Happy Earth Day to those who celebrate…
I’m wondering if Donald Trump should get the top award this year for environmentalism. Nothing accelerates climate change faster than moving a person from a low-carbon-output society (e.g., Haiti, 0.3 tons per person annually) to a high-carbon-output society (e.g., the U.S., 14 tons per person annually). Thus, by opening the U.S. border, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did more to accelerate climate change than anyone in the modern era. Donald Trump, by contrast, has done more to prevent climate change than anyone (WSJ):
Similarly, although I am not personally a fan of Trump’s recent tariff efforts (even the immensely capable of Germans had trouble fighting on all fronts simultaneously; I think that perhaps Trump would have been more successful fighting one country at a time), it is unarguable that higher tariffs serve as a consumption tax and thus preserve the Earth’s resources, reduce CO2 output, etc. If doomsayers are correct and the U.S. is headed for recession/depression as a consequence of the tariffs, that’s even better for the environment.
So… here’s to Donald Trump, the World’s Greatest Environmentalist!
In other news, Bernie Sanders and AOC were apparently observing Earth Day from FL410 in a Canadian-made Challenger 604 private jet:
So the little people paid ~$150K for Bernie and AOC to travel in style?
“Trump would have been more successful fighting one country at a time”
He has been doing exactly that, fighting the US, quite successfully.
He should get the Earth Day award, the fire day award, the air day award, and the water day award!
If Trump started to deport the biggest consumers in the United States, regardless of their legal status here, he would definitely be worthy of that Earth Day award. Sadly, all he understands is consumption. Maybe he and Elon Musk should go first. Don’t let Earth’s atmosphere hit you on the way out. Or do.
Jennifer: You raise a good point. A deportation from a high-carbon economy into a low-carbon economy reduces CO2 output just as much as blocking someone from entering a high-carbon economy. Barack Obama deported more people than any other president, generally to low-carbon economies, so I guess he would be eligible for this award. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/10/02/u-s-deportations-of-immigrants-reach-record-high-in-2013/
Jennifer, your highly insulting comments pointed at those of us who are entitled consumers are becoming all too frequent these days! Pocahontas Warren, myself and AOC are all entitled to our multiple, palatial homes and to fly on private jets that consume thousands of times the amount of fuel as if we had flown with the little people. And, I would also give similar shout-outs to our most famous climate Scientist (Albert Gore, who was awarded the Nobel prize for discovering Climate Change) and Climate Czar John Kerry. Why is it that you and those like you have so little respect for Public Servants?
We need Jimmy Carter back in office, so all Americans can set their thermostats to 65 degrees (or lower) and cozy up in front of a fireplace, just like the good old days.
Should Donald Trump get an award for Earth Day? Yes!
I think the Earth day award should go to the next President/King/Dictator (whatever you want to call him) who makes all non-military flight illegal and takes driver’s licenses away from all women. That should drastically reduce emissions, no? Let’s do it for our Planet!
Am I Greenspunning right?
You’re almost Greenspunning right! One tweak: I deny that “women” is a well-defined term. Second, anyone who is denied the right to drive will simply take Uber/Lyft and thus emissions will be about the same (more emissions from driving because it won’t be just Point A to Point B anymore; fewer emissions from production of cars). I do think that if we are serious about the climate emergency we should eliminate non-military flight. It is true that emissions per person-mile on a packed Airbus are fairly low, but most trips that are taken via commercial airline wouldn’t happen at all if commercial airlines weren’t available. People wouldn’t travel 1000+ miles for a long weekend unless they could do it cheaply and quickly.
@Sam, with your definition, the Mullahs of Afghanistan are the rightful deservers of Earth Day Award. They do not tolerate military flights over their airspace (not that they can do much about it, but maybe NATO can enforce it when countries like the U.S. violate it). They also do not allow women to drive (do they even have driver’s license for women?) And on top of that, the Mullahs fully agree with Philip, under their Sharia law, there is only one definition of “woman” — leaving no room for gender change.