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Discussion » Questions » Environment » “...it’ll change back.”
Don Barzini

“...it’ll change back.”

There you have it. Donald Trump’s summary opinion on Climate Change, a situation he won’t bother to understand, in response to a report he won’t bother to read.

Does his comment strike anyone as troubling? Somewhat capricious? What’s your take on it all?

Posted - October 15, 2018
Tags : None

Responses


  • 6098
    Wishful thinking.  And having a little joke at the expense of a quite silly designation.  I much preferred "global warming" but somehow that got cashiered as not being politically correct enough.  Actual climate change is common and will happen.  But seems to me what is behind these now predicted is more serious than that phrase indicates.  If you just read John Muir's book In think called Travels In Alaska you can see that, for instance just in Glacier Bay, the glaciers in the latter part of the 19th century came almost all the way to the mouth of that bay while now they are only a small fraction of their former size.   So it is serious.  But from a political point of view what bothers me is that the liberal politicians will use that to extend government control over the individual which will be the end of this country as we have known it anyway.  
      October 15, 2018 7:07 AM MDT
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  • 19937

    The reason government has to get involved is because people don't "police" themselves.  Yes, climate changes over time - it always has and always will.  The problem is the extent to which people and their lifestyles hurry along the negative impacts of climate change.  Deforestation is causing climate change because there is nothing to shade the earth from the heat of the sun.  The earth warming, even only a degree, means polar caps melt sooner, water levels rise, flooding occurs, etc.  It isn't just one thing that happens - it's a series of events that may one day mean we cannot grow sufficient food to feed everyone.  But, this president, along with too many others, think that's a hoax.  

      October 15, 2018 7:30 AM MDT
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  • 5391
    It’s a good thing we don’t need the politicians to lead on this. Govt’s screw everything up and waste our money. We must know by now we can’t nor shouldn’t depend on them. It is pitiful to me to watch these empty suits bicker and posture, and fool themselves.  

    Visionaries in the private sector, like Elon Musk and others, have nonetheless moved forward on this, with or without the self-serving Trumps of the world. This post was edited by Don Barzini at November 24, 2018 7:05 AM MST
      October 15, 2018 2:41 PM MDT
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  • 5808
    sad situation
    Trump is clueless
    And he owes Warren a Million for her charity...haha

      October 15, 2018 9:16 AM MDT
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  • 19937
    Trump is an intellectual midget.  When he said "they" tell him climate change is a hoax and Leslie Stahl asked  him who is "they," his response was "people" tell him.  She countered that his own scientists affirm global warming, but he pooh-poohed that.  He has no idea who tells him what because the only thing he hears are the voices in his own head.  He also said that he wasn't going to put millions of people out of work to save the planet.  I guess re-training them to work in industries that would aid in the fight against the portion of climate change that is attributable to humans is not something he can envision.  He's still thinking the coal industry is coming back.  He may be right - if this planet regresses far enough, we may just need coal to keep us warm because there won't be any trees for us to burn wood.
      October 15, 2018 9:27 AM MDT
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  • 5391
    Indeed he is, Spunky. Wonderful response.
    My golf buddy, a retired neurologist, calls Trump “an incandescently stupid man”. I couldn’t articulate it any better.

    I watched the ‘60 Minutes‘ interview with great interest, Trump diverted and dissembled and opined delusionally, repeating his tacky little mantras ad nauseum.
    Laughingstock president, closing one segment with:

    “Leslie, I’m president and you’re not.” Real class act. 

    I remember you and I discussing a point Trump would prove to me or not, and yep: hopelessly irredeemable. Beyond any question. This post was edited by Don Barzini at November 24, 2018 7:06 AM MST
      October 15, 2018 10:46 AM MDT
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  • 19937
    I watched that interview, too.  That last comment was the equivalent of a 6-year old saying, "Nah, nah, nah, nah nah."  Nauseating, just nauseating.
      October 15, 2018 1:54 PM MDT
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  • 22891
    he nnight be right
      October 15, 2018 10:00 AM MDT
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  • 17614
    Best answer.  History is on your side.
      October 15, 2018 2:03 PM MDT
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  • 5391
    I couldn’t disagree more. This is unprecedented in human history. It is not on our side. 
      October 15, 2018 2:23 PM MDT
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  • 44649
    It will 'change back' when the human race is gone.
      November 24, 2018 7:07 AM MST
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  • 5391
    Unlikely. Every scientist in the climate field has all but dismissed that idea. 


      October 15, 2018 2:22 PM MDT
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  • 4624
    Troubling, yes, extremely, because the USA has the largest economy in the world and one of the largest populations, which means its proportional impact on global warming is significant.

    Even China and India, whose records on these issues are woeful, have a better idea of what they need to accomplish to reduce pollution, and why they need to start doing it immediately.

    Trump's tweets are notoriously capricious. He can reverse positions on policy from one day to the next and back again,
    as with his threats to Kim Jong Un, then friendship, then cooling off again,
    as with what he said or "meant to say" about Russia's alleged covert interference in his election campaign,
    as with his decisions on the Mexican border wall and how to deal with migrants' children...
    the flip-flop record is so long now that it would take ages to list it all.
    He seems to frequently forget what he said yesterday,  seems amazed when reminded or shown the evidence and seems to think these reversals are trivial or irrelevant.

    Trump studied business at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a B.Sc. in economics in '68. He went to work in his family's real estate business and became a developer of hotels and golf-courses, gradually moving into big business.
    So we can say he has a thorough understanding of how to make profits, and that he is likely to be pretty canny in the skills of negotiations and deals.
    It's possible that he has developed a style of playing hardball - putting out some onerous condition like heavy trade tariffs with the expectation of forcing the other side to a better deal.
    But none of these skills are helpful to resolving the issues of global warming.

    The irony of this is that big business is slowly starting to realise that the technological changes required to reduce global warming represent opportunities for incredible profits.
    Trump could jump in with policies that remove obstacles and make himself a world hero in the process - but he's blind to it.

    His behaviour indicates that he has no knowledge of history, ecology or science, and no conception of how dangerous his ignorance is.







    This post was edited by inky at November 24, 2018 7:16 AM MST
      October 15, 2018 10:24 PM MDT
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  • 3719
    Re your last paragraph:

    As a foreigner it's not for me to comment on his ability in administering his own nation, but seeing his lack of knowledge and experience of international affairs, he seem to want not to know or understand, either.
      November 20, 2018 3:17 PM MST
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  • 4624
    I like to believe we all have a right to express our opinions here.
    It would be quite strange on an American, open and public site to allow freedom of expression only to American citizens.
    It would imply that the USA's constitutional right to freedom of expression contained an unwritten double standard:
    "It's our sole privilege to say what we like, so if you don't agree with us, please just keep shtum."

    I agree that it is the most diplomatic thing to abstain from comment or be extremely careful in one's phrasing when commenting on American matters as a foreigner.
    I have sometimes been taken to task here
    (either for an insufficiently researched response or because the evidence, though proven, was unwelcome)
    by nationalists and it is not a pleasant experience.
    I find the liberals tend to be more open-minded and interested in diverse views - 'though the conservatives disagree.
    Sometimes I am willing to take the risk.
    I've travelled overseas and seen how others see my country from afar - and it is often an accurate perception.
    Just as sometimes others can see us better than we see ourselves - I often think that the view from outside something, from a mountain or a satellite, can be very telling - as can the microscope.

    I agree that from all the footage and tweets, there is no evidence to suggest that Trump cares to know or understand the science on climate change. It seems like a classic case of the head in the sand. But it's probably not as simple as that. I think that because he doesn't know the facts, he imagines that going green means a humungous loss of profits.

    I think that view is mistaken. It will be far more costly to abstain from changing to carbon neutral or carbon-balance-repairing technologies.
    For those who embrace the changes, there will be a technological revolution. Elon Musk will be the type to capitalise on it. There will be global shifts in employment and training, with tremendous profits for the producers of renewable power and carbon sinks.
    Eventually (if the world can shift fast enough) it could lead to greater food security and healthier living.
    Perhaps then Trump will realise his error. This post was edited by inky at November 24, 2018 7:17 AM MST
      November 24, 2018 12:00 AM MST
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  • 6098
    I doubt anyone would question your right to express yourself on here.  Regardless of race, creed, or nationality.  But when you start to take us to task for things we neither believe nor subscribe to nor do then it does rankle.  Because you don't know what it is like to live here.  And though you may consider yourself very informed on events in our country I think you need to consider just what the source of your information is, who is behind it, who are they playing to,  and what axes they have to grind as it were. 

    More than loss of profits I would say Trump fears most, as many of us do, loss of self-determination.  Loss of freedom. 
      November 24, 2018 7:00 AM MST
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  • 44649
    I like short, concise answers that require very little thought. He's a moron.
      November 24, 2018 7:10 AM MST
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