Climate Change was making the rounds long before Al Gore arrived on the scene, Gore added a publicly political tone to what had previously been a mostly scientific issue.

Fast forward to 2017, not much has changed. Multinationals are still polluting on a massive scale, U.S. lobbyists are still creating dissenting voices that add to the confusion; and worst of all, we find a tweet from the current U.S. president stating he does not believe Global Warming exists at all!

An article posted on CNN tried to analyze Trump’s statement on Twitter. Within minutes of posting the above comment, #POTUS had hundreds of comments and retweets. Twitter was set alight with criticisms and opinions ranging from “Perhaps the President does not know the difference between Climate Change and the weather?” to “He’s an utter moron!”

A 12-year old understands the concept of Global Warming and Climate Change, Trump does too. In my opinion, his responses are merely distractions, to keep prying eyes away from serious issues and elicit emotional responses from the public rather than having to answer cold, hard facts. Trump chooses to blatantly ignore the near future for the present. In his mind, by the time things really start going downhill, he will be long gone, so what does it matter?

Flawed Thinking

Alas, it is that selfish mentality that has landed us in the hot seat. Reap what you sow has a different meaning in the world of industry. We understand that Trump is a businessman, his only goal is one of maximizing profit. We also point out that, as President of the United States, he has a duty to not only listen to his constituents but act on their behalf for the betterment of all concerned.

One needs to understand that Climate Change affects more than the poles melting or drought hitting certain regions harder than before.

Think of the earth’s atmosphere as a circle, when one starts hammering away at the protective edge, the circle starts to disintegrate, the lines become blurred and chaos takes over. A simple example — the Trump administration issued an executive order in 2017 that opens up national parks and protected wildlife sites to the oil and coal industry alike. This means crucial areas of conservation are now open to excessive pollution via big business, stripping of the land’s natural resources, and further endangerment or extinction of the local ecosystem.

As the circle continues to disintegrate, it affects more systems in the chain, which spreads like a flesh-eating bacteria, eventually destroying all that crosses its path.

Frank Underwood, House of Cards U.S. tv series and U.S. President Donald Trump

June 1, 2017 — Trump and Co. withdrew from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. His argument reminded me of the character, Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey in House of Cards. Questionable character and morals, more than willing to play dirty and undermine the very public who put him in office, Trump stated that “The Paris accord will undermine (the U.S.) economy,” and “puts (the U.S.) at a permanent disadvantage.”

In the show, Frank Underwood, interim President of the United States, withdrew billions from the FEMA relief program to fund his America Works (Get it? America Works/America First) initiative. A few months down the line, a massive storm is about to hit the country and everyone in the president’s cabinet is up in arms over what to do. Allocating the funds back to FEMA meant the America Works program would cease to function. Considering this was key in ensuring he remained president, Underwood was not particularly happy about this turn of events, and literally signed the order at the last minute.

When it turns out the storm will pass by, harmlessly, Underwood scrambles to pull back the order. Alas, a little too late.

Why the analogy? Trump and Underwood have similar agendas. They want to ensure their interests remain top dog, but in order to do that, one must somehow rope in a majority of the voting class, while stabbing them in the back at the same time. The power may lie in the hands of the average man, but, it seems he is not capable of harnessing that power…yet.

Enter America First — the agenda the Trump administration is desperately trying to force feed the American public. Any good president wants his nation to succeed. As quoted above, Trump wants the U.S. economy to function optimally, minus the disadvantages, hence his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement

Talking about Disadvantages…

According to statistics, the State of California had over 9000 wildfires in 2017, with damages exceeding US$ 13 billion. A year filled with injuries to firefighters and civilians, loss of wildlife and habitat, utter chaos and destruction.

Could this be anything to do with Climate Change, Mr. President? what were you saying about removing obstacles that may harm the U.S. economy?

The frequency and intensity of natural disasters in the United States have increased over the past few years. Munich Re, a global reinsurance firm, commented that the U.S. had seen more than their average share of natural disasters in the first half of 2017 alone.

“The unusual atmospheric conditions in the USA in the first half of 2017 provided the perfect conditions for powerful supercell thunderstorms, which invariably bring major hailstorms and tornadoes,” said Peter Höppe, head of Munich Re’s Geo Risks Research. “The number of tornadoes observed in the first quarter of 2017 was twice as high as the average for the last 10 years,” he said.

The May 9, 2017, hailstorm in Denver, CO. Damages amounted to a little over US$ 2.1 billion

This piece isn’t meant to convince anyone that Climate Change and Global Warming exists, it’s meant to make you aware that environmental catastrophes are on the rise because of Global Warming. That the safety and security of the planet often lay in the hands of people who connive, scheme and outright lie to get ahead.

We face an uncertain future…

NERA looks out for the interests of the public and the environment — one cannot exist without the other.

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