Eco role could be Trumped
Prior to running to be president of the United States, Donald Trump said he thought climate change was a ‘‘hoax’’ perpetrated by the Chinese, then denied saying it while on the campaign trail. In May 2016, as part of his campaign, he told Americans: ‘‘We’re going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement.’’
Q: What could the US election of Donald Trump to president mean for climate science?
A: Dr Philip B Duffy, executive director of the Woods Hole Research Centre and former senior science and technology policy analyst in the White House, says:
It’s too early to tell. We’re all struggling to process what it means. I’m hopeful the United States Government will maintain its leadership role in global change research.
If that turns out not be the case, if the United States Government steps back, that will simply mean others will have to do more.
Other countries will have to do more in terms of research and we will need more philanthropic, more private support. The same goes for policy.
Before Obama there was a lot of activity and there’s still a lot of activity in the US on the state level, on the municipal level, on the part of corporations.
I would hope that activity would continue and it would get stronger, and the same for international action.
I think there’s momentum that simply can’t be stopped.
I think we do have to remake the case for science directly to the president. I hope we have the opportunity to do that.
I know a lot of us are ready to do that and have done it before in past republican administrations.
I don’t want to presume the worst.
We will give them an opportunity to lead and we will help them, if that’s the direction they want to go.’’
Source: carbonbrief.org