Donald Trump is Right

Donald Trump is right - that is a statement that I never thought I would make - but he is. There is no doubt that if the USA fully followed/enacted/pursued the Paris Agreement on climate change to the fullest extent possible, that many US businesses would be negatively affected. All of those companies that are involved in the production of carbon based fuel, the owners of oil fields and coal mines, the private hydro generating companies that use dirty coal, the automotive manufacturers, and perhaps even all of those large box stores that rely on the thousands and thousands of trucks that are on our highways to maintain their “just in time” retail model would either lose money or some cases go out of business. Hundreds of the richest people in the USA might end up with less money in their bank accounts. At the other end of the financial spectrum there will be a large number of individuals who may not be able to make the kind of intellectual shift required to working in and using complex technologies. To many of us in the centre, we may want for example, to embrace a lifestyle that produces little or no carbon emissions but will struggle to be able to afford to buy that new electric car. The changes that we all face – will be a challenge and we, in the short term, may find them uncomfortable. So from Mr. Trump’s small, ever elevated ivory tower – as far as he can see , it is understandable that he believes that reducing the USA’s carbon footprint will negatively impact that old economy he has promised to make great again.

 

Of course the man is a fool who clearly cannot see past the end of his nose. By focusing on what is best for his country in the next few years, he ignores what will be best not only for the USA a decade from now, but in fact what is best for the whole world. By limiting his country’s participation in a new and exciting economy where innovation and creativity will be both celebrated and rewarded, he condemns that country to having to play “catch-up” when they finally realize that they have no choice but to adapt.

 

However, what is particularly sad and frightening about Trump’s decision to renege on his country’s commitment towards the Paris Agreement is that it is a classic example of a protectionist state that assumes it has the right to only engage with the rest of the world when it is advantageous to them. Mr. Trump and his like-minded citizens see nothing wrong in taking as much as they can from developing countries, of making obscene profits from the selling of those resources and then turning around and suggesting that the USA owes nothing to those countries. Trump’s business model of taking whatever you can and to maximize profit regardless of anything/anyone else is no longer a particularly effective model for corporations. That model may have worked in a world where countries, companies and people were at best only connected by telegraph wires – but in a world where most of us accept the fact that we are all connected, that what happens in Texas or Kabul does affect us all – sometimes surprisingly quickly, companies can no longer ignore that what they do today will affect the rest of the world. Trump by supporting this narrow view that one county, place or person is more important than any other is condemning his country to become a second rate influence in the world.

 

By refusing to participate in a world wide effort, Trump has re-confirmed an isolationist policy that refuses to take any responsibility for the USA’s contributions to the climate change problem. He has rejected the argument that the USA has any moral responsibility to the rest of the world. What makes this a particularly dangerous approach is that it opens the door for other countries and major international companies to argue that they too do not have a moral responsibility to be good citizens.