Climate Change Debate Under a Trump Presidency

Change You Can Believe In

They say perception is reality, but is reality really a matter of opinion? Although the climate change debate has largely ended, that doesn’t stop Donald Trump from not believing in it. Despite overwhelming evidence, and observable data spanning across decades pointing to a human cause of warming global temperatures, the President-elect continues to deny reality.

This begs the question of what the future holds. What environmental impact will a Trump presidency have? Needless to say, on the outset, things are looking quite grim. Protecting vulnerable animals and climate change were two major topics on Hillary Clinton’s campaign website. However, Trump’s site didn’t mention the environment at all. Is the grass truly greener on this side of the wall?

The Future of the Climate Change Debate

Climate change debate states that ice is melting due to human sources.

Source: Pexels

First and foremost, Trump wants to dismantle the Paris Agreement. It is an accord in place that aims to reverse the devastating affects of global warming, and signed by almost 200 nations. Furthermore, Trump has repeatedly stated that the US shouldn’t waste financial resources on climate change.

The President-elect believes that funding should be diverted to ensure that the world has clean water, the elimination of diseases such as malaria, an increase in food production, and the development of alternative energy sources. Summarizing his views, Donald Trump remarked:

There is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of climate change. We must decide on how best to proceed so that we can make lives better, safer and more prosperous.

The Great Chinese Hoax

During the first presidential debate on September 26th, Hillary Clinton pointed out that Donald Trump had stated climate change was a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. A claim that he denied with a swift “I do not think that”. However, Twitter archives from 2012 prove otherwise.

The tweet insists that the climate change debate was conjured up by the Chinese to make the United States less competitive on the global stage. Moreover, he has tweeted on a dozen more occasions about how he does not accept the scientific evidence supporting climate change.

NASA Official Blasts Off on Trump

Donald Trump campaigning

Source: Wikipedia

The latest saga in the climate change debate involves the billionaire and NASA officials. A senior NASA scientist took a stand against Trump and told him that he is wrong if he believes that climate change isn’t happening. Furthermore, the official claimed that scientists are “not going to stand” for any interference with their work.

As with this story, there are two sides to every situation. We must take careful caution to examine problems from all angles before reaching a conclusion. Sometimes the right answer isn’t black and white. Regardless, we must take careful aim to reduce harm to others on this planet and the world as a whole. After all, we are all in this together.