look at the public love affair with SUVs and monster pickup trucks. What politician would try telling us to give them up for a Prius?
1
A critical mass of individuals living in the most simple way is the only hope. Such living is not sacrificial. It is actually fun. I live on a busy street across from a grocery store, yet I grow all my summer/fall vegetables on a city lot. I walk 5 days a week and drive only 2 days a week. Walking is a mixed blessing. One can develop extreme dislike of drivers doing so. Yet, a new joy for me is passing a whole month on something less than a tank of gas.
You are right that simple living is not popular. It may never be, but I think it is the only hope (even if unlikely). For proof, cook Jolly Time popcorn on your stove (not microwave), drink cold tapwater, and sit near a window while reading a Willa Cather novel by sunlight, moonlight, or as I do, streetlight.
It may not save the world, but it could save yours.
1
@abigail49
I don't think that's correct.
Scientific studies show that addictions, comfort food etc. are difficult to give up because people who have them didn't have any serious training in self-care tools yet, and as a consequence, their brains don't have the networks yet necessary to produce chemical substances that allow for a sense of well-being.
Drugs, alcohol, fat, sugar all add those same chemical substances from the outside, and as such procure a temporary sense of well-being.
As long as you try to get rid of them through "willpower", your brain will refuse. You can only get rid of them definitively through training in those seven self-care tools (see Julie M. Simon).
Switching to a clean energy car, however, becomes extremely easy as soon as the government ends the billions in fossil oil subsidies and gives them to clean energy companies instead, which would immediately make clean cars cheaper than dirty cars.
Problem solved ... ;-)
1
@abigail49
Get the economics right and the decision disappears. Carbon tax applied globally.
Maybe the motive force here has nothing to do with economics. Maybe it’s psychology. Perhaps in Trump’s fantasy world, “real” men, “tough” men (of which he is neither) are too manly to worry about squishy things like climate change; doing so would be an admission of weakness and powerlessness. If that’s the case, it’s game over until he’s out of office and his enablers, popular and corporate alike, are neutralized in terms of social influence.
3
I suggest the world establish a monument, an “Environmental Wall of Shame”, perhaps in The Hague, onto which are engraved the names of those who act to destroy our earth’s environment. The names should be engraved in such a way that they will be readable a million years from now, assuming another species arises that can read and understand what we did to the planet. Somehow the names also have to be removable in case the Wall of Shame causes a reversal in behavior.
4
Some Republicans here argue that Trump cannot possibly "imperil the planet" as global warming had already started before he came into office.
This is the most irrational way of thinking that I've ever met.
First of all, it implies acknowledging that global warming is happening. How can you do so and then simultaneously claim that nothing has to be done to stop it, that the "science isn't settled", and that economic growth should be considered more important than slowing down global warming ... ?
Secondly, since when is it impossible to make something worse when before you could act, things were already bad ... ?
Third, let's apply the same reasoning to Obama and the debt for a moment. Bush left with a record and structural $1.4 trillion deficit. Obama cut that by two thirds, but of course, that still means that in the meanwhile, the debt goes up. Republicans constantly (and falsely, but let's leave that aside for a moment)) blamed Obama for that debt increase.
How could they blame him for a debt increase if there was already a $10 trillion federal debt when he came in?
Based on their criticism of this editorial's headline, they should have attacked anyone who criticized Obama for the debt increase by reminding that there was already a debt before he came in and that alone means that he cannot possibly be held responsible for any type of debt increase caused by his own decisions ...
So you see? This kind of reasoning doesn't make any sense, dear Trump supporters ...
2
Trump is doing even more damage than we can imagine to our fragile planet. His thinking (if you can call it that) is short-term profit over long-term stability - all at the expense of our very existence.
5
I shudder to think where we'd be if Trump was president and greedy people were ascendent during the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987. World leaders rallied to protect our home then. We can again once we tell greedy people they have no right to pollute their neighbors. The 2018 election was a good start.
1
The GOP/Trump-backed rollback of environmental regulations in order to benefit corporate wealth (call it greed if you like) will prove woeful to the planet (apologies to Bob Dole, but I know it, you know it, and the American people know it). The current powers who be during this administration act obliviously to the consequences that lie just around the corner if we continue on the current path.
To say that there is a "sleaze factor" in Republican politics is an understatement for the ages. And, with Trump at the helm, the sleaze becomes more evident on a daily basis. It's interfering with their abilities to govern, given that they still have any ability left. To stay in power, the GOP focuses on what's bad in general, and on the Democratic Party in particular. For instance, they've turned the subject of immigration into the biggest bogeyman of our society, to the point where it is the biggest political red herring of this decade. And, why not? it steers away attention from the GOP's foibles. They blame any perceived "border weakness" on the Democrats.
At the current rate of regulatory rollback, we'll all be coughing are heads off and surviving on what scraps the agriculture industry is able to produce. And, if there is a GOP still in power, to any extent, in 20 years, count on them to blame the future state of our undoing on the Democratic Party, immigration, or whatever else has become the fashionable whipping boy of that age. Voters, please do what must be done!
3
Groping 16 women is distasteful, disrespectful, and criminal. Treating the earth - the feminine- in the same manner is Trumpian to the core. He is a manifestation of the worst that Patriarchy and male dominance dispenses. I fear for future generations and for this blessed planet we’ve inherited.
4
Our corporate/capitalist system exists in a balance between allowing it to ravage the planet for profit, and government, which places restraints on it and tries to moderate the pace of destruction. Trump is the public face of that system, but he is not unique, nor is he necessary for the process to continue.
What he has done is to infiltrate the government and remove the restraints.
If we survive him with our nation intact, perhaps we can take a good hard look at where we are going and really do something that matters to restrain corporate greed and our own dirty habits, because we're all in this together.
Our government, our economy, and our lifestyles need to change. Yes, you, me, and everyone else will have to give up some of the conveniences we enjoy that are wrecking the environment, and it can't simply be moderated by how much money we have. Allowing the well off to destroy the environment while compelling the rest of us to stop it won't fly.
Trump is the current avatar for the destruction, but we're all enjoying the conveniences it provides.
2
All the politicians came together, made vague pledges, promised nothing and did even less. The Paris Climate Accord was more counterproductive to environmental efforts than anything. It allows everyone to clap, celebrate and slap each other on the back without doing anything productive. Meanwhile, the people concerned about the issue are temporarily placated. This is the way of Europe and Obama fit in perfectly as an elitist European do-nothing.
Trump’s being berated by the press and establishment because he refuses to play the game, for better or worse is to be determined. At least his approach is honest; the Paris Accord and the sham sold by politicians with their cadre of sycophants and enablers in the press is not.
1
@David
Uh ... how does making a U-turn and getting the first climate change accord globally signed into law, somehow be "counterproductive" ... ?
Obama doubled solar energy jobs in the US, and his regulations were a VERY important step towards zero carbon emissions increase (which he achieved during three consecutive years already).
Remember, cynicism never helped us move forward.
ALL real, radical, lasting, non-violent democratic change is step by step change - and that includes moments of setbacks and sometimes one step backwards, as Trump and the GOP are doing today.
What Trump is saying about climate change, however, is the EXACT opposite of an "honest" approach, it means constant and blatant lying to and betraying of his own voter base.
Time to update your info ... ;-)
3
@David
Do you suggest, somehow, that Trump has a better plan to deal with climate change? That is a laughable idea. Trump didn't attack the Paris accords because he wanted something more stringent. Trump came into office heavily funded by carbon industry with the intent of getting rid of "environmental" regulation.
Trump is a well known climate science denier. He is more comfortable with conspiracy theory than with science. He deceives with stunning ease. There is nothing approaching excessive castigation coming from the press. The man is a menace on many levels.
1
Polluters imperil the planet not politicians.
Hold the countries around the world accountable. No country should get a pass. The US should not be held financially responsible for other countries' misdeeds.
Agreements that are not enforceable immediately for everyone are basically corruption in action.
1
@Matt
The US has the highest carbon footprint per person in the entire world.
ONE American pollutes as much as 4 Chinese and 15 sub-Saharan Africans.
THAT is why we have to lead on this issue.
And of course, if we don't stop giving hundreds of billions of subsidies each year to the fossil fuel industry and start giving it to development of new technology and clean energy, we won't achieve significant change in time to avoid the worst.
That is why we have to vote for politicians who have the courage to say the truth and to start acting against extremely powerful big oil companies.
And history shows that not enforceable global agreements actually achieve faster change than when the UN imposes something through a top-down model. So there is no better alternative here.
4
@Matt Politicians do imperil the planet in their greedy grasp of polluters monetary largesse.
We have an agency, and agency signed into being by a Republican president, a politician. Through the efforts of the politicians in Congress that agency has enacted rules that help protect us from the industrial polluters.
Politicians, those who subscribe to the Trump belief that environmental rules stifle business, are now the enablers of pollution.
This country cannot be responsible for others countries misdeeds. But, we can be a leader, and we were, in the days BT (before Trump).
Those agreements you speak of could have been enforceable in one way or another, but, our grand leader, in his myopic view of issues, dashed any agreements on environmental protections.
5
Trump is nothing without his supporters. It’s your neighbors, co-workers, friends, relatives and acquaintent Trump supporters who are responsible for Trump’s destructive wake. It’s that simple.
7
my goodness....now we can add globull warming to trump's list of transgression...and who knew that the state of california had ever been valiant, about anything?
as long as globull warming evangelists take the myway or highway approach...they will continue to fail....maybe you should change your tactics of oppression.
1
The only way to mitigate climate change, which is intensifying faster than sientists expected, is to curtail the use of fossil fuels. There is no other way. If this process is not begun very soon, we will suffer more for every day lost. It is urgent that we begin to tackle this in a serious way. The alternatives are horrific. Trump does not believe, or says he does not believe in global warming and he ignores the catastrophes that are already happening. This attitude is destructive in the extreme. It is urgent that we all start to recognize and work to mitigate climate change. This may be an understatement.
1
The dozens of choices, scenarios, and avenues, which lie ahead of us, will only be available, if we use our most important weapon first....the vote.
Whats all the fuss,After the Great flood that God put upon us, he promised never to destroy mankind again.Therefore,. we have nothing to fear from Global Warming.He said he wouldn’t destroy mankind again, he left that up to Mankind.
Of all the reactionary laws that Trump pushed through, Global Warming is the worst. We are the leader of Global Warming deniers. The world looks to us to set an example, & Trump has set the world on a Path of destruction.This is worst than Collusion with Russia, this will affect our Children & Grandchildren, History will never forgive him , nor will God.
1
Trump isn't doing this alone. He has the assistance of the Republican Party, which has sold out to him totally. Those who are voting for these enablers are participating in their own doom.
1
Greed and power never pay the bill.
1
"I don't care"
"I don't care if you get sick.
"I don't care if you get sick and die.
"I don't care if the same happens to your children.
"I don't care if food is poisened.
"I don't care if the water is unfit.
"I don't care if the air is colored (making harder for you to see the oil wells in Yellowstone and the quarries in the Grand Canyon) let alone the views form your windows.
"I am rich, and I need more, more is mine, and I will be insulated from all this because, well, I'm me of course!"
"I don't care!" is the mantra of the Republicans.
I never thought Nixon would look good, but modern Republicans are doing their best to redeem him. On all fronts.
1
The picture here touts industrial wind as our white swan yet industrial wind is the largest boondoggle of our time. In 2016 the American Wind Energy Association boasted that wind energy would avoid 159 million metric tons of CO2. Man made emissions are between 35-40 billion metric tons every year. That is so far less than 1% of emissions that we could double the turbines we had in 2016 and still not reach beyond 1%. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissions/
In Iowa we have covered over one million acres in industrial wind but only have 1% of the population. MidAmerican Energy has freely admitted that for the 2200 turbines they have built they will receive $10 Billion in tax credits or roughly $4,500,000 per turbine. They assess each new turbine at $2,726,500 each yet our electricity prices have gone up in recent years, not down.
There are so many negative impacts of industrial wind that most of the people who sign will not actually be living next to a wind turbine. In states where people have a say or a vote industrial wind is banned or restricted to the point where they are effectively banned.
Whatever it costs, wind cannot harm the earth. Fossil fuels emissions cause the globe to heat up because they take away the global protection against the sun. Fossil fuels cause the climate to be unstable, the wildfires to be worse, hurricanes worse, tornados worse, sea level to rise, etc.etc. Wind power is benign because it is not harmful in this way. Wind and water power and solar power .
can save us, We have no choice, wind power is a gift that has to be regulated so it is more acceptable and less disruptive. We have to make the transition work. And we can do it, if we begin now. Ignoring global warming will kill the future for our children. It is a tough thing to digest if you have never thought seriously about or studied up on this issue. But we are all in this together. No one will be spared. We all need to understand the issues and work to solve them.
There is always a straight line to the personal economic interests of Trump and his cronies. Add to that Trump's determination to essentially erase President Obama and you have an understanding of priorities.
I blame Democrats for failing to get people registered and then failing to get them to the polls. In 2016, we allowed the know-nothings and religious zealots to control the country.
The result is that we are stuck with a president who has a personality disorder and who lies all the time. Meanwhile, we are relegated to "elite" status which makes critical thinking something evil.
“The biblical worldview with respect to these issues is that we have a responsibility to manage and cultivate, harvest the natural resources [aka oil] that we’ve been blessed with to truly bless our fellow mankind,” [Scott] Pruitt said.
This “thinking” coupled with sheer greed will be our undoing.
2
When the bible was written the world seemed inexhaustible.
1
The Biblel was written when the world was largely untouched and still environmentally intact, when the natural world was so productive that resources seemed endless. No one then could even conceive of plants and animals going extinct because of human pressures on habitat. No one even knew the world was round. The teachings of the Bible are of that time, they apply to that time. We are living in a time and place that is radically different. We need to understand that we need to work within the limits of the place we find ourselves in, the state that the planet has now come to. We need to see the here and now clearly or else we cannot understand how best to move forward. How to live within the restraints that will allow the planet to live, because it is our home, and it will be our children's home. The Bible is valuable for many ideas, but it knows nothing about global warming and a finite planet.
1
What bothers me
is not so much that we clever apes
are driving ourselves to extinction.
There is at least some humor and
irony in that
and a lesson to be learned
by someone --
What really bothers me
is that we are taking
the rest of the living world with us
plants and animals of all kinds
life can never be the same --
is already changed
irreparably
What drives me to distraction
is that we know better
that a very few of us
who know better
are destroying life on earth
for the most selfish shortsighted and venal
of reasons
What bothers and puzzles me most
is why we let them.
5
Do the elitists get what a boondoggle for the rich the Paris Accord was? It does nothing but tax the middle class and get the elitists rich The Yellow vests have proven how prescient Trump was.
2
Sorry but one cannot cherry-pick the science they choose to follow. No one is disputing that temperatures have been warming over the last century and a half. What is in dispute is whether these warmer temperatures are dangerous and unprecedented. Mann, Bradley and Hughes (1998, 1999) attempted to prove this but has recently been heavily criticized for faulty statistical methodology by statisticians Stephen McIntyre and (former president of the Royal Statistical Society) David Hand. It is alleged that it's results are exaggerated.
Meanwhile recent research by Jan Esper (Esper et al 2012, 2014) clearly shows recent temperatures "easily" falls within the range of normal temperatures when viewed against a mean established from a 2,000 year timeline. Both Roman and Medieval temperatures were as warm or warmer than recent temperatures without catastrophic climate conditions.
Political activists masquerading as scientists are panicking over the impending loss of hundreds of billions of dollars in research dollars fueling the climate hoax scam. Marxists in the far left wing of the democratic party are lamenting the loss of a major weapon in their war against capitalism. The American people are realizing that the "emperor" is naked...
"What is in dispute is whether these warmer temperatures are dangerous and unprecedented."
- Lex Luthor (I bought up the land that will be the next waterfront)
I guess warmer temperatures are only dangerous if you need to eat, you could drown, or if death by hyperthermia is a concern.
Anticipating change (precedented) and doing something about it is a hallmark of human civilization.
But you know, when I got "Marxists" and "war against capitalism" (weren't they just saying how the democratic party was in bed with the capitalists and that is why they lost?) I realized that rationality had nothing to do with the comment.
But you are right on one thing: The American people are realizing that the "emperor" is naked...
1
If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. If you become part of the solution, you have already helped to solve the problem. When you are really in the minority, there may be a reason for that. Find that reason and you will find the world makes more sense. That is always a good thing.
Trump is just exploiting the massive ignorance and/or greed of Republican leadership and a large section of American population (mainly GOP's core vote bank) in almost each and every issue that require some basic understanding of science and logic and having some rudimentary sense of honesty or justice.
American education system started its fast decline mainly since early 1980s, when Reagan became our president by infusing religion there, besides other issues to destroy it. Now American higher education is the most expensive in the world yet least efficient among all developed countries in terms of providing its customers (aka, students) the value of their money. Now about 40% of US College graduate "strongly believe that God created human being in its present form" and deny hard science of evolution, which is taught in schools. That percentage is the highest among all developed countries and also worst in our own recent history.
Reagan's era also symbolize the start of "crony capitalism" that gained strength in subsequent years leding us to massive income & social inequality.
Many of the politically contentious issues like climate change, abortion, LGBTQ rights, Christian fundamentalism, White supremacy and other form of racial hatred, appeasement of religious minorities by Dems etc. are the consequences of our collective stupidity & lack of understanding of justice and equality. Trump is just exploiting it all- better than any American politician, GOP or Dem.
1
@Matthew Carnicelli - Agreed - Science without consciousness and awareness of the whole is a terribly destructive thing, because the universe functions as a whole.
Astrology is thought poorly of by those who have a poor understanding of it. The deeper you dig, the more sense it makes, and the more accurate the map of potentials for spiritual growth and evolution of consciousness it provides each person in this lifetime.
I do agree with Sagan, though, that we have collectively lost our ability to discern the truth from what feels good. The majority have stopped looking any deeper than what provides a temporary rush of dopamine and beta endorphins. Trump, of course, is a master of stirring up floods of neurotransmitters in his supporters, but almost everyone seems to be addicted to something.
1
Remember for trump its all about the base. The key to his environmental policy, as noted, is simply this: undo whatever Obama did. The base loves this because they universally despise Obama, the first black president. They will mindlessly support fouling their own nest if it reverses Obama.
1
If it weren't for a barrage of headlines about Trump, I would not even read your paper. I love Trump and believe the more you write about him, the better his chances for another term in 2020.
1
Because of an antiquated voting system the majority is held hostage by a ruinous, pop-dictator and his hand full of cronies. He’s a 72 year old man who’s pathologically obsessed with Obama and who’s main motivation in life is to destroy, hurt and pilfer. We need to end the electoral college now to save our planet. How many more Trumpians can Earth tolerate? None.
2
This is going to be Trump's lasting legacy, the destruction of our ecosystem and the degradation of the health of the American People and the rest of the world.
And for what?
For the all mighty dollar, of course.
There isn't a punishment severe enough for this greedy, ignorant monster.
One can only hope that the next administration, with the swipe of a pen, can undo everything he did and set this country back on course.
Life, liberty and the purist of happiness requires clean air and water to accomplish.
3
"But her emails."
2
Alt-title, “Emperor Trump, and the Empire which installed him, Imperializes and Imperials ‘our’ Planet”
1
Even here, Trump and Putin are united. Has anyone contemplated the word, "traitorous," here?
2
It is not too late. We cannot dither and throw up our hands.
It's time for all of us to do whatever we can to reach zero emissions, immediately. That includes the removal of DJT, the GOP, and anyone else in the pocket of big energy, from office.
Our task is not limited to regime change in the US however. We need to stop flying, stop eating beef, stop using paper products, conserve water, buy electric cars, divest from dirty energy, eat locally grown food, etc. It's time for all of us to act like we have skin in the game, because we do. Can we make it perfect? no, but we must do the best we can.
We need to collectively to fund people who cannot afford to make those sorts changes. That's a global effort. We need a global collective. It can be done democratically and cooperatively. It starts by confronting the people you know with the facts.
It's time for us all to rethink how we live. It's not to late to change, but make no mistake, great change is needed on every level, including (and perhaps most importantly) the individual level.
1
Redefining the "good life" opens up a huge array of possibilities not only for the survival of life on this planet but for how we couild enjoy life more fully - putting people before profit will pave the way.
3
The federal government is charged with many things, all of which revolve around managing interstate interactions: the dormant commerce clause to regulate interstate commerce, the military for the protection of all states, etc. The protection of the environment should be at the top of that list. The impacts of humanity on our environment affect all Americans, across state lines. While all of us should play a role, the federal government needs to take the lead in environmental protection because that is their job.
1
The planet is already imperiled. There are too many people on the planet and the sudden rush of globalization has created a wave of middle class and wants. What are those wants? Better food (read meat), cars and electricity.
As much as this editorial ignores it, the reason outsourcing to India/China or any other less developed part of the world is profitable, is that they care little for environmental or humanitarian concerns. EPA? Non existent. OSHA? Non existent.
People need to realize that those Chinese made cheap goods come at a price. Whether its environmental: burning coal or using banned coolants that are harmful to the planet.
There are plenty of articles in the NY Times about pollution around creating batteries for electric cars (graphite mining) or banned coolants being traced to a specific country.
Do we really think a different President of the USA is going to alter that? Its quite naive. What we need to understand is that China and India are not going to change because of our leadership.
They have an economy based on profiting on skirting rules that benefit us all. That is where the larger profits are.
When we all, collectively realize this, the better the world will be.
3
Henry.
Do have solutions, or just complaints? Thank you.
I agree in part with NKClarks statements, except for the section which says that we are all responsible for the destruction of the planet.
There are thousands, perhaps millions of people around the world who have worked and worked to stop this destruction. We've worked on elections, on climate action, on legislation, on alternative energy in order to stop what is happening. We may not succeed in the long run but we have tried. It's unfair to blame everyone.
3
The Paris climate agreement is a joke. China and India both signed it and their CO2 emissions have gone up dramatically. Germany signed it and their CO2 emissions are up. Meanwhile, the US our CO2 emission are at 1990s level, reduced significantly. Why, abundant natural gas production from horizontal wells using fracking technology has allowed electricity to be generated with natural gas, not coal. It was not the result of Obama regulations, wind and solar subsidies or pie in the sky Paris Accord. As much as liberals decry Trump’s rejection of the climate dogma as anti-science, they are as a group, scientifically illiterate and simply repeat talking points of science spin. Global temperature have flattened out in the last 20 years, while CO2 in our atmosphere has increased. Something is wrong with the climate models and they are overstating the impact of CO2 emission. In any event, prosperous economies are the only ones that can afford to address anthropomorphic climate change which I accept as real, and those economies need reasonably priced energy. Which means prudent and environmentally sound exploitation and use of fossil fuels. The US has done this, and as stated, has reduced CO2 emission while becoming the leading oil producer in the world.
2
Yes, of course, fossil fuels are the life-blood of our global economy. Yes, of course, the threat of climate catastrophe means the entire global economy has to be transformed to renewable energy sources. The only real question for mankind is when will we be able to pull this off.
At some point in the bleak future ahead, our growing populations will be culled. At some point, we will become desperate to stop the death.
We are not desperate yet. We are not desperate like we were in 1941. But we will be desperate.
It looks a lot like we will need more widespread realization of how each individual person’s life is threatened. Such is the folly of our high standards of comfort. We continue to believe our wealth will protect us from climate risks. We buy better insurance policies. I definitely recommend bumping up your relocation assistance coverage.
What’s the best insurance policy? Carbon Fee and Dividend with a Border Adjustment Tax. The first bills are now being introduced in Congress. Trump will likely not sign, but the next president may. Eventually, there will be a price on pollution, and carbon pollution specifically.
Revenue neutral, reduces regulation, boosts economy, creates 2.1 million jobs, improves people’s health, encourages innovation and investment in renewable energy sources.
Republicans are starting to get behind these bills. Write your Member of Congress today!
1
Remember it's not just Trump or his retrogression on regulations and policies. It's the Corporations that take advantage of it for profits sake.
Corporations have the ability to implement environmental controls regardless of Trump. They could keep, or put into action, controls to safeguard our water and air. They don't in order to make more money. A movement where the American people make known their displeasure with these Corporations could be created. And should be created
6
Arguing over how to keep the planet from warming more than 2 degrees is like arguing over how to keep the Titanic from sinking so quickly. We talk as though irreparable damage has yet to be done, as though the iceberg is in the distance, not as though we've already hit it.
Here in New Mexico gasoline prices are at $1.85 a gallon; in 1960 dollars that is less than 25 cents a gallon. The roads are filled with gigantic pickup trucks and SUV's. Auto manufacturers are abandoning smaller fuel efficient cars. At the same time we're drilling for more fossil fuels and encouraging construction of coal fired power plants.
Who are we kidding? We are no longer a visionary country, with our eyes set on a future that is better for our children than it was for our parents. Everything we do is based on short term pleasure and profit. We deny ourselves nothing, consume everything in one sitting, and wring our hands as we read the bad news on our cell phones while stuck in traffic on our way to more shopping.
The solution is quite simple, and it is a solution we are bringing on ourselves unconsciously --- we will consume ourselves into oblivion. When the air is unbreathable, the water undrinkable, the climate in 90% of the world unlivable, then we will take action. We'll stop burning coal, we'll stop driving, and we'll look to the future not with a vision of how to make things better, but of how to keep ourselves alive.
Have we hit the iceberg yet?
13
@Jim
Jim, you make a great deal of sense in your note. Real estate values will change from the shoreline to the mountains and high elevations around the globe. Tragically, profit is ahead of people, and people like Trump and his buddies will continue to extract fossil fuel until we can no longer take a breath without a mask. The Times piece on greedy landlords and a dysfunctional housing agency in NYC served to show us how short-term greed drives our various economic sectors, especially real estate. Politicians close their eyes to be able to stay in power for at least another six or so years, while corporations take advantage of spilling dirty water into local streams extracted from fracking and coal mining. Not caring is all around us, and we complain about crazy drivers.
1
Trump is not the reason for all the environmental roll backs. This is a GOP project. President No-Sense gets credit because of who he is. The Republicans would approve nuclear testing if they could make money from it and every other activity that keeps corporations from spending any money that may save lives including for clean air and clean water.
6
@DENOTE MORDANT
The problem with your comment about Trump is that he has never raised any concern about the environment, other than saying that climate change is all a hoax- a view expressed buy some on this very blog. There are those that may still dispute that germ theory is just a theory, and those that might still believe that the world is flat and those pictures we see from out space are photos-shopped. Those folks still are with us and will be for a long time. What will it take for the Republicans to move on this president? Our economy is going crazy, our foreign policy is in shambles, our allies are wondering what the US will do next, our inability to pass a budge is based on one man's dream to build a huge wall. Top trusted advisors are leaving the white house and the president would like to fire his new appointee to head the Federal reserve Does all of this require action or is this the way it will be in the US for a while, never to return to sanity? On viritually all fronts we are losing ground.
1
@Jesse V.
No Jessie, we are not going back to the way it was before if that is what I am to get from the verbal confusion you call a post. The die is cast.
1
Most of us know that in this country, there is strong evidence in the wild weather and "natural" disasters that represent many things in addition to climate change: people living to close to forest areas, car traffic with no public policy to get us all on trains and buses, and the increase that follows more money to buy bigger and more gas guzzlers. It's similar to being a church-goer and ignoring tenents of any religion of kindness, etc. Poland and Germany have to rely on coal and the natural gas pipeline to get other fuels to them is constantly side-tracked. Choose the culprits. This dilemma reflects the fact that we have no common cause and with Trump's trashing of alliances, the difficulty in finding commonality in a community is lessened. To our peril, whether war or climate change. The Dutch are exemplary examples of innovation: dikes, bikes, and tulips and the Hague. We must find common cause and end the Trump and GOP propoganda.
3
"All this is fundamentally Mr. Trump’s doing."
No. Trump is not fundamental to this destructive process. and to say so is to avoid the real issues and subsequent solutions.
The American people used their voting rights to put him in power.
And so, Trump and others like him are a consequence of the peoples choice . If their choice was bad for the planet, then maybe there is a poverty of education in the West that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency and acted upon by wiser people than you and I.
What I am increasingly certain of is this: to say it is all Trumps fault is letting the whole population off the hook. We all have a part to play in this.
We need to start saying: This is fundamentally our doing and we must do it differently, and we must start doing it now..
11
@iain mackenzie
Don't wait for the government to do anything.
Take personal responsibility
Don't sit alone in your car stopped in traffic on your way to work. Find at least one person to ride share.
Imagine traffic if most people took this one action themselves.
I guess the editors thought that sending millions of dollars to corrupt third world countries would help the planet. What did India and China promise?
3
How is it that no real person wants pollution, but we are powerless to stop and reverse it? Something is wrong.
Apparently the corporations want it, or some do, although I don't see how it materially helps them. And many corporations absolutely do not want more pollution.
So there is something wrong. The People are not being represented by the government. What seems very clear is that a few rich corporations that do benefit have bribed politicians.
Where is the reporting on this?
It should be easy to first find, then prosecute the perpetuators of what should be a criminal act. What corporations are acting against the People? Who inside those corporations are responsible - what are their names? And which politicians have been paid off?
If buying legislation against the Peoples' interests is legal - then name the politicians who have not made influence buying illegal.
Investigate and find every culprit, get their names and prosecute. Accept no excuses.
Destroy them before they destroy us.
5
The most powerful planet killing force on Earth:
Human Greed !
What other living thing needs more than what is required to take care of themselves and grow and raise their young ?
Humans, not all, but far too many, strive for exponential quantities of wealth and "stuff" than is needed for a full and happy life -
The greed is so strong, that the need to acquire wealth sadly becomes far more important than the deadly consequences produced as a by-product of acquisition.
A closely related tool of greed is over-population.
A population so massive that it requires over 1 1/2 Earths to support it.
Yes, we are harvesting "materials" from our planet which exceeds the total mount available.
This massive over-use is clearly not sustainable and the failing Climate is just one of the looming tragedies on our horizon.
It is easy for to understand that if we give a child a 10 gallon fish-tank - there is clearly a finite number of "life" the tank can support -
Pass this limit, and then "Life begins to die in the Tank" !
Well, the Earth is quite a bit larger, however, the same principles apply -
There IS a finite amount of life which may be supported,
We have exceeded this limit, and . . .
Our Planet, and all life on it, is beginning to die !
4
@Leonard D
Hey, I graduated from an environmental studies university in the 1970s that tried to indoctrinate us with apocalyptic fear from contemporary books like the Tofflers' 'Future Shock' or Stanford Professor Paul Ehrlich's 'The Population Bomb' which preached that the U.S. would experience massive starvation by the 1990s. Lesson learned now? Doomsday prophets quick to make a buck are alive and well today as they were back then.
2
@Leonard D: My excessive greed for "stuff" includes:
- Buying food wrapped in plastic. I try to use as little as possible, but without going way out on a limb, I'd starve if I quit buying it. 90% of what I eat comes wrapped in plastic.
- Driving (a very conservative) car to my job. They do let me work from home one day a week though.
Many people drive guzzler cars, and don't even think about the plastics they use and throw away, but even for those of us who do try, the choices are limited. We need to think of better ways to do these things, without living like hermits off the grid. The system has to be designed to make those choices less stringent.
It's up to the system to make it more possible, and up to us to support the changes that make that happen. And it's up to society to somehow educate and/or restrain greedy people for whom nothing is enough.
Otherwise, as you say, the planet will continue to die. The 6th great extinction is happening on our watch.
2
@mlbex
Thank you for your reply and your conscience effort to be simply . . . "aware" !
Some suggest that I speak of doomsday conspiracies - but - in actuality, I am merely reading reports of the vastly reduced nutritional content of large corporate farming and over fished oceans where many species are facing extinction.
There is also large amount of global studies showing a huge spike in respiratory conditions of young children who live in the weather path of industrial production.
"These are no conspiracies - just actual scientific data of the results of our pollution and over-farming.
I also applaud the "small changes" you are making - and yes - I buy food wrapped in plastic as well !
The thing is, if everyone just did "small changes" . . . we can anticipate huge results on a global scale.
1
Why worry? If the planet is in need of saving won’t God take care of it?
2
In the news this past week was the White House resignations, the federal government shutdown, and the stock market tanking. Meanwhile, the most important news of all time was ignored. A furnace is being lit all across the Arctic powered by ancient methane seeping from the tundra, newly formed lakes, and the bottom sediments of ice free seas that will ultimately seal our species fate along with most other species on earth in the next 100 years or so.
Considering the only purpose of biological life is to get our genes into subsequent generations, it is incredulous that people in the United States are not up in arms about creating an earth that likely will be mostly uninhabitable for their grandchildren, and especially for their great grandchildren—if we stay our present course which is now looking more than likely.
For our immediate future, we can look forward to widespread panic, political disruptions, regional wars over dwindling resources, and mass migrations when most of world’s human population finally realizes their lives are increasingly threatened as temperatures soar, extreme climate events become more frequent, crops fail, jobs vanish, and potable water becomes problematic 15 to 20 years from now. And paper money will become mostly worthless too—replaced by survival bartering throughout vast regions of the warming world. Mad Max, anyone?
8
The depth and breadth of American refusal to lead on what is going to prove the defining issue of 21st century is truly historic. No nation will be exempt from the wrath of natural calamities we will see in coming years.
In 1945 the world looked to us to put the pieces of a war ravaged planet back together. And we did it, with visionaries like Truman and Marshall.
Seventy years later, we hide from the truth and shrink from the challenge of creating a livable planet for our children and grandchildren. That, for 30 pieces of silver?
What folly.
5
The Paris Agreement is a complete joke and its authors are delusional. Aspirational documents, without strong legal teeth are nothing more than toilet paper to nations who want good climate change press but intend to flout the rules at every opportunity. This point can't be emphasized enough. The current solution to fight climate change is collapsing with breath taking speed. For example China has been by far the biggest coal producing country over the last three decades. The country accounting for over 47% of the world’s total coal output. About half of China’s coal is used for power generation, which accounts for over 80% of the country’s electricity output. And they're building more coal plants. Over 259 gigawatts of coal power capacity – equivalent to the entire coal power fleet of the United States. They have an agenda which they will achieve come hell or high water. Their actions speak much louder than their words. It is the same across much of Asia, where coal consumption grew by 3.1% a year from 2006 to 2016, accounting for almost three-quarters of the world’s demand for the most polluting fossil fuel. From India to Bangladesh to Pakistan to the Philippines to South Korea...coal use is up. Such is the supply & demand that prices for thermal coal, the type used for generating electricity, are at their highest since 2012, & have more than doubled in the past two years. A renewable-energy revolution is neither imminent nor pain-free. That's the inconvenient truth
3
This newspaper, like the rest of the frenzied media, helped get Trump elected by endlessly covering his campaign. It’s still interesting how the media keeps saying the Russians helped him and collusion etc. There was collusion I think and they helped him, but the American media including this paper I think helped him more than the Russians did. So now the same media decries his policies. I am sorry, but it’s sometimes hard to understand whether the media is being genuine or playing the public. After all, the media has played or misled the public before and often withholds information for various reasons, some perhaps good, say, security, but others perhaps questionable.
2
It's about money.
It's about greed.
It's about privatizing profits and socializing the costs.
It's about selfishness.
It's about power.
It's about a small minority of humans willing to destroy the only world we have to temporarily satisfy their need to pad their billfolds some more. There will never be 'enough' for them.
8
One of capitalism’s supreme evils is that anything that improves the corporate bottom line justifies the irresponsible degradation of the environment.
The president of the United States has surrounded himself with short-sighted bureaucrats who tell us—falsely—that the imperative of economic security and prosperity is more than sufficient reason for the burning of coal and the drilling for oil and the mining of coal, all of which threaten endangered species of both flora and fauna, not to mention our own survival.
But this president is hell-bent on destroying any positive and far-seeing initiative(s) that President Barack Obama implemented before him. No one is paying attention to the holocaust of fires that destroyed Paradise, California, for example. No one in this benighted administration has the first clue that human behavior has—much for the worse—made habitable living a hazardous enterprise.
All one need do is consider the damage that out-of-control greenhouse gas emissions and the Trump rollback of stricter (Obama again) vehicle emission standards is wreaking in our air, not to mention the outflow of lethal chemicals from factories that make drinking water or using it for washing a chancy proposition.
How much money do corporations have to earn before they wreck the only home we have? We don’t inhabit this finite planet by ourselves. We’re supposed to have more brainpower than any other living species. Can anyone doubt that that may no longer be true?
7
A free market as favored by the Republicans allows the brigands to game the system and then the Democrats have to come along and straighten out the mess. The regulations so hated by the Republicans are a necessary part of any fair and operable system.
3
@Clark Landrum
So in your world, we can never be over-regulated to the point of damaging the economy?
1
Recently NYT published an excellent article regarding the present implosion of the Insect World. "The Insect Apocalypse Is Here" a month ago.
It is worth noting that the rapid incredible demise of the overall density of our insect populations world wide apparently took us by surprise. With that the decline in numbers of the birds and animals they feed.
My point is we clearly do not know what is going on over so many levels that we are virtually in the dark as to the causal/effect relationships we have perpetuated by our thoughtless, heedless, and uninformed activities that we might well remain in the dark even after we have wiped out all life on the planet including our own species.
We just can't seem to slow down enough to be able to make an carefully considered assesment of our current state much less marshal the global colaboration required to make constructive changes.
In this case, past IS the predicate for our immediate future and that bodes ill because the "same old same old" will sink us for certain sure.
World vision for a longterm planetary occupancy is sorely absent and global nationalism threatens to divide us further from our hope to clean up our mess and live and let live with the other organisms on board and so vital to our habitat.
Gloomy and pessimistic? I don't think so. We had our chance in the 70's when most of us knew we didn't want to be plastic people and spew diesel exhaust all over the world. Can't turn back the clock on the Juggernaut Express
3
Trump would probably respond thus: Wake up, fools! It's only about ME and about NoW. And maybe my son who has great fun shooting wildlife. We will not be around 50 years from now, what's to worry, suckers!!
3
Ah, the great council of Paris. The evil Trump withdrew the United States. Making us the only honest industrialized nation, no one else is living up to the requirements of the accord. Yet Americans continue to reduce carbon emissions. the only thing we are missing from the accords is paying 100's of billions of dollars to developing countries. All the while, China is building 56 coal fired plants in Pakistan.
4
I actually feel pity for small children. I'm pushing 60. We are already experiencing the effects of climate change-by the time I shuffle off my mortal coil, I'm certain it will be much worse.
But for young people? Including my kids, who are in their 20s and for little kids? Little kids in Bangladesh and India? Whole low lying nations that will be washed away?
Not to mention all of the other critters who have the misfortune of having to share this planet with us?
And to see that petulant, ignorant, greedy, sociopath strutting around with his thumbs in the air?
It just makes we want to curl up and cry.
2
In "The Sun Also Rises", Hemmingway wrote:
"How did you go broke?"
"Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly".
He could have been writing about climate change.
5
Good grief. The enormous elephant in the climate change room is that we've been steadily coming out of an Ice Age with mini swings both up and down but overall, with steadily rising temperatures over the past 21,000 years - and climatologists really haven't an accurate clue as to why - even when we're right in the middle of it. Those who tell you we do, are liars or perennial snouts in the public trough.
It's far easier to play the Marxist politics game and blame CO2 generated by human activity by the wealthy west, even though we know that significant glacier melting was well underway and photographed back into the 1800s - a time when temperature increases can't be attributed to a low-tech, low CO2 consuming planet of just a billion people.
But now, as a planet with diminishing oil supplies which will be desperately needed for so many other constructive areas except that of fuel, we clearly should research and invest in net zero technologies for the planet. It is the smart thing to do.
We should also consider that oceans may rise, though the jury is clearly out on how fast that will happen, and start saving, modestly for now, for the future infrastructure projects to finance the levees, dikes, and coastline water control measures of the future - the other smart thing to do.
Hey, we can raise trillions over 50 to a hundred years, of course, rather than fleecing western countries now for the benefit of a UN controlled by Third World thieves and despotic losers.
2
Well said. Focus our efforts in projects that we have control (building levies, relocation planning, agricultural planning, renewable sources of energy, space colonies, etc.) to increase our survival chances instead of trying to control the climate. These plans can help in surviving other catastrophes that nature can throw at us.
We have Trump derangement and before that man made heater derangement.
Trump has sparked the economy with the tax cuts. If he doesn’t cut spending the gains will be short lived. That is why the Left is talking about a Green New Deal. It will spin our debt out of control right when we need to be cutting it. They know it, it isn’t about “green” it is about power and control and punishing America for its success.
Just like those that still think Russia won the election for Trump. They have been told a story to explain away Hillary losing. While the facts show it was Hillary, Intel agencies and the DNC that used Russia to spy on a candidate and then president. In fact, the author of the dossier said under oath Hillary and the DNC paid him to create it Incase she lost. Of course the Left wants us to believe Steele but not when he admits to maki g it up to help Hillary unseat Trump.
Mann and his fellow con’s states that if this period of no increase last longer then 15 years it would prove to them that their theory was wrong and they would have to go back to the drawing board. It has been 18 years but Mann and con’s seem to have forgotten and/or changed historical temps.
The Left’s own man made heaters put in writing, what would have to happen to destroy their opinions. It has happened, yet, just like the Anti-Trumpers, facts, reality, truth and America are the problem not their lies.
2
Would be nice for the Times to cease and desist from endlessly describing Trump's many crimes and just call for his removal from office.
@Ed
You can't have a real, thriving democracy without a solid press, reporting day after day on the state of the union.
As to removing the GOP: that's not the press' job, it's our job as citizens. And I don't see how asking the media to no longer report on all the negative things that those who "we the people" elected are inflicting upon this country will somehow make more people understand that they have to vote ... ?
1
The solution is so simple! .. start by getting rid of Trump!
1
The inmate is running the asylum.
1
Trump's hatred and jealousy of Obama may be the most destructive snit-fit in history.
5
"Trump Imperils the Planet".... Really?
Guess that's an appropriate year end editorial coming from the NYT's. Your hatred and bias toward the President encapsulated in one sentence.
3
@Kerby
All his fossil fuel encouraging decisions LITERALLY accelerate global warming, which is imperiling the entire planet.
So if you still believe that somehow Trump is NOT doing this, what would your arguments be ... ?
3
@Ana Luisa
Anyone who is well read on world affairs knows that India, China, Russia and many European, African, South American and other third world countries are doing over 100 times the damage to the world's environment, via unregulated climate controls, pollution, etc. than the U.S.A.
Blaming Trump is just convenient for the far left.... and a cop out.
Kerby
1
All this is not fundamentally Trump's doing. He is just leading the pack. He could not have been elected espousing his nonsensical beliefs and policies, and he could get nowhere trying to enact them, without the enthusiastic and relentless efforts of the Republican party. It has been dominated by climate-change deniers for years. Trump is just their chance to finally put their fantasies into action. It would be a great tragedy if, before the climate apocalypse ends civilization entirely, our recorded history laid the blame at the feet of one moronic leader. It takes a village of morons to do what Trump has done. The Republican party is proud to be that village.
4
Neither party has been enraged about the disgusting, absolutely destructive, neck bristling subhumans put into positions like EPA (Pruitt and Wheeler), Department of the Interior (Zinke), Secretary of Energy (Perry), Dept of Education (Devos), Homeland Security (Nielsen), Pompeo and trumpie boy's daughter and son-in-law. That the entire country sits by like the people of Germany stood silent about Hitler, shame on us for not uprising as an unstoppable unit in protection of our self respect as world leaders. Instead, we idly watch our go to hell in a hand basket with a crazy hateful reality show and real estate con man steering our country right into the next world war and great depression.
5
These are homicidal decisions, for a man of Trump’s age. He is homicidal.
2
Why the surprise ? He’s just upped his game, now it’s Rape of the Planet. Thanks, GOP. 2020.
1
“We strongly believe that no country should have to sacrifice their economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability.”
That statement is absolutely stunning. The administration isn’t concerned at all with the science of climate change. They simply reject the notion that they have a responsibility to preserve the conditions that make life possible on earth.
And when they say “prosperity,” I assume that means the profit-earning ability of corporate capitalists like the president.
The depths of malfeasance in this administration know no bounds.
4
“We strongly believe that no country should have to sacrifice their economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability.”
The stupidity of this statement is so extreme, it could be spoken verbatim by a buffoon in a satire.
Think about what this idiot is saying: We think we should be able to sacrifice environmental sustainability -- i.e., the planet Earth as an environment capable of supporting life -- in preference for money.
The criminality of this thinking is so enormous it beggars description. What this fool is proposing is the greatest crime in the history of the human race: the deliberate extinction of life on the planet in return for corporate profits. This goes beyond stupidity. This is insanity.
12
Edwin O. Wilson's "The Diversity of Life" (1992) should be required reading, as well as other books by this great American biologist.
6
Why not just confirm that Trump is the antiChrist and devil incarnate? That should cover all his sins, and you, the board, can opin on more interesting subjects.
4
And yet I'll bet that even a liberal readership as the NYT's is unwilling to make actual changes to how they live, and instead expect "the government" or "the politicians" to do the hard work for them. If you want to reduce fossil fuel consumption:
Give up your automobiles. Walk/bike instead.
Stop flying in jets. Live locally instead.
Stop having multiple children. Live humbly instead.
Eat little or no meat. Eat vegetarian instead.
Any takers NYT readers?
2
We are now all Easter islanders embarking on a journey to the Aral Sea.
2
It’s not only Trump. He is representative of the corporatization of your minds! Ok Trump leaves, what changes? Nothing. You stil are stretched around the planet protecting? Your corporations.
This whole world cop thing is old people.
It’s about time the NYT acknowledged the issue. But know who owns it! Don’t blame the messenger although in this case, go right ahead.
Let us also recall that Trump Jr. and his brother Eric delight in slaughtering unsuspecting African elephants, lions, tigers, leopards and buffaloes from a very safe distance while disguising themselves in camouflage clothing; and enjoy having pictures taken with their victims; before having them stuffed and mounted for exhibition to their many prominent friends and admirers in government and real estate circles.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/16/trump-sons-us-lifts-import-ban-african-elephant-trophies
7
shame on you maga voters:
that your grandchildren will reap the whirlwind is your concern.
That others will as well is a crime.
5
I think the planet will let us go ahead and kill ourselves and be done with us. Earth will survive. We won't.
2
As someone famous is quoted: It. Is. Finished.
More fear mongering from the NY Times Editorial Board. Do they fail to realize that their daily banter is falling on deaf ears? Two years into President Trump's presidency America has never been better.
Wait until it is YOUR childs cancer, breathing trouble, food shortage. Let me guess. Gods will? No. Yours.
2
"Paradise"
You’d think the sons of Adam would have learned
The lesson that their father dearly earned,
That paradise once lost can’t be regained.
Regret for it is all that has remained.
Blinded by loss, they had no eyes to see
That paradise admitted still the free.
[...]
Forgot, the peace of forest’s rolling glade;
Forgot, the magic of a grassy blade.
For what? To travel in a metal box?
For what? To fester behind walls and locks?
And so, like madmen we now throw away
The only Eden on this ball of clay.
The masses heed the empty words of fools
And, duped by lies, break reason’s noble rules,
Their role reduced to that of mindless tools.
[...]
But, please relax. The bill’s not ours to pay.
It will come due in our children’s day.
It will come due when seas begin to rise.
It will come due when people die like flies.
Out of a hundred one may well survive.
Did you think humans in the desert thrive?
The forests gone, the beasts into the ground
Will fade, till all become a burial mound,
And winds will howl extinction’s hollow sound.
Then those who now deny might yet relent,
But far too late t’will be then to repent.
Then naked man upon the barren Earth
Will curse the mother who once gave him birth.
Then all alone upon this orb he’ll sit
And watch as life on Earth ebbs bit by bit,
And stare vainly at the empty sky
Whence no one has, or will, answer his cry.
To flee his brutish life he’ll pray to die
The sooner to some promised paradise to fly.
4
Trump will be known as the worst president we have ever had. Period.
2
Maybe the 35% of supporters can form their own country, say, the New Confederacy.
4
Thank you NY Times!
Many more Americans need to read this and the comments.
That is my view based on 50 years of public interest work.
Elections have consequences. See
https://www.legalreader.com/elections-for-the-people/
1
It seems likely that our children and especially our grandchildren will come to view Trump, abetted by his Party, as responsible for more death and destruction than Hilter, Stalin, and Mao combined. What Trump is doing today is essentially a form of genocide, but against all of the peoples of the world.
4
My feelings can be summed up by the 60 music video with the Earth as the star. 10 organizations will be releasing this message on Jan. 3rd. to more than one million people. The song has flown in the space shuttle and is recorded in seven languages. Watch and ponder. https://youtu.be/bRhBksSUKBw
1
Trump is a rolling disaster - but he's building on a solid foundation laid down by Republicans for decades to these ends. Trump isn't doing anything they haven't always wanted.
He's the perfect front man for this assault on the planet - totally shameless, aggressively ignorant, and boldly avaricious. That's one of the reasons the GOP refuses to rein him in - he's carrying out their agenda on steroids. He's so blatant about it, he gives them plenty of cover while the spotlights are turned on him.
They should all be sitting in the dock as co-conspirators.
3
This editorial is utter nonsense. A bunch of non-scientists have decided for political purposes and power to support an non-scientific theory with the sole aim of raising taxes and using it to push a world government. These NYT oligarchs would relegate India , African countries etc. who need cheap energy to sustain 2-3 meal a day for their citizens, to a life of poverty and starvation. I, for one, am calling out the NYT editorial board as power hungry racists ( in the traditional unchanged 1850- 2018 Democrat Party sense)
2
Call out all you want. Soon there wile no one to hear.
1
Remember that Costner movie where the world is inundated and a deranged Captain of the derelict Exon Valdez clings to the last tanks of oil while the crazies on board adulate him?
Was that prescient or what?
2
May the fairways on Trump golf courses turn burn and rot to symbolize his destruction of Our Planet
1
Uh yeah the threat this cretin and his followers pose to future generations of humans and to the biosphere was obvious during his campaign to anyone with half a brain. In fact anyone who had the shortest conversation with Trump at Studio 54 in the 1980's would know he needed to be kept from any serious decision making. Get him out now.
4
"Trump Imperils the Planet"? Could you please step back a moment and realize that a major newspaper has just called the president of the United States a menace to the entire earth? This used to be the newspaper of record. It is now the daily Trump-obsessed agoraphobe of journalism, afraid to leave the four walls of its obsession--shoving about one dozen stories and editorials about the president onto the home page daily. This isn't about President Trump (not my ideal, either, to be sure). This is about hysterical overreaction to President Trump made legitimate. We didn't expect better of Trump. We expected better of The New York Times.
2
Backward.
Yup, the perfect word for Individual-1, his crime family, and their base base.
1
I can remember the time before environmental protections for our air, water, personal health were codified.
A river close to my home was a dumping ground for industrial pollutants. A coal-fired plant close to a neighborhood that spewed pollutants and ash from its stacks. A copper smelter that released enough sulfur dioxide that it denuded the surrounding mountains of any growth and gagged those driving past the plant.
Over time we have seen air and water much cleaner. However, with the moron-initiated roll-backs of environmental protections, including the spraying of chemicals over farm lands and endangering the population (think of the gifts that Agent Orange gave many of us).
Yup, we are winning at populating the graveyards. We are winning at killing the planet with our stupidity all in the name of "we are over regulated and killing our businesses".
But, I hope I live long enough to witness the further encroachment of the ocean due to climate change our denier in chief claims does not exist on "Mar a Loco", or is it "Mas Loco". The grifter will blame Obama, the emails and server on the flooding of his prized palace.
GWB started a futile, illegal war that killed 500 000 civilians. And he wasn’t too hot on climate change either. And you recon Trump is worse? Because he’s uncouth? Really?
Dear NYT -
PLEASE - quotes quotes quotes from the 60+ senators who are complicit in this disaster. Or does one rich white man who thinks it's 1950 decide our fate unchecked.
1962 - Silent Spring
2018 - Silent Senators
7
Thanks a whole heck of a lot, all you Green Party voters.
.....falling from the 50th floor.....as is well as we pass th 25th...
1
"Trump Imperils Planet!!"........this is getting ridiculous.
1
I'm fascinated how a nation that steadfastly refuses to adopt the metric system has continuously accepted Celsius when climate change is addressed. I wonder how many Americans know what 1.5 C. warming is, let alone means. After all, this is a land where people didn't want the metric system, because they would require new gas tanks--measuring metric-- for their cars. Really. Let's call a spade a spade and a degree a degree Fahrenheit. A month 1 single F. degree above normal is noticeably warmer. Record monthly warmth locally is newsworthy and is 6-7 degrees F. (3+ to nearly 4 C.) warmer than normal. There are places in the country that have reached 1.5 C. (2.7 F.) warmer than normal each year now, and that is locally the warmest year on record, or at least in the top 10. I'm waiting for ocean acidification deniers to say it's only a tenth of a pH unit, when that tenth means nearly 30% more acid.
2
Trump, conservatives, the Republican Party, big oil and gas - all of them couldn't care less about the future: any future.
It's "grab the money while you can" and by the time there's real trouble here on Earth, "we'll be dead and gone."
You'd think they would have fallen all over each other to get to be the first to figure out economically sustainable clean energy, for there will be a fortune for the person who cracks this nut.
But their laziness prohibits such effort; easier to just rape and pillage the planet, leaving it gasping for air - literally.
4
Another example that underscores the fact that corporations are NOT people. People are affected by long-term climate change; corporations don't care, as long as the quarterly earnings pass muster.
2
The Con Don will go down in HIStory as a destroyer - like Atilla the Hun and Hitler/Stalin - UNLESS WE THE PEOPLE stop him now.
Yes, he is trying to further destroy OUR environment with his insatiable, morally/ethically bankrupt, socially unconscious behavior.
Worse yet, he and his International Mafia 0.01% Robber Baron/Radical religion Good Old Boys cabal are literally trying to destroy OUR lives and those of average people around the world in their demented idea of "power over us".
Sorry boys and girls. WE THE PEOPLE - those with power and average people around the world - have enjoyed the relative peace and prosperity since Teddy/FDR/Elanor Roosevelt and WE will not let you destroy OUR world again. Not now. Not ever.
That's a promise.
4
It is a matter of changing our mindset from an entrenched battle holding on concept to a mindset that cares about the planet we live on, our only possible home; truly cares, like you would care for an ailing parent, or a dying friend. Once we care enough, we will act.
Once we really care the momentum will be there. Big oil, and fossil fuel corporations will leap into renewables and find a whole new world of possibility. Once it starts, there will be a new world of hope and conviction that will make it exciting and positive. It is a matter of focus.
2
Global levels of CO2 increased by 1.6%—an exact number—not 1.5 or 1.7–Used to be that CO2 came in parts per million—by the way, how many PPM is CH4 in the atmosphere—or even worse C2H6?—undoubtedly my Bachelor of Science degree qualifies me as a “scientist” hence my opinions cannot be, in good faith, disputed.
trump and his minions are nothing short of environmental thugs. They are not conservatives, nor skeptics following a political agenda; they are greedy profiteers with no regard for anyone else or the future. If their actions to date do not meet the criteria of "high crimes and misdemeanors", what does?
This is a powerful argument for the removal of Trump from office by any legal means necessary. But as we grab the torches and pitchforks, we need to reflect on our own culpability.
Greed does not care about the survival of the planet, nor is it visionary. As odious as Trump's role in this has been, and as much as he and his corrupt gang of environmental thugs have contributed to the crisis, he is not the only villain. Ordinary people in every country, who in their self-absorbed complacency have stupidly ignored the indisputable warnings or, having heard them, remained inert, are every bit as much at fault.
The destruction of our planet will be recorded (if there is anyone left to write that bleak history) as the failure of all of us, who knowingly allowed Trump and his fossil fuel accomplices to continue to commit this ultimate crime against humanity.
327
@NKClark Also, teach the science of climate change. Just with the warming that we have, this will lead to additional warming. CO2 levels need to come down.
20
@NKClark
Sadly most Americans and most Canadians would subscribe to Griffith's statement, “We strongly believe that no country should have to sacrifice their economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability” even though long term economic prosperity depends on environmental sustainability.
Griffith's myopic way of looking at economic prosperity and the policies that follow from it doom most of humanity. Perhaps the sooner the better. Humans seem unable to act together in their long time interest.
21
@NKClark
The largest five countries emitting carbon dioxide in 2017:
1) China...........8.1 tons
2) US...............5.3 "
3) India............1.8 "
4) Russia..........1.8 "
5) Japan...........1.3 "
China, India and Russia show no sign of slowing down or controlling their omissions?
7
"They will deserve, along with Mr. Trump, history’s censure..."
Unfortunately, history only exists if there's someone still around to remember an event(S). Based on even just the facts in this commentary, just why would one believe there will be? Thanks Dondi.
2
We have a choice.We can work together to reduce the emissions that are the cause of global warming, or we can cling to our past and ramp up the old fossil fuel scenario,especially dirty emission coal, and we can all go down into oblivion glued to the image of an industrial age that is now in the past.
What we are doing now is really revving up the source of the instability in the worlds climate. We are acting to produce more hurricanes, more violent storms, more horrendous wild fires, more lasting droughts, and on and on. Once the old ice is gone in the arctic, our climate will be unrecognizable.
This is all happening faster than predicted. If anyone thinks that we can divorce our economic well being from accelerating climate change they are delusional. Destructively delusional. Stupidly delusional.
Our only hope is to work as hard as we can to reduce our addictive reliance on fossil fuels. Anything else is only the indolent, childish and mindless clinging to a past that is long, long, gone. Lets hope that by the time this becomes. clearly evident to big money and big oil and the coal dreamers it won't be too late. (If they were smart they would take the money they have, cut their losses, and move into the modern world with renewables, and have a new horizon before them).
125
@joyce
"If they were smart they would take the money they have, cut their losses, and move into the modern world with renewables, and have a new horizon before them)"
It is BECAUSE they are smart, but not intelligent, that some people cannot imagine a steady path ahead in which the goals of climate change and prosperity are pragmatically BALANCED. Until we all understand the difference between smartness and being intelligent, this problem has become so intractable. Climate change deniers and Green fanatics will be unable to bring their different perspectives into sensible discussions until both understand a useful distinction between 'smartness' and being persistently intelligent.
BTW, the Eye-Zen principles of accurate English usage are founded on this distinction.
"It is BECAUSE they are smart, but not intelligent, that some people cannot imagine a steady path ahead in which the goals of climate change and prosperity are pragmatically BALANCED."
@Angus Cunningham
The Oxford English Dictionary defines "smart" as to cause pain AND as to be clever or witty. I guess a very smart or clever person is able to use sarcasm or satire to inflict emotional pain on others. In that case, Jonathan Swift was a very smart writer.
The OED defines "intelligence" as the ability to understand. For instance, Albert Einstein was highly intelligent. He understood many difficult scientific concepts.
Using these two definitions, I think you claim that clever people do not necessarily understand the full implications of human caused climate change. Or you seem to claim that smart people help inflict pain on the environment (and therefore on humans) through their use of fossil fuels.
TLDR version: you seem to assume that many readers understand the difference between smartness and intelligence, although many people use the two terms interchangeably.
1
@joyce
I fear we are reaching, or have reached, the point of no return. Though it would only be a band aid, I think that we will have to seriously consider geoengineering, and greatly increase funding for research. Increasing the earth's albedo, particularly at the poles, might be both the cheapest and the easiest to reverse. There is a chance we can get to a carbon free future in time, but given human nature, but I do not hold out much hope. Geoengineering would only be a stop gap to give us time to finally get at the root cause.
1
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported last month that total greenhouse gas emissions declined by 2.7 percent in 2017, the first year of the Trump presidency. However, the International Energy Agency reported global greenhouse emission grew by 1.4 percent, an increased caused mostly by emission from countries that signed the Paris Agreement. The IEA noted, “The increase in CO2 emissions, however, was not universal. While most major economies saw a rise, some others experienced declines, including the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and Japan. The biggest decline came from the United States, mainly because of higher deployment of renewables.
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/data-shows-decrease-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-during-trumps-first-year-office
https://www.iea.org/geco/
1
Locke wrote of "Life, Liberty, and Property" as the basis of English rights. But to him (and Jefferson), the rights of Property were not unlimited. One could own and exploit property, but not if it destroyed the value of the properties around it, nor should it damage the Commonweal, the wealth owned in common by all. This includes the air and the rivers, public lands and parks, and wildlife, the birds, bees, and mammals that move across our fence lines. Even 18th Century Englishmen recognized that you must not dump your sewage on your neighbor's land. This was the basis for our Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.
Today I live in the Commonwealth of PA, and hear the Profiteers of Pollution preach of their "right" to poison my air by burning coal in Ohio or China, to poison my water with their agricultural runoff, and their right to increase storms and kill the coral that turns CO2 into reefs by pouring so much fossil CO2 into the air that our whole world is warming. This is not their Right of Property. It is the destruction of the value of all our properties so polluters can make a quick buck. Meanwhile, Trump has a diet Koch and a smile. They are the enemies of the Common Wealth, and thus the Enemies of the People.
2
In 50 years time, our children's children will look back on the folks living today and think of us, much the same way that we think of all those "good Germans" who ignored the genocide happening all around them.
And they will be right.
2
@Richard E. Willey
False analogy. Most Germans actually had no idea of what was happening because the Hitler regime operated under the cover of secrecy -- they called it "Nacht und Nebel". I suggest you look it up.
Trump is one of the greatest disasters in the history of mankind. He is a menace to our very survival. He brings out the absolute worst in people.
If we survive the Trump presidency, which I hope will be short, we've got to do something about the rise of far right wing "populism," ie white supremacist, fossil-fuel-loving, religious authoritarianism.
In America, it's pretty obvious that our public schools have been kneecapped. Lack of money for education and the rise of evangelical christianity have failed us. We're all too susceptible to propaganda.
Sometimes the problem just seems to big to surmount. But we've got to try.
3
Just take a moment to look at that first image of our glorious island Earth rising over the barren edge of the lifeless moon, 50 years old now, and you could just weep.
The blue planet, all alone, spinning in inky black space, a miracle, a wonder, a treasure, precious beyond any measure you could invent in your wildest imagination.
Trashed.
5
More alarmist hysteria from the climate change fanatics that have hijacked the MSM, including the NYT's, in the modern day Inquisition of global warming cultism. The NYT's has become the pulpit from which these new secular Puritans of climate change flog 1st world nations about their endless sins by not buckling under to the global elite and their new world order.
A few points:
Even if the half-hearted efforts by the Obama Administration were to be carried out in full by the Trump Administration, they would be too little, too late. Why? Because the rest of the world, that is developing nations, are on a breakneck pace to achieve 1st world life styles. Failures in meeting the Paris Agreement by China, India, Africa and South America will more than negate any efforts made by the US and developed nations.
The world continues to foolishly refuse to accept the need for safe, cheap and climate friendly nuclear power. Climate change cultist can rail against fossil fuels but are completely irrational in continuing to deny that nuclear power can now be developed and used safely for decades to come. This undercuts every assertion they make about 'sustainability'.
Population growth and the tremendous burden it has placed on the planet is THE biggest cause of global degradation. If we are not going to do something to reduce humanity's footprint to a sustainable 1-2 billion people, we are all head for a dystopian future, no matter what we do on climate change.
Happy New Year!
The climate change crisis is an aspect of the population explosion. They are not sepate issues. Unfortunately, we did nothing to curb population growth the so we must deal with the impact on climate. If we don't, the uncaring natural order will take care of the excess population.
1
That this illegitimately elected criminal grifting traitor is in a position to end humanity is totally unacceptable. He's got to go or we'll all go, so the end-game is obvious. Some one or some institution has got to stop him any way possible.
2
Trump is, of course, an unmitigated disaster, but let's not forget that Bush II did nothing, and then the Republican Congress would not let Obama accomplish anything except by executive order. So the Trump disgrace is merely a continuation of the Republican disgrace we have suffered since 2000. These people apparently do not have children and grandchildren.
3
A sign on President Truman’s desk read “The buck stops here.” Trump’s sign has to read “Anything for a buck.” All anyone need do is follow the money to unravel this abomination.
3
The hidden logic of the eco-destroyers known as the Republican Party:
Their actions can't be crimes against humanity when there is no humanity left.
2
@Steve's Weave - Green Classifieds
Ecocide is bipartisan. Hopefully incoming progressive Dems will change that though the big money is against them from corporate media to the underwriting of campaigns.
Trump is a horrible symptom of the fact that we Americans will always deny reality in the pursuit of short term self interest. Our anti-intellectualism and contempt for expertise drive us to charlatans. Our fervid individualism bars us from solutions that require large scale coordinated action. Our xenophobia and fear of being taken advantage of drives us into the arms of Trump. And to think that a significant fraction of Trump's supporters do so out of religious conviction. Even as we eventually turn away from Trump, all these forces will remain just below the surface. We need a strategy to deal with them to allow our survival.
1
No trajectory of human endeavor is sustainable. Reagan and 'Shrub' figured the second coming will occur before the population apocalypse, or they themselves will be gone in any case. Trump has said similar. no one, anywhere should have children anymore. cherish life that's here already, and, voluntarily go extinct, instead of having nature do it for us. vhemt.org
1
The future threats to life on the planet mentioned here are dwarfed by the greatest threat of all--the 15,000 nuclear missiles that the US and Russia have this very moment targeted at each other--and the military confrontation with Russia that is advocated by, among others, the editorial board of this newspaper, publishing three or four fear-and-hate-the-Russian enemy stories every issue . . . .
1
Trump imperils everything and everyone. I cannot even listen to the sound of his destructive little voice. He picks the worst agency heads who have destroyed environmental gains. How will we explain this to our grandchildren? All we can do is work on the local level to tackle environmental concerns. Reuse, recycle, plant trees, limit driving, turn the lights off, eat less meat, do everything possible not to be wasteful. When he leaves office, fix this mess by “rolling back” everything Trump has done.
1
Trump's destructive environmental policies represent a clear and present danger to America and to the world.
We can no longer afford to be leaderless in the White House and in Congress. The polices of this administration are disgraceful and an insult to the intelligence of a majority of Americans.
Clearly we need Democratic leadership. The Democrats should make environmental policy a primary platform position (along with Healthcare) designed to reverse Trump's outrageous attacks on the health of our planet.
Imperative the Democrats take back the White House in 2020. Trump's policies represent an existential threat to all peoples on the planet and must be reversed.
1
Who in their right mind would rob their children and grandchildren of a healthy planet and existence?
2
Don't you see how ludicrous it is to blame one man for the disaster we as a species created? We are all responsible for making this planet a toxic dump. Doesn't anyone recognize that the oil and coal lobbyist are driving this? It's time to open our eyes and see that this country was sold to the highest bidder through elections many, many years ago. Extremely wealthy companies pour billions of dollars into election campaigns then reap the benefit of that investment when the laws are written and approved. It is really time to wake up America and blame those with the power not the Puppet in front of the camera. Our government is paid for by big corporations whose only interest is self-preservation and digging deeper into our pockets. Our Bafoon & Chief is just following a script written by those with the money - his financial backers.
2
"At the age of extinction, only love remains" so says Dr. Guy McPherson.
See him in youtube and learn why and how it is already too late.
Trump preying on the inherent ignorance this country was built on.
1
Somehow and somewhere the imaginative sympathy with “paradise lost” will never vanish...
Dear NY Times board,
The NY Times is sending a person around the world again this year to report on "52 Places to Go."
One of the most important things conscientious individuals can do is stop air travel altogether. Can we stop encouraging jet setting for the good of our environment? Can this year be the last year you send someone around the world?
thank you,
a concerned Earthling
3
Trump is not imperiling the planet.
The planet will do fine. It has had a much nastier environment in the past and survived.
Pollution is a threat to us and other current life forms. It is not a threat to the planet, which might even be better off if Trump knocks off homo sapiens
1
Trump is a master at tearing down the hard work of others while offering nothing alternatively.
3
Just came home by bike riding up North Berkeley. Lots of houses were burning wood in their chimneys so it was hard to breathe. This Berkeley where people scream murder about Trump and the environment.
Moneyed interests in the US have indoctrinated a significant portion of the US population (called the 'Base') into believing an ignorant con-man would right the ravages of inequality.
Thus the perfect stooge is installed and the world shudders in disbelief at the sheer mendacity of this awful choice of leadership.
Let 'impeachment' be the word of the year for 2019.
Less trees
Less oxygen
Think about that for a minute
Tick Tock
2
These comments are well-intended (if virtue-signaling) and in cases well-informed, but this thread has become a polemical massage parlor. The time for smug sophistry was 1970. Hear the dreaded football analogy: It’s halftime. We’re way behind. It’s time for tough talk...and yet, to win, you’ve got to love the game. Here’s a play:
The New York Times is digital! Seen an article you’ll refer to frequently? You needn’t tape it to the fridge. In EVERY day’s NYT, any article (or several) can link you to any past article, or several. Not a sapling need be felled!
Now EVERY editorial like this one can link you to a “dashboard” or - let’s just say it - a PRIMER – a section which the Times maintains (“somewhere in cyberspace”) and constantly improves in completeness, correctness, and clarity, to educate readers on the BASICS of climate and conservation. Instead of simply saying “Trump is the worst thing that ever happened to the planet, but all the other leaders are bad too, but Trump is responsible for all of it, but when he leaves office it’ll still be bad…” you can say…well…pretty much that, of course, but after the editorial – no, before it – big text, bold color – you link to the primer. Readers master the basics incrementally and repetitively. Once they own the basic concepts and quantities, they’ll understand editorials that offer positive proposals for a brighter future. Fear is ignorance. Knowledge is power (even if it’s scary sometimes too).
1
The unfettered allowing the use of chemical poisons in the food supply and agricultural field by Big Agribusness chemical companies is giving them unfettered permission to “poach” precious IQ points from developing children!
But all capitalistic countries imperil our planet. It’s the greed factor baked into its DNA. What trump is doing is accelerating a planet that is already past the point of no return. We can mitigate the damage that our grandchildren and theirs will have to bear by acting now. But the damage is worse than we can know right now. The trumpian republicans really are the ignoramuses that we know them to be. It seems to be all about partying like the, well, like the world is going to end tomorrow. They point their crooked finger at china and India and say they are the reason why America cannot be suckers. What the politicians in this country do in the next few years will decide if we can have a future that is not one in which we are bracing from one disaster to the next each season until mother says, I’ve had it and crashes.
2
Let me try to post a comment again since my first one didn't get past the minders at the NYT's:
All these efforts towards reverse of climate change, other than adaption, will be for naught. Why?
1. Even if the Trump Admin was following all the half-measures of the Obama Admin and the Paris Agreement, they'll would all be nullified by developing nations - led by China and India - as they strive for and achieve our wasteful 1st world life styles.
2. We continue to ignore a cheap, abundant and safe energy source if deployed properly - nuclear power. Climate change purist are their own, and the planet's, worst enemy in their disdain for nuclear which can be an effective transitional energy source until we get truly cost efficient and effective solar and other sustainable sources up to scale.
3. Even with all of the above, the biggest issue is that the human population has outstripped its sustainable level. Earth's 7.7 billion people and growing is a population level that is 5-6 billion over what it should be. Until we do something to scale back humanity's massive population growth and its destructive impact due to food, shelter and care those people require, there will be no reversing, only compounding, the impact we've already wrought.
On that positive note - Happy New Year to all!
2
“Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink...” is a poem most of us are familiar with from High School. For me, that was back in the 50’s. Back then, it surely didn’t take a scientist to know what the message was about. Even conspiracy theorist would agree that you can’t live on Salt Water.
Today is a whole different story. We not only have to trust Science, but the Scientists. Add to that, a president who lives in his own dream world and his appointed chair people that are even less qualified than him, and you have a perfect example of “Chaos Theory.”
When someone lies to you about something that they just don’t understand, you can always forgive them for ignorance. When that ignorance costs not only you, but our very planet it’s existence, saying as an excuse “Sorry, I was wrong” is meaningless.
The vast majority of people on this planet today either don’t believe that climate change is going to put an end to our planet or if it really is true, then some brilliant scientists is going to fix the problem before it’s too late.
Warren Buffet famously said, “If you’ve been playing poker for 30 minutes and still don’t know who the fool is, IT’s YOU!
"Trump Imperils the PLanet"
Trump, imperils the planet.
Wow. What a nasty guy.
The day before he took office the planet was not imperiled.
Then he took office and the planet was imperiled.
It follows, then, that the day after he leaves offive the planet won't be imperiled any more.
Lucky for us, right ?
Who wrote this tripe ?
The "tangible" elements of the Paris Accord amount to nothing more than a financial structure that is heavily skewed and demonstrably incapable of achieving the stated goals of the Accord.
It is baloney.
Ditto, for the whining permeating the rest of this piece.
Why ?
Because all Trump has actually done, is got rid of federal government overreach and kicked the regulatory responsibility back to the states where it was supposed to be to start with.
The states can enact their own regulations any time they want to.
There is no increase in peril to the planet that can be blamed on Trump.
Want to make a difference ?
Turn off your computer, toss your smartphone, sell your car, grow your own food, stop using pharmaceuticals, paper products, and bottled goods, buy nothing with any hydrocarbon content, and live in the woods.
Good luck with that.
1
Putting money first is so short-sighted.
It’s like people remaining in a burning building, because they’re more invested in saving their money than saving their lives.
1
Anything that has to do with Obama is not good for Trump, so he is determined to undo every achievement that Obama had done. This, and his support for the white supremacists, are clear evidence that the 45th president is an unfit racist, who will do more harm to the country. That is why Mattis and other GOOD PEOPLE around him resigned.
1
More status-quo safe symptom surfing.
NYT won't (can't?) get fundamental—won't work from the 4.54 billion year sample of evolution on Earth, won't use science from the domains of physics, biology, evolution, complexity, etc.
1992: NYT didn't publish scientists' Warning to Humanity—didn't consider it newsworthy.
1970: “The oceans are in danger of dying.” Jacques Cousteau
(1977: American culture responds with The Love Boat)
That about sums up the essence of the world's response to our myriad problems.
That said, I'm doubtful that our response could be different. Yes, there are people who have gained power in the non-selectable confines of the status quo who have accelerated our demise. And yes, Trump is a member of that club.
But again, the problem is more fundamental.
The oncoming apocalypse is an emergent phenomenon.
I submit that two of the fundamental drivers are:
1 Exponentially accelerating complexity
2 Insufficient code—bio, cultural & tech—to process the alien, unprecedented environs / relationships we continue to generate with our numbers, power & concomitant reach.
Complexity increases weaken the efficacy of code, whether genetic legal monetary religious software, etc.
What is world culture's dominant app / information processing mechanism for generating vast relationship structures in-&-across Geo Eco Bio Cultural & Tech networks, & across Time?
It is humans deploying a 1000's of years old culture code: monetary code.
App's efficacy: crushed by complexity.
2
The almost erotic joy that Trump enjoys from sticking it to the environmental community is apparent...
... mental instability and power are a dangerous combination. Trump and his supporters seem to hate the environmental activists and scientists for being correct.
1
How is it possible that one man, a man who is smug, uninformed and reckless can be allowed to endanger the lives of 7 billion others?
the photo is awesome !
Once in a while I wish the editorial board would stop this never ending pandering to the liberal base. Yes, Trump is terrible and the editorial board's constant whining serves what purpose? This sort of editorial is strikingly similar to what Trump sells which is fear. Have you not frightened us enough? Unless he is impeached or unelected in 2020 what is the point of these relentless scare tactics? Selling newspapers, perhaps.
Shown the hockey stick deficit curve by some aides Trump is reported to have said: ''I don't care, I won't be there''.
This seems to be in line with his whimsical policy making.
He doesn't care about destroying your constitution, the environment, or anything else, as long as his famiglia lines its pockets with gold.
Corrupt Zinke, sold to big oil Pruitt, lying on his resume Whitaker, Shanahan the know nothing. I see a pattern here that 38% of US citizens don't.
All you can think of doing is waiting for the next elections?
You are doomed, so is the rest of the world.
1
Maybe it’s time to put this in language that GOP supporters can understand: Trump and the GOP are lining up America’s (and the world’s) grandchildren for a firing squad.
The man is a monster, something out of the worst of science fiction come true.
1
What will America’s grandchildren do for energy security, Mr. Griffith? You want to extract it all before they are even born
1
I know this is a negative, inappropriate emotion, but I hate Donald Trump and everything he stands for.
7.7 billion apes that's what imperiling the planet.
Thank you NYT to be frank about and focused on climate change.
THIS is the topic, NOT trump.
There is absolutely nothing to like about Trump or any of his enablers. They're all poisonous.
One of the most egregious climate change denier is the new senator Scott of Florida, previously its two term governor. Florida is ground zero for climate change evidence, yet his reflexive decisions were always for big business, which, as we know, have shown little concern for environmental issues if there is money to be had. People in his government were not even allowed to use the term, "climate change". With people like him in the Senate, you might as well bend over and kiss the livability of earth goodbye.
this is literally why the NYT now preaches to its coastal acolytes and reaches no one else. the same people that go home to carbon footprints the size of a small midwestern town lecturing the rest of us on the efficacy of a "feel good" accord that accomplishes nothing save throwing more of our money at a pipe dream. you don't have china, you don't have india. and above that, the only thing that transforms these issues is technology. the idea that the UN along with a bunch of bureaucrats is going to meaningfully and practically transform the planet is as absurd as it is laughable.
Enough with the "climate change" euphemism--seasons are climate change. This is Global Warming a term that was muted into Climate Change. Or better yet Global Warming Annihilation
According to Einstein and General Eisenhower big problems cannot be solved by making them smaller and dividing them in smaller parts, but making them bigger.
Thus, one way of making the problem of a looming climate catastrophe bigger is to solve it by solving another big problem such as the unjust, unsustainable and, therefore, unstable international monetary system. This can be done by transforming the international monetary system by basing it on the monetary carbon standard of a specific tonnage of CO2e per person. The conceptual, institutional, ethical and strategic dimensions of such carbon-based international monetary system are presented in Verhagen 2012 "The Tierra Solution: Resolving the climate crisis through monetary transformation" with background in www.timun.net.
Declared an outstanding economist and climate specialist about the Tierra system of global governance: “The further into the global warming area we go, the more physics and politics narrows our possible paths of action. Here’s a very cogent and well-argued account of one of the remaining possibilities.” Bill McKibben, May 17, 2011
2
I don't think that clapping saves the planet, only in the NYT editorials. Start with your own efforts, not with expensive monsters that transfer our hard earned money to Swiss banks into the accounts of 3rd world leaders.
What a wasted opportunity. This foolish president caters to a small number of supporters and the energy lobby with his regressive policies that brings him nothing but condemnation.
The approval he craves will always elude him.
Public opinion is against his recidivist ideas. We need a leader who is wiiling to allow scientific evidence to influence energy policy. This man is wrong for the time in so many ways but this is one of the most urgent examples.
Trump has no concept of “self-sacrifice for the greater good.”
To him it is apparently inconceivable that someone would give anything up on behalf of the environment or the welfare of the planet or for a little child whose parent is a migrant.
1
We have one planet... There is no alternative. Allowing ignorance as epitomized by Trump and his cult will certainly accelerate our species and planet to doom.
Vote like your life and those of your descendants depends on it...
The hyperbole is just crazy. When everything is a 10, nothing is a 10.
The New York Times Editorial Board and all of their reporters and columnists (especially Krugman with his constant references to Bernie Sanders cult followers) did all that they could possibly do to help Hillary Clinton win the Democratic Party nomination for President over Bernie Sanders.
You people got what you wished for.
It's time to celebrate, is it not?
2
We billions will be cursed by the small number of people who survive, if any survive, the coming apocalypse we have brought upon ourselves. Most of us are able to see, now, what is coming, but very few are willing to do anything about it, and many, given their unwillingness to make sacrifices now for the sake of future generations, resort to our talent for rationalization to justify our inaction or even to convince ourselves that it just isn't so. Given our shortsightedness as a species, it is hard to imagine that the few willing to act will be able to head the disaster off. A big part of the problem is our unwillingness to control our own population; the disaster will address that problem. We're like any species that has no predator to control our numbers: we multiply until the resources that sustain us run out. We covered this in my high school biology class. Unless a microbe-based pandemic shows up that we are unable to combat. But even if it wiped out 95% of us, the damage we have already done remains a big bill that is coming due. We claim to care about our children and grandchildren, but not enough of us care enough. A mass campaign of education might help slow it down, and that is one of the things that's worth doing. But the odds are getting very long, and every Republican administration since Reagan has made things worse rather than better.
1
Trump's head is stuck in the 1970's , when children could munch on lead paint and breathe in lead from car exhaust, thousands of coal miners were developing black lung, companies could dump toxins in waterways like the Love Canal without repercussions, DDT was still killing birds, and the US was in an energy crisis because it relied on Middle Eastern fossil fuels. Greenhouse emissions were a theory but no one worried about the implications much. Trump is too old and too ignorant of science to comprehend what is really going on. The Americans' position in Poland sickens me. When leadership is desperately needed the Americans have retreated into a myopic shell of denial.
This administration utterly lacks vision. It may well usher in the tipping point for the planet in its lack of leadership on GHGs, the biggest threat humanity has ever faced. We as a species may literally not survive Trump and his ilk.
165
@MM
Trump is a delegator, surely in areas he knows little about, so you have to look for hat the new semi sister of EPA is doing to form an opinion.
@MM Nah, Trump's head isn
't stuck in the 1970's. It's stuck in the mirror. Is not that he's too old - that's an insult to plenty of people with intelligence and foresight and simple humanity as well as age, who are not obsessed with ruining anything Obama has done.
13
@MM Do you suppose Trump is playing Devil's Advocate? It's possible . . . there's nothing like a common enemy to bring out the warrior in the uncommitted. Possibly wishful thinking on my part, but that's better than not thinking at all . . .
1
The sad part is that the gloomy IPCC reports are far more optimistic than the actual climate science, in large part because the IPCC reports don't include climate tipping points in their forecasts. Those tipping points, already on the move, will make things a lot worse a lot faster than the IPCC's forecasts.
The ever growing concentration of wealth worldwide has led to the concentration of political power in those with vested interests in profiting off the very things that are most likely to destroy us.
We cannot act in our own best interests because our political institutions have become too corrupted. Trump is a manifestation of this problem.
1
I have to chuckle a bit when I read this because you assume that the government, when it creates regulations, does so with perfect knowledge and no political bias. This is simply not the case. This concept that regulation (and government) can solve all problems is appealing but suffers from the assumption that you “can’t have too much of a good thing.” It’s just a truth that not all regulation ends up being “a good thing” but once codified these rules take on an untouchable nature. When this happens you can interfere with market based, intelligent ways to solve problems that can be more effective and efficient. There are many intelligent persons who believe that we may have reached a state where over regulation exists. Sadly for the left, this consensus appears to have led to a protest that has brought Trump into power and perhaps a pendulum swing to more deregulation than the majority might otherwise like to see. Perhaps the “averaging out” effect of this deregulation may prove to be a useful correction. We’ll see.
And your point is? Unfortunately humankind has demonstrated time and again that if you don’t have sufficient regulation, greed wins. The USA needs to learn this and it needs to be enforced.
2
Well I for one would rather not gamble on my grandchildren dying of cancer while gasping for air in a hot toxic hellhole. But that is just me.
2
I'm sick and tired of people who complain about environmental destruction yet continue to eat animal products, which seems to be just about everyone. The same people talk about compassion, but are complicit in mass atrocities against the defenseless. Just stop already.
4
Trump has not only gutted environmental regulations, but sabotaged advances toward a sustainable future powered by renewable energy.
Particularly solar: Trump’s tariffs on imported solar panels early this year caused US clean energy companies to freeze or cancel $2.5 billion in large solar installations, affecting thousands of US jobs, per Reuters reporting. He also slapped a 30% tariff on solar panels under NAFTA that Canada complained about. His tariffs on solar cells and modules from China are up to 55%.
In the mind of that demented “man”, in the Oval, anything clean must be sabotaged—only dirty fossil fuels allowed.
Japan now plans to go rogue and pull out of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), so they can slaughter the world’s whales for commercial purposes again. America has set the example of backing out on our word—Japan is following suit.
Trump's broken America’s word time and again, pulling our country out of TPP, the Paris Climate Agreement, Iran nuclear deal, the UN Human Rights Council, refused to sign the joint communique by the G7 nations and more. His word—verbally or on paper in business contracts— has never meant a thing.
Now he shames our country by making our word as worthless as his own. How many more nations will pull out of international agreements as that traitor Trump has done?
America and likely the planet will soon be a toxic soup and environmental catastrophe. May 2019 bring a historical first: the indictment of a sitting president.
2
What is most striking to me about Trump’s presidency is his indifference to... humanity. He gives not a whit about the human condition and how his nefarious policies are impacting the health and wellbeing of Americans. It is simply stunning how truly malevolent this “president” is.
2
Nothing illustrates the condition of overpopulation more vividly that the callous indifference of the Libyan patrol boat crew to the fate of drowning African refugees in the video posted by this newspaper yesterday.
Our value to each other has gone negative.
@Steve Bolger
Yes.
Callous indifference as a manner of relationship interface has been selected for.
In stressed environs, the margins of selection of tight, impersonal and brutally enforced.
From the brilliant James Lovelock: “Under pressure... genocide by tribal animals is as natural as breathing...”
The Horror.
In addition, here's some fundamental, selected relationship code, distilled in a talk by Donald Hoffman, cognitive scientist, UCI.
"Fitness and truth are utterly different things."
“Evolution is quite clear, it’s fitness and not truth that gives you the points you need to win in the evolutionary game.”
"Organisms that see the truth go extinct when they compete against organisms that don't see any of the truth at all ... and are just tuned to the fitness function."
"Perception is not about seeing truth; it's about having kids."
Fitness App: Deception
"Deception is a very deep feature of life. It occurs at all levels — from gene to cell to individual to group — and it seems, by any and all means, necessary."
"When I say that deception occurs at all levels of life, I mean that viruses practice it, as do bacteria, plants, insects, and a wide range of other animals. It is everywhere. ... Deception infects all the fundamental relationships in life: parasite and host, predator and prey, plant and animal, male and female, neighbor and neighbor, parent and offspring, and even the relationship of an organism to itself." Robert Trivers — The Folly of Fools
When my children told us they don’t want to have children, I cried, not in front of them, but I cried a lot and went into a deep depression for a white, and finally accepted that they should live their lives as they want. Watching what Trump has done to this country and the world, the damage that he has done to this beautiful country and beyond, this is not the world where I want my grandchildren to grow up. He is like a plague set to destroy everything good on this planet.
It's irrational to belive that the fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards are all entirety due to Trump. The liberals blamed Katrina on Bush. These same weather events occurred during the Obama interregum but he was not reponsible for them. Liberal duplicity at its best.
2
@Southern Boy
You seem to have forgotten that all of the environmental protection laws enacted under the Obama administration to reduce air & water pollution and decrease greenhouse gases are now being dismantled one by one by Donald Trump and his climate change-denying cohorts.
The changes we're seeing are real.
And this isn't "Liberal duplicity" -- this is SCIENCE.
3
America elected Trump. This is us, to the world. We need to get our act together.
1
@Liz
No. SOME Americans, the Electoral College, Russian-influenced social media, FOX news and Republican gerrymandering elected Trump.
The rest of us knew better.
3
Assume the worse and then multiply it by 100. This article is tip of the iceberg. There is alot that isn't even common knowledge. California usually has snow capped mountains now---not anymore. Wouldn't be surprised if Trump Administration experimenting with weather as if to fool all...........
1
Sathya Sai Baba, The Avatar, has told us that God hates pollution. Really.
1
I hope we do not look back to the conference in Katowice, and consider the anti-science behavior of delegates and their leaders that represented Poland, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Russia as criminals akin to the very worst in human history for having committed crimes against humanity.
Lets hope this horrific crime will be prevented.
3
Trump does care about global warming, when it affects his golf courses. He has succeeded in getting permission for two sea walls to be built at Doonbeg, Ireland, to stop "increased erosion due to rising sea levels and extreme weather this century..."
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/donald-trump-climate-change-golf-course-223436
You forgot to mention the minor detail that the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock (an imaginary “clock” conceived in 1947 representing how close those scientists think we are to nuclear war) to 2 minutes before midnight. That is the closest the clock has been to midnight since 1953.
That Donald Trump has the ability and authority to unilaterally push a button and unleash nuclear Armageddon is a thought that should frighten everyone. Oh, wait. I forgot. He’s a stable genius. Never mind.
The denialist mindset is not limited to trump and his
base. It is spread over a large part of the planet's
developed world. Although the examples of Poland
and Germany are bad enough, the three
much more significant examples are China, India,
and Brazil. Of which only Brazil is cited.
The question is whether trump's vile in your face stupidity is allowing other countries to justify sloughing off their concerns or whether it is largely irrelevant to them. The editorial seems to be under the illusion that if only this country would provide
strong leadership, others would step up and follow dutifully.
This unfortunately is not accurate. The economic pressure
imposed by domestic carbon energy providers translates
into significant domestic political pressure, and creates a
source of domestic inertia that pushes back at the advice to heed
what science is telling humanity. This will remain a powerful
obstacle since we are not dealing only with a rational response
to a difficult technical problem.
It is an illusion and naive to insist upon trying
to confine the nature of the response by emphasizing the rational only. We need a much more nuanced effort than that, one
that takes into account both the significant economic
costs of reducing the profits of carbon energy producers, and
the deep insecurity created by realizing that a change in lifestyles of consumption is inevitable. Such change is destabilizing
to too many. So they push back and vote for fools.
1
Of all the ignorant choices humans have made in all of time: the wars, inequalities, conquests, crimes, treacheries, corruption, and genocides nothing, nothing compares to the viscous exploitation of the environment that threatens all life on earth, because it’s the one thing that we cannot get away with.
1
With malice toward all, legacy for none. Crimes don’t get higher. Take him now, and if not, then every Republican on the ballot in 2020 with him. Every last mewing, cowering one of them. Out.
1
Oh come, come now... worse things were said about Abe Lincoln, and look how that all turned out.
(pauses, considers things for a moment)
Well... maybe not so good for honest Abe. But since we all agree that Trump is no Abe Lincoln, we can only hope for the best in the face of such drastic adversity! Or in the face of such spastic diversity.. ...whichever one best shapes our flexible contemporary milieu!
Once again it's down to "the better angles of our nature"... or, uh, something like that. I mean, shucks, let's not all of us forget the true course of expediency and convenience!
After Donald Trump was elected, an acquaintance, who is Director of Endangered Species Policy and environmental lawyer in D.C. commented, “the United States are committing suicide”. I’m surprised, it took only two years that his prophecy is already becoming reality.
1
Our sister planet, Venus, has a carbon dioxide atmosphere and a surface temperature that melts lead. We have a moronic president who wants to burn more coal. Survival over the long haul is highly doubtful unless we change course.
2
As we near the starting point of our third year with our four years of a lousy President, I urge everyone to take a break.
Yeah, he is awful. Yeah, it will be great when he is gone. But we need to be selfish. We need to look after ourselves, otherwise we will be greatly diminished.
Let our elected officials try to impeach him, if they want. But Pence might even be worse.
In any case, look after yourself. Don’t be sitting there clinching your teeth, hating him. At this halfway point, the time has come to worry about yourself, and please do, you deserve better.
The root of all this mess—every environmental problem, from global warming to raping the Amazon to elephant poaching, every social problem, from immigrants drowning in the Med to border walls—can be traced right back to birth control, and yet in all the posturing and discussions, no one says a word about it. I don't get it. Is it because men are still in charge?
Countries that give their populations little or no access to family planning methods overflow their borders as their populations search for protein for their children. Countries where birth control is practiced (and educated women in all industrialized countries, given their druthers, embrace family planning) complain bitterly about these immigrants.
All the problems we face, individually and collectively, can be traced right back to birth control: who's using it and who isn't. Unless and until we get a handle on this global issue, we can expect more of the same, no matter who is in charge.
And yet no one is saying a darn thing about it, much less doing anything about it; in the US, Republicans are actually antagonistic toward birth control use, both here and abroad. (Oh, but they'll spend however many billions on a stupid wall!) We blew it with Reagan, and it's been downhill ever since.
Like I said, it's mystifying to me.
1
Human overpopulation is at the core of all of the Earth's impending environmental catastrophes.
Neither Trump, the American public or the NYT are willing to address it.
All are culpable.
3
"Trump" is just one dude.
The world is a big place.
What would be better is to focus on those folks taking "Trump's" policies and doing stuff. Who are these people?
He's a sociopath. We expect nothing less from him, but what about the others? Are all these corporations so completely unmoored as to lack any decency at all? They would really all immediately dive into the "Trump" cookie jar of short-term gains as such a high longer-term cost to all of us including their children and grandchildren? Why?
WHO are these people??
1
OTHER rich sociopaths.
1
The damage wrought by this con-man, and his enablers and lackeys and sycophants, is colossal and staggering.
So many of us feel a suffocating, mortifying helplessness until the next presidential election. And yes, it reaches beyond our country to the entire planet.
Alas, our 18th century framers neglected to insert a "no confidence" clause in our founding document, as other more modern democracies have, witness our ally the UK.
Cooperation, Chairman Donald tweets, is for sissies and conflict is for real men who think bullying is a generic drug for testosterone deficiency.
How else does Chairman Dotard "fall a little in love" with Chairman Rocket Man, who bullies with the best and practices stand your ground diplomacy.
Bullies have a knack for picking who or what that can't fight back. It's the soul of men who think #METOO means Les (Moonves) gets more.
If like Trump your DNA pixilates the world as a mean and hostile place starting with people, what chance does the natural world have in all its splendor and complexity, the most compelling evidence of a deity?
The Prince of MeMineNow can't see the virgin forest from board-feet of timber. He looks out at purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain and sees a Trump casino, resort and golf course. Clean air is what you breathe in his climate controlled buildings. Who needs Global Warming cooperation when you can just rent from him?
Nature is just a real estate or fracking deal yet to be made. A Sagebrush is Melania's Christmas gift for his comb over. Prairie Dogs are mutts without AKC status. The unique ecosystem along the border needs a wall to divide native species from their habitats.
Nature is invasive as undesirable immigrants. Snow proves Global Warming is fake news. Author Jerry Mander calls it The Absence of the Sacred.
I think it's the predation of profit, when capitalists turn cannibal.
It's not peril. It's doom.
1
The sheer fantasy of this article is truly amazing.
Whether concrete, glass or plastic, this president feels most at home in environments of man-made materials - preferably gilded to the max. He has also spoken appreciatively of his Manhattan apartment being hermetically sealed off from the outside. He has zero interest in the natural world- past, present or future. In short, to borrow from Melania’s jacket -
He Really Doesn’t Care, Do U?
It's remarkable that elections are easily frivolous mascot selection processes that give free rein to craziness—like Brexit, as well as Trumpism.
The harm that Trump is doing was dimly anticipated by the MINORITY of voters who voted for an entertainer.
There is no wisdom to elections. They happen. They're marketing competitions. What degree of the public has any decently informed idea how government works—or how easily the Constitution allows for authoritarianism? We see now. Here we are, living with a childish blowhard. There's nothing new to be said about him. He's free to be a bull in the china shop of fragile society, fragile planet.
This avid reader of the Times despairs about the efficacy of intelligent views. We hand wring about Trumpism until we're blue in the face—no, red, because we increasingly suffer hothouse Earth.
Trump is thumbs up, whatever the event. And we can do nothing about it but whine.
Money trumps human health.
We are all frustrated at the ignorance and devil-may-care attitudes displayed by so many people in positions of power, but it is especially bitter to watch the elected American leader (yes, the people of the USA elected him) trampling in the wrong direction. As the article once more observes, the previous state of affairs was not exactly a complete triumph over greed and ignorance, but was at least a hesitant step in the right direction. In all fairness to the proverbial bull in a china shop, Mr T more closely resembles a herd of enraged elephants rushing towards oblivion, at the same time affording cover to other criminal leaders around the globe.
1
This is all the more reason we need to enact a national program to place a price on the negative consequences of burning fossil fuels. We need to bring the cost of human made CO2 into the economy. The revenue neutral fee and dividend program proposed by Citizens Climate Lobby , introduced to Congress this month by a bi-partisan group of Republican and Democratic Congresspersons is such a program: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/energy-innovation-and-carbon-dividend-act/
1
Climate change is important. Vitally important. But when we come to species extinction, it's time to consider the Homo Sapiens' ashes glowing in the nuclear dark. DJT is beyond a loose cannon. He is beyond description as a danger to the existential fate of the planet and all its flora and fauna.
1
The effects of having an ignorant ,erratic and blowhard narcissist as president may not be felt until after he leaves office. The trillion $ plus deficit that funded the already rich will burden the country's ability to do meaningful projects like infrastructure due to lack of funds. The GOP engineered tax cut s will sharply reduce government revenue. The retiring boomers will further drain the treasury as well as the gutting of the IRS favoring the rich tax dodgers like Trump. The quality of our air and water will get worse as Trump's revenge vs Obama's making fun of him at a dinner. Coal is not the fuel of the future and flooding with hurricanes intensified Trump will be in Mar A Lago as dementia takes hold and his blonde head piece shows bald spots. We will be left with his mess.
1
This country is no longer being held hostage to the tree huggers and environmental wacko, ALgore wing of the democrat party. The Paris Accords were a bad deal for America. It took real courage to withdraw from that monstrosity. Every body is for clean air and water. But balancing those interests against the need for pure clean coal, oil, fracking, offshore drilling, the Alaskan pipeline, and other precious fossil fuels is what an executive must weigh. That was on the ballot. So far Trump gets an A minus on the environment, and an A plus on the economy. Is he perfect? No. But compared to Obama, America indeed has a new day.
With 5% of humanity America has about 25% of the world's prisoners and 25% of the nominal GDP while annually spending as much on it's military as the next eight nations combined including 10x Russia and 3x China.
What threatens endangered species and the environment is climate change. What threatens America's endangered species and environment is scientific ignorance and stupidity plus greed and hubris.
What threatens endangered species and the environment is a supine Congress and a complicit judiciary. What threatens endangered species and the environment is hidden from the American people in Donald Trump's personal and family income tax returns and business records.
What threatens endangered species and the environment is doing whatever Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman want America to do in order to make their nations great again.
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@Blackmamba
True, and yet superficial, i.e., symptoms, if one deploys more fundamental aspects of causation from physics, biology, evolution, complexity, etc.
“We need scarcely add that the contemplation in natural science of a wider domain than the actual leads to a far better understanding of the actual.” Sir Arthur Eddington
We’re not coded to process, to navigate, the alien, unprecedented, complex environs / relationships we continue to generate with our numbers, power and concomitant reach.
We’re coded to interface with local environs in a relatively short-term manner with mostly linear dynamics.
We’re not coded to process complex global relationship information with exponential dynamics and myriad long-term consequences — which are emergent phenomena.
Like this:
“There were 5 exabytes of information created by the entire world between the dawn of civilization and 2003; now that same amount is created every two days.” Eric Schmidt — Googleous Exec.
Code: fundamental, physics efficacious relationship infrastructure in bio, cultural & tech networks: genetic language math moral religious legal monetary software, etc.
"The story of human intelligence starts with a universe that is capable of encoding information." Ray Kurzweil
Complexity increases weaken the efficacy of code.
Verily, if your culture's relationships with the Sky & Ocean are deadly, your cultural genome sucks.
4
@Blackmamba: The US is the proverbial ostrich with its head buried in the sand, that can't even pick up the vibrations of what is sneaking up on it because it is stone deaf and doesn't even know that.
5
@Blackmamba Wow, equating Israel with Russia, quite a stretch. Hmmmm. Israel is now worse than unmentioned China! Extraordinary. Something smells.
3
I'm surprised he hasn't signed an executive order allowing condominium development in Yellowstone. Trump is a throwback to the robber barons of the early 20th century and has no place in our future.
5
Republicans say they don’t want their grandchildren to inherit a large debt or deficit but they don’t mind leaving them a depleted planet.
5
You can't count on a President who never reads and can't even spell. I'm sorry he is scientifically ignorant. and not willing to be informed. We must vote for a Congress that will change our
our energy policy from polluting fossil fuels to solar/wind which we have an abundance of. Imagine the new jobs it will create homegrown for clean self-sufficient energy versus transporting and burning polluting fossil fuels. This is the future.
Same with electric cars which we must support to reduce our emissions. Can be done with a stroke of the pen and must happen soon. We need leaders not people looking backwards, certainly not now.
2
It would be a mistake to imagine that this is Trump alone destroying America's greatness.
His entire cabinet is full of establishment Republicans, and is merely doing what previous GOP cabinets did too.
And as Mr. Griffith's quote now proves beyond any doubt: the GOP has become the Greedy Old Party.
Instead of the party of values, they've become the party of sins.
That's the only way to explain how they could ever imagine that one of the worst liars and sinners could somehow nevertheless lead America to bigger greatness - and much more so than a woman who doesn't lie nor sin.
During the Civil Rights movement, it has been their morally exemplary behavior that has allowed African-Americans to make white Americans turn away from sinning, when it comes to loving thy neighbor as thyself through opposing racism.
Today, with climate change being the defining issue of our generation - and without any doubt many generations to come - it's up to young people (liberal and conservative) and all those who have managed to keep their hearts and minds open and hopeful, to lead by example and start what Van Jones calls a "spiritual revolution".
That includes learning to first see our common humanity, when meeting someone you disagree with, and who may have largely lost a real connection to deep, fundamental moral values.
Taking care of each other through taking care of the planet is now one of those values.
The West doesn't need more economic growth, we now need spiritual growth.
1
What many don't seem to understand is that republican opposition to conservation and sane environmental policies goes way beyond economics and greed. Yes, for the Kochs and executives of fossil fuel companies those are the motivating reasons. But for republican voters, the environment is just another front of the US culture wars. For most conservatives, environmental protection has always been seen as weak and effeminate (real men drive gas guzzlers). And, added bonus, trashing the environment really ticks off the liberals. What's not to love?
2
Don't give Trump all the credit. The Republican Party has scoffed at climate change, encouraged drilling for oil no matter the environmental harm, has taken huge big energy support at every election. Trump is not only following through on his cretin ideas he's carrying out Republican policy.
3
Christmas is often proclaimed as a holiday for children- where adults enact a fantasy that prolongs ever so briefly the magic of the world. Yet apparently no country hates its children more than the United States-its reckless, tantamount to evil- environmental policies condemning its children and its children's children to a nightmare of unending destruction and struggle for their very existence. A struggle fought every day in many poor countries like Yemen- where American weapons are used to starve children, hiding behind the facade of a fight against terror. Beckoning the question- who and what is the real terror.
Perfection in the world is by definition impossible. Yet what we see are not the faults of the mere ignorant- but the willful cruelty of many- laid bare for the world to see and to suffer.
The nature of people like Trump is to not pay for what they get. That is the underlying problem we face: people wish to use natural resources—and to dispose of waste—without paying the cost. Instead, they burdon everyone around them with the cost.
There is another word for not paying for what you get: stealing.
trump is doing the planet no favors but, please, the rot predates his birth...since ever, our politcals have failed (under the wing of special-interest corporates, to be sure, but failed nevertheless) and more important, we the people have failed, let them get away with it, not willing to give up a shred of convencience for the sake of the planet...even after the stunning revelation of its vulnerability in the "blue-marble" photos from space.
2
Trump is a good con man, perhaps at times a consummate one.
He can sense who is sufficiently amoral or gullible or vain or greedy or angry or fearful or bigoted or ideologically focused to be a mark.
Then he exploits foibles so that the mark loyally surrenders materially and perhaps spiritually to his will and to his service.
Currently he's playing his Right Wing Authoritarian mean angry victimized by establishment bigoted anti-"liberal" anti-"EPA" persona expertly because in the USA that leverages winning the Electoral College and Presidency.
He perhaps is a con man genius but he hasn't the intellectual depth, honesty, curiosity, or scholarly fortitude to really handle complex problems.
Nor does he have the necessary humility a true "scientist" (hard or soft type) must have to admit mistakes/see beyond their presuppositions.
Worse he is enabled by the current similarly vile GOP.
By far MOST voters will reject them but doesn't matter - he will win EC and GOP will win powerful Senate.
They are existential dangers to our current and future economic, social, and physical health.
Their lack of focus and antipathy re: real problems and opportunities is stunningly dangerous to us.
Where are they going re:
Infrastructure, privacy, internet security, healthcare, global warming, healthier air/water/food, education, innovation, cleaner energy?
Social peace/cohesiveness/"brotherhood"/democracy?
Trump/GOP should NOT be in office - they are dangerous.
Get woke America!
Trump's callous disregard for the environment, if for nothing else, should be reason for impeachment.
The comments are heartfelt but how about action? How many commenters would accept a 5 dollar per gallon fuel tax to include aircraft, a national program to build fast breeder reactors, meat only once per week, closing the current open border, getting rid of birthright citizenship and a two child policy enforced with significant penalties in the US? Every new family is a new US consumer who drives a car, wants air conditioning and enjoys the pleasure of meat with every meal. Obviously very few....so even NYT readers and editors are not serious about global warming. If it was a serious threat I assume attitudes might change....too late.
1
We are a pathetic race if the future of our planet, mother earth is left to one individual named Donald J. Trump. Firstly the current state of climate change of our over populated planet that is endangering several species began with the Industrial revolution, gas and diesel guzzlers that get spit out of assembly lines, coal burning mills and industries. Secondly, we the people, the consumers did not reverse our dependence on fossil fuels and coal for over 100 years. How many of the members of the editorial board of NY Times and its readers walk or bike or drive small fuel efficient cars to work or get around and boycott products manufactured by polluting industries?? How many recycle used materials and not see their waste being burnt into smoke that is spewed into the air. I was surprised during my recent visit to Boston that its skyline is surrounded with chimneys gushing out foul smoke. San Francisco recently became briefly the most polluted city in the world. More than the cities of the 2 most populated countries in the world, China and India.
The Trump admin. has not done anything differently to diminish air quality than any other admin. Yes the Trump admin. has refused to sign a piece of paper called the Paris accord. No amount of regulation and accords are going to change human behavior of polluters. We the inhabitants of the planet have to take matters in our own hands and be the change we want to see by example and by advocacy for a safer and cleaner mother earth.
2
Trump wasn’t the President who took solar panels off the White House roof. That was Reagan. Who then tried to dismantle the EPA like Trump is doing now.
Trump wasn’t the President who backed out of climate change and greenhouse gas emission treaties. That was Bush. Who then let Cheney slam through fracking.
Trump didn’t steal the 2000 Presidential election from Al Gore who would have committed the USA to renewable energy and lowering carbon emissions. That was Bush Seniors doing.
And it was the world oligarchs who pulled all the strings and ordered their puppets to ignore climate change from 1980-2008 when there was still time to act. We will never get those lost 30 years back.
Trump is an ecological disaster. But he’s simply putting the last nails in the coffin lid
The NYTs Editorial Board has a short memory when it comes to who has destroyed the world.
1
In the aspect of environment, Trump epitomizes the deep desires of the current GOP, corporate profits at any cost! If the general population and workers are dying off because of air unfit to breath, food and water that is poisoned, working conditions that boarder on deadly, etc. it doesn't matter. In the GOP view, they will simply reproduce and make more of themselves keeping a continuing flow of bodies into their profit machines.
No.
Stop blaming Trump for the evils Republicans have always done. Republicans need to get wrapped into the policies of Trump. Stop blaming Trump individually when it is all elected Republicans complicit.
This is why Republicans always win - Liberals have no clue how to 'fight'.
Has anybody ever listened to Carlin and saving the planet? "The planet will be fine. The people are (fill in the blank)!"
We're neglecting something else as well.
Green energy and the conservation of energy are big up-and-coming areas.
OK, the Republicans refuse to see that they're wrecking the environment. But why can't they see that they're lazily putting us way behind in an emerging economic area, as they let other countries get an unbeatable lead?
It's not that they are FOR economics. They just have no unfettered creative thinking or imagination.
3
No matter what might be done now to slow the amount of carbon being released into the atmosphere, it seems that sea level is already destined to rise significantly. Estimates vary, but it seems that hundreds of millions of humans will need to be permanently relocated to higher ground if they are to survive this new reality. It is urgent that we start seriously planning for the orderly relocation of those who currently live along the Earth's coasts.
A survey on public transportation in my reliably liberal area found that folks wanted everyone else to take the bus so there would be more room on the highways for their cars.
It is obvious to me that very few really want to experience any sort of discomfort in order to save our planet. I am going to witness the crumbling of civilization in my twilight years and I fear for my son and his friends. Best of luck to you all!
Lets not forget that Trump was partly elected by his retrograde followers to roll back environmental regulations. The fight to save the planet from global warming was never going to be an easy one but Trump's election signaled a significant step backward, if not the end of the fight.
The 1% did not spend all of its millions to buy the Republican party without expectations of a payoff, and defeating responsible environmental policy was a big part of that. Humans will bicker and negotiate right through the time where this disaster could at least be mitigated, if not avoided.
God help the younger people in this world who will pay the price for our ignorance.
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@Jim Dickinson: The present state of the US is a product of the investments made by millenarian plutocrats with their own ideas about how to cleanse the planet.
My theory is that only a small fraction of the 1% care about the health of out planet. The others will leave and settle on a different, cleaner planet. They have an abundance of resources; more than enough to afford the opportunity.
Thank you for this appropriately passionate plea. At the same time, it must be noted that US science continues to provide the world with the essential analysis and strategy proposals to face our environmental future in proper ways.
For further emphasis coupled to problem analysis, explore William Nordhaus Nobel award lecture on the idea of carbon tax: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2018/nordhaus/facts/
For scientific reasons to be counter-intuitively optimistic about our capacity to find solutions to pending and future challenges, see Paul Romer's inspiring talk on what science and human nature have in store for making progress happen: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2018/romer/lecture/
In all honesty, I believe the right would rather see the world burn than admit they’re wrong.
4
This President of disruption has, through his policies, driven America straight in the direction of greed, and turned the EPA into Trump's Environmental Pollution Agency. The petroleum plutocrats support and encourage him. Is this what making America great again looks like?
1
Not to let Trump off the hook (I despise him and everything he stands for), but if humans worldwide don't STOP HAVING BABIES immediately, no mitigation schemes of any kind will ever really help.
1
This absurdly surreal retreat from environmental protection and abdication to corporate and fossil fuel interests will not only harm the quality of life in America but threaten any attempt to reverse global warming. Unlike other Trumpian diversions, these deregulation rulings will eventually threaten man’s survival and the essential biodiversity of our planet.
It is madness and insanity and needs to be opposed and reversed by the public. The Republican Party needs to become more progressive and responsive to these environmental and health realities.
Otherwise it too must go extinct in order for our country to survive and prosper.
72
@IN Don't forget, though, that the effects of trump's "foreign policy" could wipe out humanity faster than climate change.
3
Trump - the proponent of coal sees $$$$ not black lung disease and the early death of miners. Hecand the EPA ignore that 50% of US waters are polluted. Removing protection for watersheds is ignorant - the small streams and rivers feed the larger rivers and lakes. Much of the pollution comes from agricultural runoff - pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotics (80% are used in animal feed). All those artificial sweeteners and drugs we consume - water pollutants not treated by waste water plants. People pay through increases in disease and poor health and corresponding health costs. Producers repeat profits.
Mr Griffith is no philosopher, he’s embodiment of America at it’s worth: bragging about it’s ignorance, vulgarity at display on the world stage. Washington, Lincoln and former great American leaders are spinning in their graves at the man a large enough minority of prejudiced voters chose to sit in the White House - and who Mr Griffith is yet another fine representative of. If the current administration has any guiding philosophy it’s the philosophy of president Snow in the Hunger Games.
1
Worry less about climate change, and more about the aquifers that are about to be destroyed by the roll backs in environmental regulation. While it is true that Trump's environmental regulation roll backs, generally, are a threat to future decades, his actions concerning oil-gas drilling and the allowed draw downs made by industrial agriculture have immediate impact on much of America west of the Mississippi. He has relaxed application rules on many chemicals that seep into our rural and urban water sources. People will die now because of what these administrators are doing now. We need to get this administration out of office. These are regulations that were put in place to save American lives. This man and his administrators are killing your kids, America, and maybe you, too.
3
The EB should go work for action movies or comics. They have the world's greatest villain -- TRUMPMAN -- and they know that if only we somehow can remove from office the world will be saved.
Not only saved, but be practically perfect in everyway.
Listen, everyone has the right to like or dislike the politicians of their choice. You can loathe, love, despise or deify a political figure. But to assume that one person is the root of all our problems is simply laughable.
1
When 62 million voters elect a candidate who promised, in no uncertain terms, that he would dismantle the entire efforts made by the Obama Administration to reduce fossil fuel emissions as one step to combat climate change, we can and should not hold Trump responsible for the insane decisions and actions taken to promote Global Warming. We MUST blame the 62 million Americans who apparently support his position. Democracy in an ignorant nation will inevitably become self-destructive. And that is precisely what is happening to this nation. Except that in our case
because of our Global Leadership status, we will also destroy the World making Evangelicals extremely happy as Rapture becomes imminent!
1
Get used to it people. This is what it's like to live in the age of the robber barons. All wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of the few. They don't care what pollutions trickle down hill because people are powerless. A single election in 2020 won't correct the slide into autocracy, Open your eyes and look around you at the rest of the world. It will surprise all of us how fast the descent into environmental and social oblivion can happen. You can wring your hands all you want but the guy who put the chemicals in your drinking water just bought his 10th yacht. He couldn't care less. The only counter-measure for 70 years of regressive politics is 70 years of progressive politics. Republicans learned a long time ago how to thwart the aspirations of those who think "fairness" should have a place at the table. Democrats need to play for keeps before all is irreparably lost. In the meantime, don't drink the water!
154
@joe, My advice: Relocate somewhere above the 42nd parallel and start buying land. I suggest Buffalo, NY.
The people fleeing climate change will need somewhere to live. Get there first and stake your claim.
1
@joe There will be no living if the robber baron types continue raping and fouling the planet ...
4
@joe aux barricades!
5
Actually we should not be blaming Trump alone. It is the Republicans in the United States who are endangering the planet and all of us who vote for Republicans. If enough of us really cared, we could elect politicians who care about our future and we could make changes in our own lives.
7
Yes, but now America is FIRST! Whatever that means. Just thank the Trump voters. It is always exciting when the minority rules.
Extinction Rebellion is quickly becoming a powerful force for addressing climate catastrophe. We're not just playing with fire; we're facing possible species extinction with less than twelve years to turn things around. Trump and his fellow deniers are beyond evil, architects of an unprecedented planetary disaster. As Extinction Rebellion suggests, "Hope dies. Action begins." Bad as it is, we must keep fighting for Earth's continued address for humanity and our fellow species.
1
This is not a matter of 'going backward'. It's a death spiral. Climate change is not about NYC subways and beach erosion. It's global habitat loss, extinction, food chain annihilation. Wake up. Ain't no technological fix at all without a vastly bigger change in moral responsiveness. The world may need to provoke a limited nuclear exchange against us just to save their lives from our GOP.
1
Trump? Somewhat. But for sure, it is big industry and people, especially in Asia, that are responsible for the vast majority of the world's pollution. That big plastic blob in the Pacific Ocean does not come from the East Coast of the United States or Western Europe. Think!
2
In this presentation ( https://youtu.be/KsecTT1SIrg?t=38m45s ) the renowned glaciologist Richard Alley shows a map of the world ( http://images.slideplayer.com/25/7879892/slides/slide_17.jpg ) with red areas where he says that if we don’t change our ways, by the time his students are old the average summer would be hotter than anything yet experienced, with 90 percent confidence.
And that we would lose 40 percent of the ability to work outside in the hot months, with some countries it’ll be closer to 100 percent. (unless you can afford an air-conditioned tractor)
By late in this century you’d start to have places where it is projected to be too hot to survive outside, it’s like being locked in a hot car on a summer day with no air conditioning, you die.
Next century those areas would spread. We’re talking about taking the average out of human experience in a world where crops are already stressed by heat.
2
Now it must be enough of this blaming of Mr. Trump for all that is going wrong in this world. He is doing his very best in a very difficult situation. The focus of most people around the globe today is completely myopic and infantile, living like we -- as a species -- are somehow in a singular position in the web of life, and elevated above the rest of Nature's diversity of organisms. We all live in a highly precarious time regarding the future of this planet, and only a complete turnover of mind will save us from extinction. May the new year be a harbinger of that change in an ecological and libertarian direction.
Its very obvious that people have not cared about the planet for decades. Consumerism, animal testing, poisoning the water, soil, air, disappearance of the bees and insects, bats, vaquita porpoise, rhino, great barrier reef, rainforests, wetlands, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
It is obvious to me now, as it is to so many, that we are a strange species, possibly filled with and controlled by evil forces, possibly just completely and stupidly nearsighted.
Look at how many trees are killed to produced a daily newspaper for one year, plus all the carbon emissions moving it around, etc.
I read an article yesterday that 170 MILLION Americans have been subjected to radiation....
Sad that Trump cares so little for his grandchildren that he is willing to risk their health and potentially their lives to enrich the industries he supports (and who supported him).
1
Since Trump is a danger to the planet - and thus humanity and millions if not billions of people - shouldn't he be removed from office? Is there even a question? There are legal ways to do this without violating the Constitution. Shouldn't an existential threat to humanity qualify as "high crimes"?
2
If all the warnings from scientists and the warning signs which we can see with our own eyes, too innumerable to list, have not been enough to induce a radical change in our attitude towards the wonderful planet that we inhabit, then perehaps we should ask ourselves whether we deserve to be here.
Such utter distain for the future of all the living creatures on earth, including ourselves, might suggest that the world would be better off without us.
1
A fellow employee did a trip to China last year and from a hotel-- residing in Beijing-- and could barely see across the street due to smog... the US was and is on to pollution control well ahead of the rest of the world. Globalist imposition of standards on our nation are unwise.. the US post WWII was positioned as leader of the free world.. that positioning was gradually rusted out by tragic political and military activities..
The President is returning the country to a stance of sense and strength.. Too many revolt to a tampering with their game..
If only it were as easy as staring down one incompetent President. When Republicans trumpet "de-regulation" this is what they're talking about. Although we all drink the same water and breathe the same air, only one of our two political parties gives a hoot about this issue. The moneyed interests of the Republican Party continue to exploit the environment in pursuit of greed. They have concluded they won't be here when the bill becomes due and any notion of shared humanity is lost on them.
Trump is simply executing standard Republican policy here - it's up to the voters to stop electing them.
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NO, Mr. Roseavelt,The Con Don is executing the International Mafia 0.01% Robber Baron/Radical religion Good Old Boys' cabal policy. They are just using the greedy republican party.
3
President Trump likes to play checkers instead of chess: the issue of climate change is one of sustainable long-term growth and well-being, so it will not penetrate the short-term agenda, unless we can demonstrate that climate proactivity will cost China more than the US.
2
Trump's economic growth is based on cutting environmental regulations and taxes. These policies will cost future generation; they are the result of the intersection of an anti environmental posture with a fatal unwillingness to invest in the future. Like other aspects of Trump's presidency, it is merely the ugly exaggeration of decades of irresponsibility.
America grew rapidly since the 50's; much of this growth a result of our last major infrastructure investment; the interstate highway system. This generated growth in residential construction, automobiles, the oil industry, and more. I am not happy with the sprawl, the pollution, or the lifestyle which accompanied this growth, but that is beside the point.
Success generates complacency and the oil industry, thru its lobbyists, began to control many aspects of government. The development of clean alternate energy, mass transit, higher density housing to create public open space, was minimized because of this dominance. Their narrative that 'subsidy' is wrong is sheer hypocrisy; the oil industry has been subsidized by many ways, up to and including war.
The Trump administration's dismissal of environmental concerns and tax policy is merely the continuation of an economic policy in which 'vision' means the next quarterly report.
We did not invest into our future; with a bit of that oil profit America could have been a world leader in green technology.
Future generations will pay, and dearly.
10
@CD: The religious fanatics of the world value science only for its utility to advance weapons technology.
Of course Donald Trump and his administrators (whoever they happen to be today) are environmental ogres, and going back to the Paris accord would be a good thing. But it would be even better for the environment to go back further to when the Earth had "only" two billion people.
4
I just read in the FT that the tax scam is yet another train the GOP set on course for a cliff. The sugar high effects are already wearing off. All the money went to wealthy investors ( many not Americans ) and corporations. The deficit is ballooning for the first time during a period of economic prosperity. They must be held responsible!
@Watchman: The stock market flash in the pan was the biggest corporate stock buyback and bonus payout to managements in history.
1
There's probably not a single NASCAR fan who cares a fig about AGW or clean water or conserving fuel, but whole swaths of Americans who claim they care about these things don't put their money where their mouths are. Many refuse to take public transportation even when it's available, and as the recent GM car plant closings demonstrate, they want to drive nothing but gas guzzling SUVs--not cars.
Americans of all political stripes continue to long for super-sized homes they can heat and cool to perfect temperatures. Soccer moms who voted a straight Democratic ticket in the midterms continue to casually drive gas guzzling SUVs miles to pick up a quart of milk and go for a Saturday morning pedicures. Meanwhile, plastic, our favorite petroleum product, is so ubiquitous a part of our lives it's now formed a new continent in the Pacific, and is showing up in the flesh of animals--and still people won't carry their own bags to the supermarket.
Trump is merely a noxious and grotesque expression of the American way of life.
8
@Emile,
Those soccer moms voted for and supported President Obama, who made serious advancements in the areas of vehicle efficiency, renewable energy, and reducing coal burning.
"Democrats" are perfectly happy to pay a bit more for electricity for a short period, and they are perfectly happy to drive more efficient vehicles like hybrids, because they understand that we are in the 21st century not the 19th, and we are making a transition to technologies that are *better*, even *without* the issue of CO2 caused climate change.
If government subsidized and regulated that transition the way it did for fossil fuels in the past, we would very soon have soccer moms all driving *electric* SUV, charged by their rooftop solar panels, to pick up the milk and get the pedicure.
Your argument is specious and silly, and not based in reality.
1
@Emile
A perfect description of the problem we have created.
A non-hypothetical question for everyone who has read this editorial and lives in a town or city with public transportation: if you have been driving, why not switch to public transit and/or non-motorized transportation? Anticipating some of your responses, a few more questions. How far is too far to walk to a bus stop? Is there a medical reason you can't walk or ride a bicycle? How many bags of groceries or young children are too many for you to manage on a bus or train? How cold is too cold for you to be outside? How many hours do you spend in front of a screen?
@Emile Thanks for this challenge - I am so guilty of all and we can add excessive trash to it. I worry about having an RV + a house yet don't want to forgo either. I know with my sentiment regarding preservation of nature I am on par with Trump because I don't take action on what I believe in. Moral issue?
Obviously we need a new leader, but who? No one who ran in 2016 seems like a good choice. After long consideration, I have decided I could and should vote for Senator Whitehouse. He is a thinking, reasonable man, and he's been sounding the clarion call about climate change for years. Look him up; check him out. He's my choice. Let's put Whitehouse in the White House. Then we had better start praying, because it is going to be a bumpy ride.
Trump imperils the planet?
A population of a few million human hunter-gatherers was apparently beyond the carrying capacity of the planet as most places where we showed up the megafauna disappeared.
Around 10-12,000 years ago, when large climate oscillations settled down, we developed agriculture which allowed us to double our population many times into the billions.
But agriculture faces big challenges if we don’t change our ways soon (1), as do our fisheries, and if they both decline significantly, forcing us back to being largely hunter-gatherers, history tells us that out of every 1000 people you see maybe one survives.
Except this time it won’t be meat on the hoof with mastodons, large flightless birds and picking lobsters off the beach. No, going back to trying to hunt and gather during the 6th mass extinction isn’t the best timing so one in a thousand is likely wildly optimistic.
1 IPCC Western N America drought 1900-2100
http://icons.wxug.com/hurricane/2013/drought-western-us-1900-2100.png
1
@Erik Frederiksen: Genocidal warfare originated when the first tribes hunted-out the forests they competed for by population growth to control.
The two leading contributors to climate change are transportation and animal agriculture. If you drive and eat food then you have the ability to control your own carbon footprint every time you use transportation and at every meal. Republicans are in denial and Democrats are sitting around waiting for government to force change and blaming Republicans for doing nothing while they also do nothing. This is the most important issue of our time and yet very few people are willing to actually do something, anything, to reduce their own carbon footprint.
3
As long as Donald Trump remains the worst president in American history is as long as his Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior will continue to ashcan America's pledge to roll back carbon emissions and fight climate-warming with 175 other countries and the European Union. Denying climate change -- the extinction of endangered species -- is flat-earth, birther, retrogressive thinking. Ignorance. Trump pulled America out of the Paris Agreement which President Obama joined in Europe in 2015. Anything Obama agreed to is anathema to Trump. Scientific reports on the effect of fossil fuels, coal, oil, fracking, on the planet, causing the worst consequences of climate-warming are ignored by Trump and his outspoken deniers of climate change. No matter how devastating the Trump administration's health and environmental effects on earth may be, Mr. Trump will continue to call climate-warming a hoax, and will act according to his malign whims. Forget about cleaner and sustainable fuels, drill baby drill. Carbon dioxide and chemical emissions produced by global economic growth are choking all of mankind on Earth. We can only hope and pray that Mr. Trump's chaotic presidency will be repealed and replaced in the New Year. Either that or his continuing presidency will continue to cause the extinction of flora, fauna, fish and human life on our blessed bright blue planet in the cold dark realm of our universe.
2
We are in the midst of World War III.
It is not a war between countries, but a war of all countries against our selves.
We are at a critical point where we choose to limit our consumerism and save our planet, or avert our eyes and let unimaginable harm happen to the Earth and all of humanity.
The Earth can heal, I am sure of it. But as in any war, we must ration ourselves. And if governments refuse to step up, we must demand corporations step up.
We are at the same crossroads as Europe in 1939. But it’s not democracy at stake, it is the entire planet.
10
We are not going to end our addiction to burning carbon until the planet forces us to stop. Not until our coastal cities are completely inundated and abandoned. Not until perpetual forest fires rule the West. Not until our farmland dries up. Not until runaway global warming is locked in. That is a cold, hard fact.
My advice: Study the science and figure out how to prepare and adapt to the worst case scenario. That is the only credible solution.
5
When I was growing up in WW2 England, there was a payment made to parents for each child successfully produced, which continued until said child became 16 years old. This is a part of the problem we face today, government sponsored population growth, absolutely no regard as to whether the earth could support these extra humans, the main thing of course was to maintain a good supply of cheap labor. This practice is just part of the reason why the earth is so terribly over populated. Added to that of course is the doctrine of the Catholic Church and the widespread practice of people having large numbers of offspring in many of the poorer regions of the world as protection from the exigencies of old age. I can’ t see these firmly entrenched ideas being reversed any time soon so I feel very pessimistic for the future of our species and many more.
Too bad but there it is.
3
Either we reduce our planetary footprint by ourselves or the forces of nature will do for us by wiping us off the face of the earth with violence,cruelty, and indifference. The choice is there for a short time and the clock is ticking.
1
And, no matter what calamities Trump's policies inflict on us and the international community, he will deny the calamity exist and/or blame some lower level bureaucrat.
6
Excellent article but internationally the elephant in the room is legal redress. We will witness how the debate will inevitably shift towards litigation against the US, since there is so much public domain information on climate change denial. The Maldives government was saying as much in Katowice 2018. Trump has accelerated unsafer policies which jeopardise the containment of sea level rise and coastal metropolitan inundation. He is blind to the obliteration of the human race because he doesn’t understand the tipping point. In such a data-rich age, the courts will be easily able to assign blame and point to years of sheer murderous irresponsibility under Trump. I think the GOP is also at risk for another TRUMP endorsement in 2020, unless they have very smart lawyers.
1
If you believe that climate change science is settled then you either don't understand science or haven't looked at the data. I've looked in detail -- down to the temp station level -- and I find the global temp data set to be pretty much a joke. When you adjust the data for every station -- and the adjustment is up -- then there's a real problem.
But let's say you don't understand science and you fervently believe the globe is warming. Do you understand we are only 5% of the planet, that our emissions are flat with 1990, so that there is little we as a country can do in terms of cutting our emissions that will do anything about CO2 in the atmosphere.
And you do understand that the Paris Accord was nothing but a photo op. No one is meeting their goals, and the agreement did nothing to reign in China or India or emerging countries.
And you do understand I'm sure that if the globe is warming abnormally (rather than just experiencing a normal cyclical swing up or down) and it is MAN caused (wouldn't we want to include women in this too) then Trump has nothing to do with where we are now.
Further, if you are convinced there is warming -- then you are for nuclear, you've quit flying period, you don't drive except when necessary, you've downsized your house, turned down the thermostat, only buy things (food, furniture, whatever) grown locally.
And you aren't wasting electricity by going on line and reading the Times and commenting.
Right?
2
@Ralphie
No, false.
The only way to get closer to the truth is to constantly fact-check your OWN beliefs.
You're writing the exact same things here for months now already, although reply after reply proves you wrong.
Scientific research doesn't mean sticking to your own opinions and repeating them over and over again until everybody else miraculously starts to believe them too (THAT is called "marketing").
It means being open to and interacting with arguments that claim to refute your beliefs, rather than identifying with them, and being prepared to give them up once they've been proven to be false.
So here we go again: NOBODY is claiming that Trump CAUSED global warming.
What he is blamed for is actively making it worse, and then betraying his own voter base by trying to make them believe that "the science isn't settled" - in other words, for engaging in marketing for his own brand rather than taking his job seriously and tell the American people the truth.
6
@Ralphie,
Thanks so much for sharing your PhD level expertise on climate data.
I've foolishly been going by what the highest-paid, top-of-the line in mathematics, with access to enormous computing power, scientists, who work for Exxon-Mobil, said about the effects of CO2.
But apparently they are also part of the Grand Conspiracy of Socialists, even though they would have been massively rewarded for refuting the physics involved.
It must be some kind of Alien Mind Control we don't know about...
Right?
3
@Ralphie - "But let's say you don't understand science and you fervently believe the globe is warming."
If you fervently believe the globe is not warming I am wondering where the water is coming from that is washing over our land and infrastructure - including military installations. Is it just raining more (and where did that extra rain water come from? Have there been more ice bearing metorites lately?)? Or maybe it's the land. The water isn't rising, the land is sinking. That must be it.
Maybe the guys who stand on the street proclaiming the end of the world is near aren't crazy after all. In the Book of Revelation, John shared a vision of prophesy that foretold the end on the world, the one we know. At this point in history, I can realistically state that it is true, but important to know, God will not destroy his own creation, Man will. Until now, it was social heresy to proclaim the end. Even you might agree now after having read this editorial. As we all know, the worst and meanest among the nations rule them just as the most dangerous wolf leads the pack, with only a few exceptions, and those leaders are multiplying themselves. They love militarism and war, build and threaten the use of nuclear weapons and execute their own people. Is there any doubt the world leaders will destroy the world?
All the world's people live under a nuclear Damocles sword endangered by their own leaders. We suffer by the billions from the hatred of a few. Do you really think our world will survive global warming? If you do, I hope your right, but reality must be overcome.
1
Re: "In Australia, a prime minister was kicked out of office because he wanted to reduce the use of coal, which Australia produces in abundance," it's important to note that he was kicked out by his own party, not the electorate. The electorate will have its own chance in five months, when the assassins are likely to become the assassinated.
5
How would you expect any longterm strategy for a problem that will only worsen over decades to be addressed in a responsible way by a President and administration getting ideas from “news shows” on the President’s preferred TV channel? There is no easy “win” to claim here - and therefore nothing to expect from the Trump administration.
1
Forget Trump. Forget government leading the way. This is our responsibility and all of us must take action. People need to understand this is real through vastly more education. Corporations have a responsibility to lead and media can help by listing the names of companies who offend and encouraging those who lead. There must a campaign to make it “cool” to do the right thing. Magazines and social media need to sponsor climate protection ads. The mayors of cities and towns need to incentivize their citizens to take action. Take personal responsibility locally. For example and just for starters, ask businesses to get rid of plastic straws and styrofoam containers. Tell them you won’t buy if that’s what they use. The list goes on. The US understands grass roots efforts and that is what’s needed, now.
9
There is a whole new economy with many jobs out there if we go whole heartedly into renewable energy. The only way out of this old, tired, dead end game is forward into the future with eyes open. The clock is ticking and the window of opportunity will close. Get off the couch.
Somehow we have to make the consumer marketplace put a higher value on efficient small cars, solar panels on every roof and windmills in open fields. We have to persuade people that larger cars, larger houses, more plastic, less concern for the environment is old fashioned and tacky. We should employ all the best advertising brains in this country and others to change the mind set of the 'gimme' society we live in. We can change and it will happen faster if we learn to see environmentally destructive products as old fashioned, out dated and uncool.
6
@Mary Pat - Cape Cod where every beach parking lot is blanketed by SUVs. And no, they aren't all tourists. Most have resident stickers on them.
It is true that ever larger houses, especially where family size has declined since the '60s, is wasteful. Do a few people really need 5,000, 8,000, or 10,000 square feet?
But in terms of cars, large no longer means inefficient. A Tesla S is a large car that runs soley on electric. And a number of large sedans get great milage from smaller, more powerful engines these days. Additionally today's "large" cars are actually small in their footprint compared to large cars of old. While families may be smaller the human body itself is not shrinking and, as we know from shrinking airplane seats, needs a certain amount of space not only for comfort but for safety features to be included.
Now if you meant "SUVs" as part of cars then you might have something as they are definately getting larger - although even there efficiency is helping. Still not everyone needs a SUV. Even on the Cape.
So, we all have to be very tired hearing the media's never-ending spiel about bad-boy Trump.
A bigger problem for Americans is Mitch McConnell. Mitch seems to be immune to the media's daily onslaught of negativity.
Mitch is the person preventing Trump from being removed.
Until the media begins an honest process of getting Mitch into the light of day, this bad-boy's behavior will be fed by the media into our daily lives.
6
If America truly cares, we may have to wait another two years to act, but the coming elections in 2020 will be the turning point. Do America's voters have it in them to replace both the president and the Republican Senate? We can't act progressively with either still in power.
7
It's pretty sad when Trump allies us with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia in refusing to acknowledge climate change or endorse the U.N. report calling for swift reductions in fossil fuel use by 2030. It's even sadder that he has allowed China to take the lead in alternative energy. And sadder still that a Republican Party of retrograde old mossybacks allows him to do it. Hopefully Democrats will regain control of all the reins of government by 2020 tne reverse our retreat from sanity.
18
@Christy Well said, Christy. Of all the egregious things this administration and the co-opted GOP have foisted on us this will turn out to be the worst, by far.
Within this great opinion piece and among the comments section here as well as so many voices around the world there is a great discussion going on about our survival and what it means to be prosperous and I for wish that it were more than just a discussion for all of us, everywhere, everyday.
Not long ago while in China I asked my guide what it means in that country to be prosperous. His response in his economically growing country and its individuals, an SUV, a big house. While I visualized with horror tens of millions of extra polluting vehicles there I also realized that it was the same answer I would receive here or any where. And why not the rich guy has it all so why not me? A response from both poor countries and struggling people every where.
If there is to be a vast response to climate change, it will come from a marriage of sustainable technology and all people, rich, not so rich and poor alike working together. The Paris accords were the beginning of that response, but now with Trump thinking on the rise is so many places our predicament is even more dire. No deux ex machina here, only ourselves realizing our common need to survive and using the tools we have at hand. I really wonder if we are up to this challenge, and if not i pray for our future world as it goes on without our malevolent influence.
9
@just Robert what the heck were you doing in China -- you didn't bike there did you? You must have flown...
@Ralphie Yes, you are right and thank you for pointing this out to me. Next time if there is such a thing I will go by hot air balloon, more fun anyway and perhaps appropriate.
When were we told that we had "three years in which emissions remained largely flat"? It seems that where the climate is concerned, we will only hear good news retrospectively when there is bad news to report.
One might almost conclude that in climate reporting the conclusions generally precede the data.
@ERP
Uh ... so you mean that if for three long years you never did any fact-checking about America's carbon emissions and you only discover now that they've been flat for three years after Obama installed policies that meant to achieve exactly that ... then somehow the scientific studies that prove that it has indeed been the case cannot but be false ... ?
Don't you see how irrational such imagination is ... ?
Presentations to law makers were made by scientists and engineers 30 years ago. Their reply, "The market will decide." Capitalism - there is no political will for the interference of geological reality. Nobody even takes geology! So, there is little support from the electorate. NO SURPRISES HERE. It's what we signed up for. And, the 2008 economic debacle sealed the deal; jobs, economics trumps all else. We pretty much get what we deserve.
5
@badman
Cynicism never helped us move forward.
And it was actually precisely after the 2008 economic crisis that for the very first time, under Obama's leadership (= under the leadership of the wealthiest nation and biggest economy on earth), all countries managed to come together and operate a U-turn on global warming.
In a democracy, in the end it's ALWAYS "we the people" who decide.
So we can either engage, and then we'll obtain a government for the people, or decide to stand at the sidelines, and then we'll obtain a government for the wealthiest and most corrupt citizens.
The Constitution gave us the power to choose. So the only ones to blame here is we ourselves ... ;-)
1
All of it starts and ends with overpopulation. More people, more taxing natural resources, more dirty production to meet higher demand quickly, more vulnerability to natural disasters, more social conflict.
Birth control and family planning are the most important tools in fighting climate change yet we rarely hear calls for those necessary changes to individual behavior.
Renewable energy cannot offset the burden from too many people.
11
Thank you for your clear and distinct statement “ Renewable energy .... “. However, I cannot accept this idea without supporting numbers. How much renewable energy for how many people? Then, what if the produced renewables allowed for even more people? In short, “more renewables, less people” is a sound bite not a fact.
@CNNNNC
There we go again ... . Each time there's an article about climate change, one or the other citizen of the wealthiest and most polluting country starts blaming the poorest and less polluting countries for global warming and suggests that if only they would stop reproducing the planet's problem would be solved.
ALL scientific studies show that global warming is caused by human carbon emissions.
A single American produces as much carbon as four Chinese citizens, and more than 15 sub-Saharan Africans.
The US actually has the highest carbon footprint per person in the entire world.
So IF you want to turn this into a population problem, then the less violent solution would certainly be to prohibit reproduction in the US, because in that way within a generation there are no Americans anymore, which eliminates as much new carbon emissions as when you'd have to ask 1.3 billion Chinese people to do the same.
But of course, those talking about "overpopulation" never propose something like that, and instead ask the poorest countries to start making less babies - even though it's precisely in subsistence economies, which high child death rates and very low life expectancy that families vitally need a lot of children in order to produce their own food and have at least some of them surviving.
In the meanwhile, studies show that the earth can easily feed 11 billion people, IF we end American lifestyle and adopt clean energy instead. But that means that WE have to act ...
1
@CNNNNC
Exactly. Limits To Growth, 1974.
1
We need to get out of this rut of diagnosing the climate and environmental problems we face without providing even an outline of a solution set. If you tell people their cars are polluting, they get defensive about their cars and miss the point that there is something better out there. If you tell industrialists and entrepreneurs that their businesses are harmful, they circle wagons around the business model and elect Trump. It’s far better to also focus on solutions that clean up the environment AND make money. We’re on the cusp of the greatest money making era of human history as we begin to grapple with climate change and the story of converting the energy paradigm and providing new resources to replace those being obliterated by population growth and climate change. Read, “The Age of Sustainability.”
10
There are many guidelines & proposed solutions put forth. For example, the 4th Regional Plan gathered & summarized our shared values such as prosperity that includes access to affordable homes & resiliency to manage risks & describes transit & open space strategies to sustain the NY NJ and CT region. Plans exist on every level of government & within our communities, companies & as many also point out here consumers can do their part. We are the GDP! There are many ways before us but the issue at so many levels remains-where is the will?
2
“The United States has an abundance of natural resources and is not going to keep them in the ground,” he said. “We strongly believe that no country should have to sacrifice their economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability.”
When I read this the first time I was flabbergasted. Now I am angry. The majority of Americans want something to be done about this death sentence the GOP has given our planet.
This issue must be tantamount to all other important policies concerning the democrat's approach in the 2020 presidential election as well as for House and Senate seats.
The lives of future generations relies it.
18
Mr. Griffith is a leading example of incorrect wrong headed economic thinking that believe moving toward sustainability will significantly reduce prosperity. Sustainability creates jobs, increases economic output, reduces health care costs and last but not least, ensures a future for our children and grandchildren. The anything for a dollar Republicans are short sighted. Evidently they believe the extra dollar they make today will provide clean air and clean water for their grandchildren.
17
Captive as he is to his fossilised ideas and archaic thinking on matters of environment and the climate science, Trump will do everything to deny the climate change evidence be it the loss of wildlife species, wildfires, melting glaciers, cyclones, or the erratic weather,as to be exemplified by his environment damaging and conventional fossil fuel centric energy policies that threaten life and the environment in a big way.
7
Trump is the enemy of life itself.
37
Though Trump has been a disaster for climate policy at a crucial point in our history, the problem is much greater than him. The real issue is the undue influence of polluting industries on public policy. Democrats have better rhetoric but even Obama could not approve binding resolutions with penalties at the Paris Conference. Unless we address the power of corporate money in our system, we are truly powerless to address climate change in any way that makes much difference, much less to pressure other countries to do so.
17
RE: "unshakable conviction that anything that helps the environment must inevitably hurt the economy."
This is something I've commented on before. What happened to "American Know-how", the "Can do!" spirit that rose to the challange of solving problems? Certainly a better future of clean air and water, and soil that food can be grown in is not something we should not give up and sacrifice to short-sighted profit. It is hard not to believe that a national effort, such as we saw in the interstate building program, wouldn't lift the economy, provide many new jobs, and lead the world to our doorstep.
And we have people trying to do just that:
"...from the auto companies, which had accepted the challenge"
The auto companies as well Elon Musk were/are willing to build to a better future. And you know they aren't charities expecting to do it for free or not make a profit.
When did America turn into such a bunch of fearful cry-babies unwilling to look forward, accept a challenge? After all that is the very foundation of our country. From the early settlers to the revolutionary war. Take a chance, make things better. It is built a great economy now threatened by the fearful.
18
@Marie
Perhaps we became such because of globalism, because of the scale of the climate problems, because of the deluge of information about future losses “unless ...” and no way shown (or possible?) to realize the “unless...”, no steps apparently available to stop this one ignorant, if not evil “leader of the free world” and his abettors except to wait hopefully (or hopelessly?) until 2020? This HAS BEEN a can-do country. But now, where are the suggestions in our media for how to rise up and overthrow the deadening, miasmic and willful ignorance of Trump and Trumpism?
This article brings up a fundamental truth: environmental problems will have to be addressed as global phenomena. The solutions will require the world's countries to work together. Climate change is the first problem to highlight this problem. Food insecurity is another. Water shortage is a third. The list goes on. As the poet Francis Thompson said: "All things to each other linked are. Thou canst not stir a flower without troubling a star." Because of these links, the countries of the world must be joined in unified, verifiable actions. Only a global perspective in which all partners do their part will achieve the desired solutions.
15
I can remember, as a young boy growing up in Los Angeles in the 50’s, how my chest would hurt from breathing the smog if I played outside for an extended period of time. I would hate for my grandchildren to be forced to live in such an unhealthy environment, but that is where we are heading with Mr. Trump’s crusade of deregulation.
15
the American people have spoken. the automotive industry has listened and reacted. you can't sell those tiny, fuel efficient cars so why would you build them? "and so it goes" "we have met the enemy and it is us"
10
@gtuz "you can't sell those tiny, fuel efficient cars"
Actually, it was GM's largest cars, the Cadillac CT6, XTS, Buick LaCrosse, and Chevy Impala that were the most cut from their line up. And these could easily be called "large, fuel efficient cars". Ford cut their large cars as well as their small. Chysler is also cutting the 300 in a year or so.
I get trucks. I get needing a real truck to supplant the car in hauling things or doing chores or wanting a real off roader like a CJ or a Series III Land Rover. I'll never understand this infatuation with SUVs. Sometimes I think it is because the wage stagnation has made it too hard to own a car and truck like we once did so people buy a SUV to do the duties of both. But that is put to rest when you see mulitple SUVs in the family driveway.
1
@gtuz have to go out and plug in my plug in hybrid Honda. People will buy them, there is a market.
1
I could never understand how the conversation moved from pollution and polluters to climate change. While climate change is a result of long term pollution, it is difficult for most people to grasp the connection. If you ask people if they are pro- or anti-pollution, almost everyone says that they are anti-pollution and yet they have a hard time accepting that when they pollute, they are affecting the environment. Over 150 years ago, Arrhenius calculated the effect of carbon dioxide on the the total heat of the planet and we seem not to have learned anything since then.
What is being protected? The business infrastructure of the past. CEOs are inheriting, not earning, access to wealth that was created many years ago so there is little motive to reduce environmental impact without regulation. Pollution is a serious problem and solving pollution problems such as air pollution, plastic pollution, etc. affords new opportunities that create value - a great deal of value that will touch everyone’s life.
17
I didn't vote for, nor would I vote for Trump.
But to say in his 2 years he "imperils" the planet is a bit much.
The earth is 4.2 Billion years old. And guess what? Even if he wins again, I doubt the earth will be beyond repair when he leaves office. And pinning our hopes on the Paris Agreement that has no binding enforcement mechanism to solve climate change offers no real solution.
Certainly, climate change needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, but I have faith in future science and man's ability to change regardless of what Trump does in his years.
Worse though, this kind of headline and editorial conveniently puts the blame on Trump. And Trump alone.
4
@profwilliams ok, fine.
The earth itself survives, but we mammals, and most birds, fish and amphibians will not.
As for insects, I guess it depends which kind.
And the jury is still out on horseshoe crabs, which have been alive since longer than almost anything, with the possible exception of the cockroach.
8
@profwilliams
I could almost chuckle. Here's how the story goes: The economy is good , people have jobs and raises and the credit goes to Obama era policies - Trump hasn't been President long enough to have impacted the economy. But, climate change is destroying the whole planet, and that you can put on Trump.
Exhausting.
2
@profwilliams
Your complacency is dangerous--this president would agree with your viewpoint--the planet has been around for a billion years (though he might say 6,000 if he even knows that biblical reference). Earth will endure. Some vague solution will pop up, like carbon geo engineering (the side effects of which could be horrifying).
Senator James Inhofe would agree with you as well--he'd say that God will provide; he will always see that the planet is fine and besides--we are arrogant to believe that little old us could possibly threaten it. (He's the guy who branded the word 'hoax' which is now standard language for Trump and many in the GOP.)
Trump isn't totally to blame of course. He's just tapped into the corrupt thinking that was simmering for decades--really since Earth Day. Vengeance and hatred are powerful motivators and he certainly knows how to use them, especially when it comes to Obama era rules--he despises Obama. He's moving along at a rapid pace, too rapid even for us to respond to any individual action. It's hard to keep track, let alone resist, the atrocities he is trying to inflict on all of us and by us I mean all species.
The cost of saving the planet is likely prohibitive. But there is a model for such a crisis — the Permian extinction, caused by a comet that collided with the earth. And while it was a tragic extinction event, it contributed to great biological progress in the long run.
It is a mistake to view global warming as a gradualist process that can be reversed with moderate spending. Rather it is almost certainly a chaotic event with no measured response and with results that are reasonably predictable based on what has happened before. The Japan Accord is a lame effort. The challenge ahead is far greater.
3
@michjas
The planet will survive. The question is will it’s top predator who created the destruction survive.
1
This reads like the theme of a superhero movie. A single evil bad guy "imperils the planet" and when that one evil person is taken out, "the planet will be saved."
If tomorrow Trump were to be absorbed into his hair and float away, we'd still have the same problems, from the same interest groups controlling out politics with big money.
We could do economic growth by growing renewable energy industries. Why don't we grow that way? The bad hair man isn't competent to keep a staff, much less shape our economy. It isn't just him.
It has been our status quo. We could take up dramatic new technology and industry. We have before. We did for WW2, we did for the Space Age, we did for the computer revolution.
Why not a new energy industry? Because the old ones have the money. Donors control politicians, make them sit up and beg.
Why didn't Hillary campaign in those Rust Belt states? What was she doing instead? She was out in her safe bastions, begging more money from her donors in those last critical weeks.
And what did she promise them for the money? It wasn't a new energy industry, or new health care either. It was stay the course, nothing better is really even possible.
That is our problem. Not Trump. He's at most a superficial symptom of the deep sickness.
That matters because the magicians playing us are distracting us with Trump, don't look at the men behind the curtain here in the Land of Oz.
21
@Mark Thomason
Re: This reads like the theme of a superhero movie. A single evil bad guy "imperils the planet" and when that one evil person is taken out, "the planet will be saved."
It could also be a theme from Joseph Campbell and the power of myth. Myth is not a thing of the past. It survives in much of our political discourse which is far from being scientific and rational. A few other commenters have noted this.
1
@Mark Thomason
I see - when the problem is obvious, it must be something else.
1
@Mark Thomason I remember Susan Sarandon on Chris Hayes’s show (MSNBC) arguing that Hillary would be worse for the environment than Trump. I wonder how she feels about Zinke and Pruitt. Hillary would have appointed someone worse? Seriously?
2
It's not just Trump. Our collective reaction to climate change is similar to our reaction to gun violence. We are almost desensitized to mass shootings anymore. We talk about the need for change, the grip of the NRA on common sense gun reform, etc. The there is a reprieve in the mass shootings and we go back to our daily obsession with all things Trump. Nary a word on gun violence. Until the next mass shooting.
Same with climate change. We focus on it every time there is a hurricane, devastating floods, wildfires, etc. Then we get a cold snap with no floods or wildfires and we mostly forget about it. Or worse, a US Senator brings a snowball into the Senate chamber as proof that climate change is a hoax (see Sen. Jim Inhofe 2015). And our thirst for SUVs is only increasing.
Unfortunately, it seems we need constant reminders--daily reminders--of mass shootings and climate change before we really take them seriously enough to make real changes, starting with our votes.
The problem is that by then it may be too late, for both. We wait, at our peril.
16
The answer (if indeed their is one that is doable, is for humans to stop having offspring as if the planet were infinite in size and resources). Otherwise there is no chance for the survival of a great many of the planets species, of which in recent years many have already become extinct. I wish I could feel optimistic about the future but all the signs are pointing toward disaster.
Happy New Year to all?
9
While no fan of Trump, I think it would be fairer to say that, through his clueless lack of leadership and vision, he is accelerating what other US leaders and nations have long failed to address.
Until Obama, who signed us on to the Paris Accord and took steps regarding reducing coal burning and innovating in other energy technologies, no US president took many meaningful steps toward reducing our impact on climate.
And China and India, while signing on to the Paris Accord, have not significantly slowed their impact on climate. What China has done is see economic opportunity in clean energy and climate-related technology and heavily invested in it. China views climate change as a way to develop technological global leadership in clean energy.
This is (yet another area) where Trump has truly failed. He is focused only on technologies of the past--reopening coal mines and drilling for even more oil in pristine areas in Alaska and off-shore. Why? His has limited capacity to understand technology, is too wed to the desires of his energy sector big money contributors and, most importantly, he thinks these policies will please his Trump-adoring base.
Trump doesn't understand manufacturing or technology--areas he never invested during decades in business. But even if he doesn't believe in climate change, he is letting the Chinese take the global lead on clean energy technology development and this will come back to haunt us economically in the future.
11
It may not be accurate to say that the problem with Global Warming began with Donald Trump -- but there's no way to deny that with his single-minded dedication to repeal every environmental protection legislation enacted by his predecessor, things have gotten worse.
Aside from the fact that this president refuses to notice the warning signs and every scientific report documenting the dangers of rising sea and earth temperatures, lies the fact that every one of his appointments to administrative posts that would effect this country's environment, has or has had ties to big money and fossil fuel industries.
Whether it's former Exxon executive and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former E.P.A. head Scott Pruitt, the recently departed Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, or the newly selected E.P.A. Administrator and former coal industry lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, who is a classic case study of a climate change-denier, it's apparent that Mr. Trump is clearly going out of his way to doom the planet.
Withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord was just a start.
It will ultimately be up to local city and state authorities, environmental groups and concerned citizens to undo the damage his proposals will bring about.
And we must act quickly.
Time is not on our side.
27
In short, humanity has asked for, and deserves, the calamities coming. All the other life-forms, not at all.
23
I appreciate these sentiments by the NYT. The US is still a world leader in many many dimensions even as its own leadership has become juvenile and thoroughly corrupt, not only at the top but throughout congress and the senate. Is it not the case that every single GOP candidate at that level has signed off on a pledge to oppose any climate change prevention actions, gaining substantial electoral funding as a result, while at the same time being under threat of having that funding go to a more compliant rival for their future re-nomination should they waver in their dedication to their devil's work. Government money can buy and has. And how clean in truth are a lot of Democrats? It is the same electoral system utterly up for sale. What a tragedy for such a great country in so many ways.
10
Yes, Global warming endangers our planet in so many ways, most of which were described in this commendable article. However, there is another threat to our world, and everyone on it, that is much more dangerous and requires just one mad ruler with nuclear weapons.
Yes, we should stop burning coal and use other, more friendly, sources of heating and cooking fuels, but why aren't we talking about getting rid of the more than 2000 atomic bombs which already exist on our planet ?
We don't need to talk about bigger and better nuclear weapons which can change direction in mid-flight! We need to get rid of all such weapons before it's too late to do so. Then we can focus on global warming.
3
@W. Michael O'Shea A significant difference is that the likelyhood of an atomic launch is much smaller than the invevitability of our killing life on the planet. And while none of us has control over the launch codes, we each can do something do reduce our footprint, small steps as they may be. Recycle, think before you buy, and vote. And watch "Company Town" about the Koch Brothers' polluting of an entire community and how its citizens are pushing back.
3
@W. Michael O'Shea - We need to work on both at once. Waiting will only increase the probability of certain extinction.
Always something else to do first, ain’t it?
There are probably some people here (or out there in this country...) who think he's redeemable. They may think that someday he'll come around and become human and humane. That will not happen.
I hope he reads this and learns what I for one, and many others, think of him.
10
@Julie - He doesn't read.
2
You are right on the whole thing here, but I want to focus on one key theme you hadn't adequately emphasized before: "The idea that sustainability may be a necessary condition of future economic growth appears never to have crossed their minds." But it isn't just the Trump Administration, whom historians will consider environmental criminals, and their replicators in Australia and Brazil. The very way we think about the often false duality of environmental protection versus economy is way out of date--but you'd almost never know that from daily coverage. The main exception is renewable energy, and that's obvious important. But there are now so many paradigms which can be employed to bring these two areas together which aren't getting enough attention: industrial ecology, sustainable business, regenerative economics, green design, zero emission goals, the circular economy, purpose-driven companies. These deserve mainstream attention and discussion! I blame mainstream environmental groups, too, who have a voice but do not use it to raise these fields. Go to some sustainable business conferences, some of which are in walking distance of the Times building. Peruse some of the journals. Go back to the work of the Clinton-era President's Council on Sustainable Development, which developed ignored recommendations by businesspeople and environmentalists on how to bring these areas together. NYT, you did it yesterday in an article on fashion. Help make that the new business-as-usual.
20
Overpopulation is our biggest problem. The United States is only 5% of the world population, and we can't expect to dictate to the other 95% what they should be doing on this. (Can we even reduce the birthrate in our own country?) We do produce 25% of global waste, and we can make serious efforts nationally in this area, though apparently not until sometime After Trump.
Teach your kids to provide for themselves, with all the basic necessities: hunting, fishing, gardening, making soap, woodworking, etc. And teach them to defend themselves. They're going to have to learn these things, sooner or later, to live in the new world that will soon be upon us.
9
@Blue Moon Giving up is not an option. With not fighting global warming, the human race will most probably be extinct. There will be no fish in the water, no soil for growing, no forests to cut timber in because everything might very well be destroyed in the inferno.
11
@Blue Moon What will you do when there is nothing left to hunt or fish, when the crops won't grow because of water shortages, and necessities are fought over with excessive guns the decider?
The birthrate for US natives is quite low and dropping.
Among the many things which stood out for me this year was the increase in local and regional impacts. This summer just a 2 hour drive from me the Camp Fire incinerated the town of Paradise in the Sierra foothills.
Yet again a fire here stunned firefighters with its speed which negated carefully laid plans to evacuate in an orderly fashion which led to a large loss of life and hardship for tens of thousands of survivors.
Who knows if my town or yours is next?
12
@Erik Frederiksen
I was one of those who fled with daughter, friend and pets. PG&E had been working on transmission lines; the warning received was Evacuate Now. San Bruno burned down after PG&E began working on gas lines. The trip out of Paradise was terrifying; dry Pine trees lined the road; the glow from the fire could be seen as it moved up the hill. The home with all family furniture burned, antiques, pictures, clothes, et al. PG&E needs to return to State ownership and management with trained long term employees. It is a public utility, not GE or Walgreens. I am a 5th generation Californian; I don't know how we got here; I do know it is not sustainable. Droughts and wildfires are not unknown in CA; we did not burn down whole towns with investor owned utilities.
10
Very sorry for your loss and glad you made it out safely
This is a timely and valuable editorial comment. Yet, a few things have to be remembered. First, the Obama Administration did not provide a proactive conversion for West Virginia. This decision cost the Democrats proactively. They should have invested billions in that state to convert the jobs and industries and did not. Second, Trump signaled that he would take care of that state and the industrial heartland. Obama's green jobs formula appeared to do the same, but later it was de-emphasized. The formula was not sufficiently developed, blocked in part by Republicans and blocked by failing to leverage government power to support movements in a very proactive way. That's the limits of being a "centrist." Obama could have used his community organizing training to support mass meetings throughout the country on green jobs in a sustained campaign. He did some of that, more perhaps that predecessors, but what he did was not sufficient. Trump filled the vacuum. Are any Democrats talking about converting West Virginia to green job possibilities now? Are any Democrats talking about industrial policy, green industrial policy? Some speak about a Green New Deal but is that sufficiently linked to manufacturing revival? It's not enough to deconstruct Trump.
6
@Jonathan M. Feldman. Missing from your argument, but present in the article, is the influence of the gas and oil lobbies. Their eyes are trained on immediate profit and end of year bonuses, and they have rejected sustainable models for decades. With government oversight agencies like the EPA now being in the pocket of these industries, we citizens have less power to effect change than ever before.
3
@Jonathan M. Feldman . Don't forget Hillary tried to tell them the truth and paid a steep price
2
What I don’t understand is why the media didn’t do its due diligence and bring all the recently learned information about this con man into the light before the 2016 election? After all the cable networks did find space on their television programs to publicize his outrageousness to help with their ratings. They’ve continued to do so during the past two years.
What I don’t understand is why Trump’s activities and relationships with Russians and others with questionable reputations weren’t investigated by law enforcement years ago?
But then again perhaps I do understand why it has taken so long for law enforcement to do its job. They have looked the other way because he is rich and famous but I am willing to bet that if one of us did less than half of what Mueller is finding out about Trump’s so called lifelong business dealings, we would have been locked up a long time ago.
32
“The media,” has done this for about four decades, and really teed off on Trump in the runup to 2016.
It’s way, way past time to stop sluffing our laziness and indifference off on them.
2
@M. Natália Clemente Vieira...there was more than enough disqualifying info out there pre-election about the Fraud-in-Chief. The real source of marvel will ALWAYS be the gullible, stupidity-laced, culture-less contingent of social misfits that voted this freakshow into office anyway.
2
@M. Natália Clemente Vieira: US courts are tools of litigious psychopaths like Trump. They are the sickest unreported joke in this broken nation.
1
The accompanying and arresting artwork is primarily avian—
But we must remember the millions and millions of species at risk, ourselves included, as we gaze at it.
11
"Economic prosperity Trumps environmental sustainability".
And there you have it.
If they are allowed to do so, the modern GOP will sacrifice the future of the human race for short term profits. And they've have now admitted to such in no uncertain terms.
Now, it's up to the human race to respond. Or parish.
27
Yes, perish in our own parishes.
I read that the most impactful positive effect on our planet in terms of production of CO2 is that if each woman of child bearing age has one less child, the cumulative effect on our planet is huge. Some argue that it is people living in Western societies who consume the most and produce the most pollutants and deleterious effects on the environment. Yet on the positive side, these same areas have stabilizing or evenly slowly declining populations, a very good thing for the health of the ecosphere.
Numbers do count even in less developed parts of the world. The average number of children born per child bearing woman in Niger is 7 to 8. They may not be burning many fossil fuels, but their collective impact on the environment where they live is significant, as trees are cut down for structures, heating and cooking, and wild animals populations are plummeting when they are hunted either for 'bush meat' or poached to make money to feed their families for ivory, pelts or the animal pet trade.
We are a voracious arrogant species, gobbling up much of the earth's arable land, and many have little regard for the trash they leave behind or the millions of animals which are slaughtered every year, and forests which are slowly but surely being nibbled away.
Times have past when large families are seen as necessary, having replacement numbers and eventually declining human populations are the biggest net positive for planet Earth and its millions of other species inhabitants.
21
@Tim B
And the Trump Administration continues to fight on the international/UN level: "we are a pro-life Administration". Abortion, obviously is out, but even family planning, birth control are ridiculed in favour of "abstinence only".
1
I think it’s misleading to put the blame for this administration’s actions and policies solely on Trump. The greater blame surely rests on congress. It is congress’s job to act as a check on the president. It is congress that is allowing Trump to run amok, and congress is allowing it because Trump is doing what Republicans have wanted for years - rollbacks of environmental protections, consolidation of wealth and power for the rich, undermining of voting rights, cutbacks in all social services, health care and education. The so-called moderate Republicans just don’t like the face Trump is putting on their platform and policies. Republicans in congress support everything Trump is doing - they just don’t like his style.
29
@Sharon Indeed you are right. The blame also belongs to the GOP Congressmen who are in the pockets of the big businesses that are ruining the environment. They are also responsible for the surreal choices to run the EPA, and for the defanging of consumer protection agencies. I don't believe that they are unaware of the consequences of climate change: I believe they mean accumulate so much wealth that they will be able to live in bubbles that will protect them from unsafe water and noxious air.
2
@Sharon: There is no elected office in the US that represents all of its people. This system is still rooted in slavery.
1
The title of this article "Trump Imperils the Planet" really doesn't say it all. I look at it this way. Consider when we become ill with an infectious disease, i.e. an opportunistic organism (parasite) infecting our body, growing out of control, and spreading toxins. Our body reacts in an effort to get rid of the disease. The reaction can be violent like fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Our natural defenses (antibodies) cut in an attempt to kill the invader. If the infection is not killed or rendered harmless, we may die. Death is not good for either the parasite or the host as both die. The parasite needs a living host for food. The earth is sick and the parasite is us. We have grown out of control, are destroying the planets ecosystems for our own benefit and are spreading toxins in the air, over the land, and in the water, polluting what all living things need to survive. The Planet's natural defense mechanisms have cut in and her temperature is rapidly rising. She has a fever. Drought, fire, flooding and sea level rise, pandemics and catastrophic weather events are the symptoms of the illness, some of which will kill the infection, but not without having an adverse effect on the planet and its ecology. However, the earth is resilient and will likely survive this disease, but unless we do something to control what we are doing to hurt the planet, will we survive? I doubt it!
8
@DSSI
A good analogy.
Human overpopulation is the single root cause of the problems facing most species today, but seems to still be unacceptable to the majority of people the media included.
Until and unless this issue is addressed I am afraid there is little hope for the long term survival of many of the worlds species particularly humans, that’s as it should be, we have earned it.
3
@DSS: We have more to spend on Mach 20 hypersonic missiles than arresting climate change.
Capitalism as practiced in this country and in most of the world is about short term profits and what societies think they need to live day to day. It is short sited and can not deal with short term problems unless enough people come to see a peril to their existence as with the in your face threat we faced at the beginning of WW II.
Climate change vast ice melts in the Arctic, the devastation of species and growing threat of severe weather events is still too amorphous to trigger the response we need to prevent total devastation and without leadership from someone like President Obama we can not maintain focus. Its like a friend says to us, get to a doctor for that pain in your chest and we respond with its just a little gas.
The old example of a frog slowly beginning to die in a pot of water slowly coming to boil is still in effect, but we forget the story, call it a lie then go about our business as usual. It's as if our friend President Obama has morphed into the frog Donald Trump and we are all left to fend for ourselves in the face of a danger that needs us all working together if there is to be any hope for our survival. The truly sad part is that there are answers at hand, but will we employ them quickly enough to save ourselves and if we can not do we deserve to survive?
2
Very interesting how the problem of human generated over consumption never merits the mention of incentivizing birth control. The US could outdo the Paris accords on it's own voluntarily, but then it's still the ridiculous reproduction rates in many poor countries that is going to kill the planet in the long run.
Rather, the ideology of the politically correct is founded on vast taking of either property or wealth from more developed nations that have successfully improved themselves, worked and produced to create their lifestyles, and who have defended most of the world from various totalitarians, invented all the medicines and created all the hope.
No matter, this sort of op-ed is driven by Trump derangement not ethics, and will become back page news as soon as some Wall St Neoliberal replaces the current president.
5
@CK Population growth is one driver of the future problem, but it’s not the one that has produced the CO2 crisis which is beginning to choke global life, including human life. That started, and continued, with the industrial revolution in the West (originally innocently enough of the downside) and has generated our advanced standard of living. It’s hardly surprising that poorer countries want to follow our example, having in many cases contributed to our wealth. In any event, however it came about, the problem is here and now and threatens future generations, and, if you take a clear-eyed view, our species among the others. It’s interesting that Trump denies climate science, yet happily accepts science when it produces, for example, nuclear weapons (unless he’s denying the existence of those also). Population growth is part of
the future challenges we face, which are simply enormous, and at the present rate of non-progress, going to overwhelm us. We are in deep trouble.
@Michael Gordon - We have the same interests but your head is in a fog and you are in denial, preferring to not see what the real issue is because you have blame to spread. You are wrong historically, the industrial revolution was not innocent as it happened, people understood better in 1825 the mess happening than now, because the pristine world was there for them to compare to the sickness of city factory life. What carried the day was consumer demand for standards such as home heat and new ease of travel. This in fact the human nature to want now, worry later evidenced by every society, ever. American Native Indians destroyed the land they used, moving about to solve the problem. Invoking Trump at any point in this is petty thinking and marginalizes history.
It is human nature that gives us climate problems, directly related to the sheer number of humans. The population is the issue not CO2.
1
Of all the issues facing Americans and peoples from the rest of the world none is more important than the issue of whether there will be a future world for people to live in.
I believe all of us most resist our current ethics-challenged administration as they continue to dismiss and deregulate policies related to Clean Air, Water, Land-use, and the Health of humans.
I believe, as many have already stated, that this administration's deregulation policies are not anti-science based. This administration and their GOP Congressional enablers are more focused on greed, personal enrichment, and a seething hatred for America's first Black President...Barack Obama.
In their shortsighted policies lays the decimation of wildlife, the poisoning of the air, the rising of the oceans, and the ecological destruction of the Earth.
As all of us wait for the restoration of 'checks and balances' to reappear in Washington we must continue to fight for the global future of our children and our children's children. In the Courts, and in the Streets.
5
Everyone needs to take action
I have solar panels and 2 EVs.
Do what you can to help. Time is running out.
9
@T Why not move into a tent, get rid of the EV's and get a bike.
Anti-environmentalism should be made illegal and not remain a function of who's lining whose pockets in a given administration.
The current clowns in particular have shown complete irresponsibility in maintaining the interests of public safety, from environmental protection to health care. None of the issues relating to essential human need should be up for negotiation, ever.
Obviously we can't trust these people's propriety; we should make it a legal issue. I know it's not as simple as all that but you get my drift.
9
Add to Trump's criminality, the failure to ban known harmful pesticides--harmful to human health, harmful to the fish and wildlife in and near waterways where these pesticides are used, and harmful to biodiversity in general which includes major losses of pollinating insects. Reading the accompanying article on chlorpyrifos, those being poisoned by its continued use are Mexican farm workers and their families. The chemicals are used in fields which are also adjacent to schools. In effect Trump has expanded his racist agenda against these immigrants to include chemical warfare. When a chemical with known disastrous human side effects, such as agent orange, chlorpyrifos, or glyphosates are continued to remain in use, that's what it is-- chemical warfare, and in this case by the rich and powerful against the poor.
The manufacturers of these chemicals should first have to prove their safety before they are put in use (or continued in use), rather than those who are harmed must prove it was the exposure that harmed them, especially in blatant cases where the cause is known to be from the drift of spraying. Produce at supermarkets and teaching hospitals (where there are labs) should by law be regularly tested for chemical pesticide residues with the data published. Farm Bills should increasingly subsidize organics.
It appears the only hope on climate change is a carbon tax used to subsidize switching to zero emissions, and the removal of Trump and Republicans from office.
6
@Stephanie Wood
Not to mention their clients, who insist on golf-course quality lawns.
From a former landscaper.
1
Last of My Kind
I will stand, your last sibling, among the dead
in this paradise we turned into an oven by
innocent degrees of greed and sloth.
I will finish off the last cylinder of processed
air and drink my final water ration.
There are no affairs left to settle, except
this one, so I raise my arms to some heaven
above this apocalypse and speak for all of us:
"You made us keepers of the land,
trusted us with its embroidered beauty,
it's unbounded abundance;
put great lakes and rivers in our charge,
valley meadows, mountain streams,
ancient forests, their gods all happily contented;
you gave us one another to have and to hold
through every circumstance, to raise a barn
for our neighbor and rebuild when it burned down,
mend fences, unbuild walls, and walk in our enemy's
shoes as if they were kin for a day or two;
And now, I stand here in this dust
that once nourished infinite forms of wonder
and raise my hands to the sky where lovers
and astronomers lost themselves in bliss
and dreams of romance and adventure and hope
too naïve to ponder the end of hope.
Yet, the apology wilts in the ferocious sun
and there is no repentance where there is
nowhere to turn around, so I stand here
in the last seconds of human consciousness
with nothing but the words, "We're sorry,"
immersed only in grief—
We had the whole world in our hands,
We had the whole wide world in our hands,
We had the whole world in our hands,
We had the whole world in our hands.
11
Years the future, when America is cooking, and our children wonder why the rest of the world was trying to fix the situation, but our country was not joining in, people will stop in the midst of their reflections and say "Well yeah, that was Trump".
6
Ironically, the Paris Accord left Macron and Paris burning. His adherence to the Accords goals helps spike gas prices to over $8 a gallon and started the riots, looting and burning. Macron had to promise reduced taxes and income increases to quell some of the violance. Some comment that Macron's place as an aspiring European leader has been damaged.
I got to to get me some more of that 3% GDP and 25% returns while the getting' is good. I want. I deserve. I am entitled to. ME me me me me me me me. One nation can not on its own solve human caused climate change. The only global effort that is attempting to address the problem, we have pulled out of. We have said to the world through the agenda of this President, "Your problem. We are going for the short term gains." The President won't be here to experience the effects of his two to eight years. He'll be on the wrong side of the grass leaving behind his scraps for those that follow.
2
I’ve been in the land conservation industry for nearly a decade. I’m encouraged by better reporting on these issues that this administration has triggered, but half the country refuses to accept facts as facts and have the attitude of ‘prove me wrong’. Armchair science denial fueled by the GOP and empowered by Trump is devastating our forests and natural resources. We’ve already delayed too long and will without. a. doubt. face mass species die offs ranging from trees to insects. As a conservationist I generally try to help folks understand there are ways to use our resources in ways that also restore them; but without a Green New Deal and bipartisan acceptance of science (why is it acceptable to deny science anyhow?) I think Trump will be high up on a list of those who drove humanity off a cliff. Shame on these people.
11
It’s been nearly 30 years since the first report by the IPCC. Nearly 30 years in which we could not plead ignorance yet global emissions have increased 60 percent since then.
What must a young person think about that?
8
Whether it's two years away or six, clearing out this circus will feel like breathing clean air for the first time.
4
@Graham Hackett: It will take the remaining lifespans of hundreds of federal judges.
What is most disheartening is how climate change remains esoteric for too many Americans. They just do not get it. Let's face it...the most of us are not corporate CEO's of the oil and coal industries. We have absolutely nothing to gain by abetting the effects of global warming, in large part created and consequently exacerbated by us every time we get in our cars or turn the heat up in our homes. And...every time we cast our ballots and vote for self-serving - and corrupt - politicians.
Do I blame Trump and his Cabinet as well as his Congressional sycophants? Of course. But this all falls back to the unnecessary ignorance of their supporters. No thought is given to their children and their children's children. I invite Trump supporters to come visit my state after our devastating fires, a new phenomenon. And then I would like them to consider the fact that "raking leaves" or excessive" logging" are far, far from the answers.
7
@Kathy Lollock
What do they think keeps greenhouses warm when the outside climate is cold? It’s just that multiplied up to a mega-scale that is overheating the Earth. With no intelligent gardener in charge.