Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The 20,000 strong inner core of the global climate movement, currently gathered in Marrakesh, is quietly panicking over the looming possibility that Trump will cut off most of their “US leadership”.
Prospect of ‘President Trump’ Casts Cloud Over COP 22 Climate Conference
Experts who spend their days plotting contingency plans to avert the effects of climate change are now confronted with another weighty scenario: what happens if Donald Trump wins the election.
A dark cloud is hanging over Marrakesh, Morocco, this week as climate experts and world leaders gather for their first major summit since signing a landmark deal in Paris last year to tackle climate change.
The COP 22 climate confab kicks off on Monday — just one day before the U.S. presidential election. And should Americans elect Republican Trump, an avowed climate change skeptic who has pledged to rip up the Paris agreement, experts worry that a slew of global accords could crumble.
“U.S. leadership was critical in getting the Paris agreement across the finish line,” said Elliot Diringer, executive vice president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, a think tank focused on the environment. “Many in Marrakesh will be watching very closely for the election outcome.”
…
Still there are safeguards in place that would preserve the U.S. government’s involvement in the Paris accord, with or without a Trump presidency.
The agreement has already been ratified and terms formally kicked in on Nov. 4. Parties involved with the agreement are now officially locked into the plan for the next four years — the exact span of the next U.S. president’s term.
…
The rather shaky claim about US “ratification” and “safeguards” against US disengagement is intriguing.
If the Paris agreement was ratified by the USA, it certainly was not ratified by the US Federal Senate.
Perhaps there is a new amendment to the constitution which I am not aware of, which states that US Presidents have the power to bind the United States to international treaties, without review by other branches of government.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I think we are going to be amazed at how quickly the climate movement begins to fall apart, now that the Hillary campaign has no more reason to pump money into it.
In the climate wars, we here have just survived an all-out assault over the last few months, and we’re still standing. And now they are suddenly all out of gas!!!
Of all the possibilities, even I never thought our battle could be won in a single night. And I know it’s not over – but this is like the Battle of Midway in the Pacific War. After that one was over, and the momentum shifted, all of the action for the aggressors was just one long retreat.
I agree with wws that once money stops flowing into scientifically dubious climate research the air will quickly come out of the AGW balloon. Perhaps some of those visiting and posting on this site can be instrumental in educating the Trump administration in the area of climate research. What an opportunity, as wws clearly recognizes.