The Paris Agreement Covfefe: Trump’s Failure to Plan for Our Future
The United States will be left behind in the race to mitigate the damage of climate change.
On June 1, Trump decided to withdraw from the Paris Accord, making a poor business decision (a covfefe, of sorts). If the market place, and in this case the rest of the global economy, wants renewable energy technology and energy efficiency technology, it would make business sense to give that to them. For example, it is similar to when the U.S. automotive industry made a change to increasingly selling hybrid and renewable energy-powered cars to a consumer base that wanted to spend less on gas. The U.S. economy and society, as exhibited by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been making a rapid change to keep up with modern times for our modern problems. We must do what is best for our future.
This recent inability to understand the future of our energy needs makes me think of 2015. In 2015, I met with a team of delegates from China while in Washington, DC as part of the U.S.-China Clean Energy Forum (http://www.cleanenergyforum.org). As they state on their website, “The very first initiative was to create a joint clean energy research center, and that initiative was launched with the creation of the US-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) in 2009. Initially focused on Building Energy Efficiency, Clean Vehicles and Advanced Coal technologies, CERC has earned the strong support of both governments. More recently, CERC has been expanded to include consortia focused on the energy-water nexus and how to make big trucks more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.” It should be an obvious direction for any major country.
The Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution and I share a viewpoint on the topic of energy policy. “Energy security is a major factor influencing how countries conduct their foreign, economic and international security policies.” …or at least it should be. They go on to state that, “Major supplier countries with vast energy resources exercise more power on the international stage than ever before.” I wish Trump and our current administration would understand the vast amount of importance their actions have on the world and all of us as residents in America and on this planet.
During the 2015 visit, the Chinese delegates took a tour of Dunbar High School, the highest-scoring school in the world certified under the LEED for Schools-New Construction rating system. This was no coincidence; the delegates wanted to know things about the coefficient of efficiency of the geothermal system. A level of detail no one had asked before, and likely not since.
They wanted to learn from the best and improve on their own practices. They came to America to take this knowledge back to their country and start implementation immediately. The irony is bittersweet.
The delegates and the Chinese government outlined their energy consumption, coal use, and created a transition plan to renewable energy source and practices. They are focused on how to improve energy efficiency. This is the next big thing and it’s been happening for 10 years. If we are slow to respond and catch up to the world and our planet, the U.S. will end up being the equivalent of the video store chain Blockbuster, outdated and unable to keep up to modern demands. As Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research stated in the New York Times on June 1 2017, “China and Europe have become world leaders on the path toward green development.” and “[China and the rest of the world] will strengthen their position if the U.S. slips.” No offense but we don’t want to become Blockbuster, do we?
If the United States makes smart decisions and like the capital of US, who used private-public partnerships and unused assets, like their roof space, to reduce energy consumption by $25 Million in 20 months, we can lead.
We could even learn from turning off power usage in buildings when we don’t need them. Owners of ‘green’ buildings reported that their return on investment (ROI) improved by 19.2% on average for existing green building projects and 9.9% on average for new projects (McGraw Hill Construction, 2010, Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth). Expanding this nationally on school buildings alone would save $2 billion in taxpayer dollars annually. The cost savings are enormous, if applied at scale and this administration needs to understand the truth and the alarming data.
The rest of the world is united on the front of climate change. If Trump wants to claim that he runs America like a business, a smart business decision would be to explore all opportunities to penetrate that market; not alienate it. Li Kequiang, the Republic of China’s Premier, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, have stepped up and are moving forward with decisions that support sustainable development. Over 80 U.S. mayors, 3 U.S. Governors, 80 American Universities, 100s of our businesses, and thousands of entrepreneurs in America, are doing the same, and will now have to fill the void. They’ll do this because it saves everyone money, creates jobs, and helps ensure we have a planet for future generations. Backing out of the Agreement is akin to investing in Blockbuster and not Amazon stock 17 years ago. Would you want that future for your kids?
PS — Happy National Donut Day! (June 2, 2017) Hopefully the Earth doesn’t end up with a gaping hole in it’s ozone. :)
