Three Ways Donald Trump Could Save Winter
Protests in Germany against Trump’s EPA pick
The presidential election is over and Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States of America. So the first question I have is: What does this mean for Winter?
Donald Trump has been a vocal climate change denier during his campaign. He joked at a rally in Rochester, “it’s freezing here, speaking of global warming, we need some global warming, it’s freezing.” He has promised to deregulate and revitalize industries that pollute our planet and threaten our Winters. Trump has hired Myron Ebell, a prominent climate change denier and fossil fuel lobbyist to transition the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s the agency that is supposed to protect the environment. You can spin that one all day long and the truth remains, fossil fuel extraction and fossil fuel burning is bad for the environment and bad for Winter.
The answer is clear, Donald Trump is bad for Winter.
To his credit, Donald Trump has shown a genuine desire to “fix” many problems that he perceives in government and America. He has even stated that he hopes to bring peace to war torn Syria and end long, violent feuds in the middle east. But can The Donald make a stand for the issues that environmentalists hold dear? Is it possible that our new President can stand up for the environment and save Winter?
Here are three ways that it could happen:
Option 1: Donald Trump saves Winter by reversing his stance
The president-elect has already softened or reversed his stance on several campaign promises. He has gone from a “big, beautiful wall” to “there may be fencing where it is appropriate”. He’s gone from “I’m going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor” in regards to Hillary Clinton, to saying that it’s “just not something I feel very strongly about”. He’s gone from pulling out of the Paris climate agreement and trashing the Clean Power Plan to “I’m looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it.”
Is it possible that The Donald is going to reverse his stance and become a champion of the environment and a warrior for Winter? NOT A CHANCE!
His EPA transition leader is not just a climate denier. Ebell has been taking money from fossil fuel and spreading lies and misinformation for them for decades. Ebell has strongly advocated against federal conservation regulations and has criticised the Endangered Species Act.
Trump may have softened his stance on many issues but there is no chance that he will be a champion of the environment. He has made it clear that deregulation of the industries that pollute our planet for profit is more important than protecting our environment, our natural resources and in turn, Winter.
Option 2: Donald Trump saves Winter by creating a Nuclear Winter
Image Credit: thespoof.com, spoof news
Just a few days before the election President Obama said at a rally, “Now, if somebody can’t handle a Twitter account, they can’t handle the nuclear codes. If somebody starts tweeting at three in the morning because SNL made fun of you, then you can’t handle the nuclear codes.” It just so happens that a nuclear launch order is an encoded and encrypted message that is about 150 characters, about the size of a tweet.
Nuclear (or atomic) winter is the term coined to describe the effect of nuclear bombs causing 100 or more city sized firestorms that produce enough soot pollution to blanket the atmosphere and create an anti-greenhouse effect causing a massive drop in Earth’s temperature. Deep powder and hot cocoa by the fire won’t be too enjoyable after all the crops have died and all the water is contaminated. Yea, nuclear winter is a total buzz kill.
On January 20th Donald Trump will control the nuclear arsenal of the United States of America. He will have at his disposal the most powerful weapons ever created by mankind. The aftermath of any nuclear explosion is something that mankind should commit to never seeing again.
So let’s all agree that nuclear winter is not good for Winter. And let’s all hope that our leader never considers making good on his campaign suggestion that nuclear force is an option.
Option 3: Donald Trump saves Winter by lighting a fossil fueled fire under the ass of American environmental activism
Donald Trump may indeed save Winter. Since the election Americans have come out in force in support of the environment.
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a fundraising email that Trump’s promise to open up new areas to drilling is “the greatest assault we’ve ever faced on wildlife and wild places.” The American people answered Brune’s call. As of November 16th The Sierra Club had signed on 11,000 new members in just 8 days. That’s 9 times it’s best month ever in barely over a week. In dollar signs that’s equal to over $3 million in donation commitments.
A big friend of Winter, Patagonia, committed 100% of all of it’s black friday sales to grassroots environmental groups. They estimated that they would donate $2 million dollars. Patagonia is a premium brand with a premium price tag. Americans showed that they are willing to pay more to support sound environmental and business practices by purchasing a record breaking TEN MILLION DOLLARS in Patagonia products. “We definitely came up with the idea after the election,” said Lisa Pike Sheehy, vice president of environmental activism at Patagonia.
Local governments are speaking out against Trump’s assault on the environment as well. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a “Resolution responding to the election of Donald Trump” in which they stated: “be it FURTHER RESOLVED, That climate change is not a hoax, or a plot by the Chinese. In this city, surrounded by water on three sides, science matters. And we will continue our work on CleanPower, Zero Waste, and everything else we are doing to protect future generations”
Even federal employees are standing up to protect Winter. A report on climatecentral.org tells us that National Park Service employees are at the front lines of climate change education. “The reality of climate change is facing us in national parks,” said Brian Ettling, a ranger at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. “You can’t deny it or go around it so it’s important to engage visitors no matter what.” My friends that work at National Parks have told me that they feel a renewed sense of purpose in educating the public about the dangers of climate change and that policy out of Washington will not change their resolve.
As normal Americans are coming out of the woodwork to donate money and protect the planet, long time activists are more energized than ever. Dan Lashof, COO of the environmental group NextGen Climate America says “We will lead a resistance against the federal government. We will work with state governments to push back and keep progress going based on state policy.”
Donald Trump will not save Winter by leading America to renewable energy. He will not save the environment by supporting strong legislation.
President Trump will save Winter by invigorating and energizing American activism.
He has a lit a fossil fueled fire under the ass of all environmentalists, from casual observers to hard core hippies.
On election night Van Jones called the results a “white-lash”. The near future may bring us an election full of “earth-lash”. Americans on all sides of the political spectrum will unite to lead the world in reversing climate change and saving Winter.
We’ll have Donald Trump to thank for it.
