Ultraconservative Republican Donald Trump is on his way to regain the keys to the White House. The final outcome of this vote will be of paramount importance for the climate and global geopolitics. Donald Trump won 26 states, including three of the seven states considered “ pivots » for the election. At 9 a.m. on Wednesday November 6, Emmanuel Macron was among one of the first political leaders to congratulate him on his victory. The days ahead will be decisive. Reporterre retraces the last moments when everything changed.
« Beaver County, it smells very good for Donald Trump ! » On CNNhost John King would end up getting a stiff neck or a cramp in his finger, from nervously tapping on each county that was turning Republican red on the interactive map, before staring at the viewer.
Stressed, Lena Moffitt, the general director of Evergreen, one of the leading voices among environmental associations in the United States, stared back at him, surrounded by her family and a mountain of popcorn. « I watch CNN, FOX, MSNBC and the BBC on a screen divided into four. I feel the anxiety rising »she told us. « We are in the middle of a decisive decade for the climate. If Trump returns to power, it will be a real disaster »she lamented.
Fear in the Arctic
11:30 p.m. Eastern Time. « We have a new forecast ! »thundered the presenter of CNNJake Tapper. The key state of North Carolina had just fallen into the Republican hands. The suspense has not yet set sail, but the night seemed well underway, on the Trumpist side.
From Vermont, Melodie Brown Burkins watched election night, surrounded by her husband and mother. She communicated constantly by text with her two sons, who voted for the first time.
The professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth University was anxious about the return of the billionaire to the helm of the country. « Trump has canceled or rolled back more than 100 policies that regulate clean air, water or biodiversity. »
Specialist in the Arctic, she fears that he will once again dismantle strategic partnerships for the defense of the region's ecosystems and that he will increase investments « unethical and short-sighted economic development in the Arctic, which respects neither local communities, nor science, nor indigenous expertise ».
Pressure on Europe
Jake Tapper was shouting again. Michigan, another key state, was turning red. Samuel Stolper, professor of environmental policy at the University of Michigan, predicts « a huge change » in the American trajectory of environmental protection.
« Trump will massively roll back the country's decarbonization and global climate justice. In particular, he will seek to have theIRA — the Inflation Reduction Act, which involves record investments in decarbonization — and will expose protected ecosystems to much greater risks. »
« Trump will massively roll back global climate justice »
His colleague, Henrik Selin, professor of international relations and specialist in environmental cooperation at Boston University, believes, however, thatIRA was constructed well enough not to be unraveled easily. « It has already proven its effectiveness, in terms of jobs created. He will not want to and cannot easily remove it. »
Barry Rabe, professor of environment at the University of Michigan, assures that Donald Trump, back in the Oval Office, will leave the Paris Agreement again, and that his arrival will put more pressure on Europe, inasmuch as « world leader in the fight against climate change ».
Climate change, “ who cares ? »
1 a.m. On television, Donald Trump was hovering in the estimates of close battles in remaining key states, such as Pennsylvania, even though no major channel had yet made it official. No matter, Trump was about to speak and claim victory.
The 1is November, he mentioned climate change, talking about the rise in ocean levels. An awareness ? No, it was to make fun of it. « Who cares ? »
Discouraging ? Lena Moffitt did not admit defeat. « If this morning I woke up in Donald Trump's America again, I would feel sad for the planet and democracy. But I'm ready to work even harder to make sure the voices of the majority of Americans who believe in climate change are heard. »
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