Distrust Donald

Having shown his utter contempt for European leaders during his recent trip, Donald Trump then delivered the coup d’etat to any lingering hope that the US government under his presidency will continue to respect the opinions, and rights, of the people of Europe.

Trump informed the American public that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on tackling climate warming.

His “America First” obsession is an extreme form of isolationism based on a shaky foundation – his own ego. The man has no self-awareness, only a profound self-belief which he has to guard as if it were a precious jewel which others might steal.

Trump takes every rejection, every perceived slight, personally. He informed the Belgian prime minister that his antipathy to the EU is based on obstacles put in his way while trying to establish golf resorts in Europe. He is a businessman first and foremost, by instinct and from long experience. He gets his information on world events via Twitter and television reports.

This restricted outlook makes him uniquely ill-prepared and ill-qualified for the position as the most powerful leader in the western world. We should all be concerned.

CAROLYN TAYLOR Wellbank, Broughty Ferry

Dundee

The news being broadcast about Trump leaving the Paris climate pact angers me. Data, which comes from organisations that support the climate

alarmists, debunks two of the claims.

There is the claim that storms are becoming more frequent. Nonsense. The average number of hurricanes to hit the continental US per decade has declined from 19.2 in the 1800s, to 17.3 in the 1900s, to 14.4 in the 2000s.

Also, the claim that China is getting serious about pollution. Well, from the most upto-date statistics, China’s electricity production from fossil fuels has increased from 4,210 to 4,239 terawatt hours annually.

So-called climate change is really about certain groups getting wealthy at the expense of the public, not just windfarm operators and some politicians but also academics at certain research institutes who are in receipt of generous research grants, salaries and pension contributions.

GEOFF MOORE Braeface park, Alness

Your Leader yesterday did little justice to the breadth of differing opinions on this vital political decision, giving only a narrow view of the “wrongs” rather than a better balance with the “rights,” which are that this non-binding, virtuesignalling agreement proposal is negated by, firstly, the actual actions of India and China and, indeed, Germany allowing continuation and expansion of coal-fired electricity generation.

Secondly, the reality of expert scientists’ differing opinions on the importance of anthropogenic climate changes allegedly caused by greenhouse gases, notably CO2. Contrary expert opinions are readily found on the internet and in the frequent detailed airing of controversies in your readers’ letters and electronic comment columns.

No-one really knows what the impact on the global climate would be if, either, the worldwide global warming activists’ proposals for curbing greenhouse gases were to be uniformly implemented, delayed or ended. The lack of ongoing warming for two decades or more, despite increasing

CO2 concentrations and the international disarray in responses, are very contrary to dubious sense in the climate alarmists’ proposals.

What is certain is the economically crippling impact of unilateral curbing of CO2 by the UK and the unproven benefit of its universal application.

(DR) CHARLES WARDROP