Selling the Planet for $1 Billion

Trump doesn't simply think the Manhattan courtroom where he's currently on trial for election interference should be warmer. He wants to turn up the heat on the entire planet.

Trump doesn't simply think the Manhattan courtroom where he's currently on trial for election interference should be warmer.

He wants to turn up the heat on the entire planet.

As The Washington Post just reported, Trump recently told a gathering of top oil executives at Mar-a-Lago that if they raised $1 billion to help return him to the White House he would immediately reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from being enacted.

Giving $1 billion would be a “deal,” Trump said, because of the taxation and regulation they would avoid thanks to him.

In any other circumstance, we might say Trump was "soliciting a bribe," but the Post settles for labeling it a "remarkably blunt and transactional pitch." 

Meanwhile, with 2030 looming, the world is still failing to achieve its existing emissions and climate targets. As Axios reports, data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service shows that "the ocean's surface has notched 13 straight months of record heat."

Even accounting for natural cycles like El Niño, Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: "the extra energy trapped into the ocean and the atmosphere by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will keep pushing the global temperature towards new records."

Meanwhile, an ongoing heatwave in Southeast Asia has been shattering temperature records across the region, with some areas experiencing their hottest temperatures ever recorded. 

According to CNN, the planet endured a record-hot April, and "the hot weather has... been brutal in many South Asian countries where, science shows, climate change has brought stronger and more frequent extreme weather events, like life-threatening heatwaves — leaving nearly half a billion children exposed and vulnerable."

Children in Bangladesh,"have been facing blast-furnace heat almost every day,” said Sheldon Yett, a UNICEF representative for the region.

In his first term, Trump not only slammed the brakes on meaningful climate action, he also sent U.S. and global progress into reverse. The damage he plans to inflict in his second term will be catastrophic and potentially irreversible.

Biden Has Taken More Climate Action Than Any President in U.S. History

As the global climate emergency intensifies, the news the Trump is taking bribes from the "drill, baby, drill" crowd comes on the same day that President Biden is getting praise for his remarkable record on environmental action:

According to a new analysis from Climate Power and 20 other climate groups, including the youth-led Sunrise Movement, President Biden has taken more than 320 environmental actions to address climate change.

According to Lori Lodes, Climate Power’s executive director:

“Our analysis, signed by over 20 climate and environmental groups, identified more than 300 meaningful climate actions that are creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs, lowering energy costs, protecting our lands, and holding Big Oil accountable. President Biden made climate action a priority from Day 1, and he’s just getting started.”

According to Kidus Girma, campaign director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement: "President Biden has delivered critical climate action in his first term."

Now's a good time to share this kind of news with friends young and old who care about the planet.

And make sure you include the "young" part.

According to Business Insider, most young voters have no idea about Biden's historic achievements on climate.

Let's Also Talk About Inflation

The Republicans who voted against the Inflation Reduction Act have not been silenced by Biden's success at crushing Trump-ignited inflation from its post-pandemic high of more than 9% to its current rate below 3.5%. They're still trying to use inflation as a cudgel against Biden in 2024.

What they don't want you to know:

Trump is planning to detonate "an inflation bomb" as soon as he gets re-elected.

As Axios reports: "Simmering frustration with high prices has allowed Trump to build a decisive polling advantage on the economy — while some of his own plans have largely escaped scrutiny."

Experts who have analyzed Trump's plans are now sounding the alarm about:

• Tariffs that "would amount to a roughly $1,500 annual tax increase for the typical household."
• A devaluation of the dollar that "could send prices of imported goods soaring."
• Tax cuts for the rich which would add to the debt and potentially "push up prices" for average Americans.
• Mass deportation plans that will "exacerbate labor shortages and reignite inflation."

According to economic historian and Columbia University professor Adam Tooze, Trump's positions are a "recipe" for inflationary shocks to the economy.

So be warned.

Even if you're happy to vote for Trump knowing he'll be a corrupt, democracy-destroying, menstrual-cycle monitoring dictator from Day One, you'll also have to deal with more heatwaves, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and—the last thing you say you want—much hotter inflation.

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Further reading:

From 2020: "The Planet After Trump": A Q&A with award-winning journalist Charles Alexander, who edited Time's 1989 "Planet of the Year" report.

From 2022: "Can This Planet Be Saved?": An interview with Eric Pooley, author of The Climate War, about what he's learned in 11 years at Environmental Defense Fund--and what must come next.