Once again, reality has intruded into my search for a good fantasy. This time, it’s something bigger than Trump decrees the downsizing of two national monuments in Utah, but in the same anti-environmental vein. Instead, it’s the logical consequence of Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord. The Guardian has the story in Trump drops climate change from US national security strategy.
The Trump administration has dropped climate change from a list of global threats in a new national security strategy the president unveiled on Monday.
Instead, Trump’s NSS paper emphasised the need for the US to regain its economic competitiveness in the world.
That stance represents a sharp change from the Obama administration’s NSS, which placed climate change as one of the main dangers facing the nation and made building international consensus on containing global warming a national security priority.
…
A senior official said on Sunday the main difference between the Trump NSS and its predecessors was a new emphasis on border security and economic issues.“The economic piece … gets much more attention,” the official said. “The insistence that economic security is national security.”
In response, it’s time to be a good environmentalist and recycle what I wrote more than six years ago on my personal blog.
[E]conomy is dependent on society, which is in turn dependent on the environment. Without an environment, there is no society. Without a society, there is no economy. Those relationships put sustainability into perspective. They also show that the emphasis on economy above all is exactly backwards. No wonder we’re in trouble.
This is a lesson I wish Trump would learn, but he hasn’t and almost certainly never will, which means we will continue to be in trouble. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m with Iago from “Aladdin” on this one.
Sigh. No wonder I’m looking for a good fantasy.
Modified from Trump does not recognize climate change as a national security threat at Crazy Eddie’s Motie News because of issues with embedding videos here.
I sure hope a solution is found. In the scheme of things the blocking of embedded videos is perhaps minor (I say that having dealt with some real life and death stuff very recently – though thankfully with what appears to be a happy ending), but does create hassles for those of us humble diarists who like a bit of audiovisual to go along with text.
As for the rest, I am hardly an alarmist, but it doesn’t take much imagination to realize that if the environment (climate, availability of fresh water, etc.) deteriorates, so do our prospects for surviving as a civilization and perhaps as a species. We’ve been staring at the abyss for longer than I want to contemplate at this moment and I worry for my children, and for any grandchildren. Then again, for all I know, my kids have already decided that everything’s doomed anyway, and grandchildren may not be forthcoming.
I hope a solution is found, too. Not being able to post videos is an inconvenience for me, as my default method of writing a diary entry or blog post is to find a video and write around it. A good example is Seth Meyers and The Grio mock animatronic Trump, which would be fun to post here except that it won’t work without the embedded videos.
As for the environment, I hear you, but I have to keep sounding the alarm. Speaking of which, I’m wondering who else is a strong environmental voice here at the frog pond, or if I stand out in that regard.
We’ve had some folks interested in environmental issues from time to time. Many who would actually write about them, from any perspective, have long since left the building. It’s not my area of expertise per se, but I am keenly interested, especially to the extent that even the best case scenarios as our climate changes (largely self-inflicted as has been well-documented) are pretty damn catastrophic. There are a number of factors that serve as possible predictors for aggression and violence (broadly speaking). Uncomfortable heat is one. I have some awareness of research on that issue. Food insecurity, displacement, etc., all have the potential to take us as a species from a moment where violence is at apparent historical lows (is Steve Pinker is correct in his thesis) to where we as members of this species will be at each others’ throats.
So it looks like I’m occupying a niche that would otherwise be empty. To me, that means that I should keep posting on the subject.
“There are a number of factors that serve as possible predictors for aggression and violence (broadly speaking). Uncomfortable heat is one. I have some awareness of research on that issue.”
You mentioned some ironic law of research in psychology earlier this month that made me suspect you have a background in psychology. So does my wife. We might have more to talk about besides music and the environment.
You have guessed correctly. I do have a psych background, and we might say that my interests are in aggression (very broadly speaking) and probably more relevant to this blog issues concerning authoritarianism and its relation to social/political attitudes and behavior.
And yes – since you do have a very unique niche here, your posts will be especially valued. Response to posts may vary, but that may be due to readers perceived lack of expertise hindering weighing in. Think of Frank Schnittger’s diaries. He has a wealth of knowledge about how Brexit is impacting Ireland and of course Northern Ireland. I routinely rec his diaries simply because I know that he is sharing something very valuable and well-written. I may not always comment, but I am very appreciative of the time he devotes to us. So please, keep doing what you’re doing.
Perhaps you, a relative newcomer, posting interesting diaries will incite some others with some unique niche interests and expertise of their own to give it a go as well. BT may be a bit creaky at times these days, but I have an inkling that there is a lot of untapped potential among some of our regulars and our lurkers. Just sayin’.