Green shoots of Trump shift
Say what you like about Donald Trump, he’s got a sense of humour. His tweet suggesting Nigel Farage become our ambassador to the US sent Downing Street into outright panic.
Trump knows there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of May making Farage our man in Washington.
But he enjoys winding people up and doing things his way. I think it’s more to do with raising the UKIP leader’s profile to help him get a peerage and a role.
It’s claimed Trump had asked Farage to lead a campaign to stop wind turbines being developed in sight of his Scottish golf course. What a job. A glorified caddish caddy, a typical businessman’s decision.
However, slowly but surely, Trump is moving from campaign rhetoric to governing reality. His divisive election language is now more conciliatory.
And maybe’s he’s been reading my Sunday Mirror column.
In my article last week I wrote: “We still don’t know what he’ll do on climate change or existing trade deals, but I reckon that reality will trump the rhetoric.”
This week the President- elect, who’d claimed man-made climate change was a hoax, said he now believes there’s “some connectivity”.
Trump added he was now thinking on climate change “how much it will cost our companies” and the effect on American competitiveness after chats with business leaders, state governors and cities. He’s gone silent on his previous call to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Now he says: “I have an open mind to it.”
I think that now he has four years in the White House, Trump’s priority will be like Clinton’s (Bill not Hillary). He claimed: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Trump owes his election success to those blue-collar families who felt left behind by globalisation in the rust belt states of America.
They want those manufacturing jobs back. Now Trump’s waking up to the fact that climate change offers not only risks but enormous opportunities to boost growth and create jobs. He previously thought acting on climate change would cause less economic growth and higher unemployment.
This is exactly the opposite to our experience in the United Kingdom, where Labour’s Climate Change Act entrenched our agreed carbon cuts in legislation.
Within a decade, this policy led to a million more people in work, better economic growth, and we cut twice as much carbon than our target.
Take my home of Hull. A city devastated by the collapse of the fishing industry, it’s now part of a renewable revolution with Siemens’ new £160million wind turbine factory on the banks of the Humber, creating 1,000 jobs. According to a 2007 study from the University of Tennessee, the US state of Pennsylvania could generate about 44,000 new jobs by adopting renewable energy.
The growth in green jobs is remarkable. The International Renewable Energy Agency found that 7.7million people are now employed by the sector worldwide, up 18 per cent in a year and 35 per cent over the last two.
Trump will also see that China’s been leading the way on energy efficiency with a massive investment in solar and wind energy.
If Trump seizes the chance to embrace this renewable revolution, he could help boost the transition from petrol to electric cars, spread solar across the US and create muchneeded jobs.
I remember another Republican presidential candidate who received scorn and derision from the UK when he was elected. Who’d elect a Hollywood B-movie actor?
While I didn’t agree with his politics, Ronald Reagan is seen by Americans as one of the most successful and well-liked presidents of all time.
Reagan was defined by his handling of the decline of Communism and ending the nuclear arms race.
So let’s work with Trump to help America become a global force for good. I’ve had some stick from some people for suggesting this.
But he won fair and square and deserves the chance to prove himself.
Who knows? A US President may confound us again, and not only by improving relations with the “evil empire” of Russia.
By committing to save the world and boost his economy, Donald might just Trump his critics.