Skip to main content

Response to Grost’s “Why the federal government is making climate data disappear.” Adam Zakman. University of California - Davis.

The erasure of National Climate Assessments and limiting the availability of vital climate data is not accurately described by the author as a "flex of executive power, an escalation of the culture war over climate change, or a strategic attempt to erase the scientific foundation for climate policy." It is a clear abuse of executive power and a testament to Trump's influence over U.S. industry. Trump, historically, has brought attention to "culture war" issues to distract and draw attention away from specific topics, not as a guide for his policy. Additionally, climate change denialism is far from being a popular decision.

In 2024, Nature published an article by Andre et al. sharing demographic data on the global support for climate action. They found that the vast majority of Americans believe climate change to be a real phenomenon, with 74% of Americans agreeing that "the national government should do more to fight global warming." Furthermore, Our World In Data published a study called "More people care about climate change than you think," stating that the mainstream discussion surrounding climate change has grown past the debate over its existence and " is now about the merits of different solutions, not whether we should act." Given the widespread support for climate action, even among Republican voters and officials, an attempt by Trump to use this as an escalation to the 'culture war' would only diminish his credibility among the average voter.

The scale and impact of this "climate erasure" are too great to be explained away as a "flex of executive power." This is Trump actualizing his plan to drive money towards Big Oil and other GHG-emitting fuel industry leaders who donated over $450 million to his most recent campaign.

Trump and his administration understand that support for climate action has become too ubiquitous for their climate change denialism to be taken seriously, so they pivoted. By eliminating the variety and amount of information dedicated to measuring the impact of climate change and taking funding away from researchers studying the efficacy of climate change mitigation measures, Trump is stripping away essential tools and knowledge, thereby undermining the capacity for people to reach a consensus on how to approach mitigating climate change. The result is a diversion in the form of an endless debate with no clear answer that distracts the populace from Trump allowing Big Oil's dominance over the U.S. energy market to continue.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Kamalanomics: Home and Health

Vice President Kamala Harris recently unveiled her economic plan, which builds upon and expands several initiatives from the Biden administration while adding new elements aimed at addressing economic challenges faced by American families. Her plan, dubbed the "Opportunity Economy" agenda, focuses on lowering costs for essential goods and services, particularly targeting housing, healthcare, and groceries. Key Components: 1. Housing: Harris proposes constructing three million new homes to address the housing supply crunch, which is more ambitious than Biden's two-million-home plan. She also advocates for a $40 billion "innovation fund" to encourage local governments to find solutions to housing shortages and make it harder for investment companies to buy up large numbers of rental properties, which has driven up rent prices. (See: Comments to the CalPERS Board of Administration, July 15, 2024 on Housing and Environmental Investing.) 2. Healthcare: Expanding on B...
Read more

Maternal Health Financing Facility for Black Women: A Solution to an Urgent Problem

Maternal mortality is a significant issue in the United States, with Black women disproportionately affected. Research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown that Black women are more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts. However, the issue is not new, and despite the increasing amount of data available, the disparities have remained unaddressed for far too long.  Creative Investment Research (CIR) is among the organizations that believe there is a solution to the problem. Through our proposed impact investing vehicle , the Maternal Health Financing Facility for Black Women (MHFFBW), we aim to tackle the mortality gap and support Black women during childbirth, which will, in turn, benefit their communities. The Facility, based on legally binding financing agreements containing terms and conditions that direct resources to individuals and institutions capable of addressing supply-side conditions at the heart...
Read more

Projected Impact of Gun Laws on Corporate Profits in Texas

More Fortune 500 companies are located in Texas than in any other state. Texas successfully used low taxes and minimal regulations as bait to recruit companies like Tesla and Oracle. The state promoted these “advantages” in ads highlighting their “free-market” environment and criticizing the "tax and spend policies of liberal leadership" in Democrat-run states. Four million people migrated to Texas over the past ten years. Our economic models predict a reversal, however. State of Texas corporations on the Fortune 1000 list generate $2.2 trillion in revenue, $158 billion in profit. They have a market value of $3.8 trillion and employ 2.5 million people nationwide. We continue to believe this increased corporate presence in Texas imposes a tax on the nation as a whole. Texas allows anyone 21 or older to carry handguns without training or licenses, and maintains lower gun purchase age limits. Beyond the recent abortion bill, which allows people to sue those who "aid and abe...
Read more