We imagined that the results of the race for the American presidency would be slow in coming. This is not the case: since Wednesday morning, we have known that Donald Trump will be back at the White House. If the Republican candidate keeps his campaign promises, the climate will suffer. Without a doubt.
Donald Trump continues to repeat his attachment to fossil fuels, his desire to once again withdraw the United States from the Paris agreement but also to suspend funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The fact remains that it could prove extremely dangerous to put an end to this policy which, as the Quebec daily reminds us Duty, “stimulates the energy transition, and therefore the fight against the climate crisis, with the help of hundreds of billions of dollars of public funds”. Because, among those who defend this law, there are Republican elected officials and… oil tycoons.
Passed in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act offers tax credits for ten years to companies that invest in green technologies, including electric vehicles and batteries. Provided that these investments are made on American territory. As of April 2024, $161 billion had already been invested in Republican constituencies, almost four times more than in Democratic lands. So much so that last June editorialists from Bloomberg mentioned the “bulky gift” from President Biden to Republicans: “green jobs”. It’s difficult to unravel a law that provides work for your citizens…
Many elected officials could find themselves in the same situation as Buddy Carter. He who has just been re-elected to the United States House of Representatives for Georgia is “a Republican, whose district is home to a mega-factory [de production de véhicules électriques]. In 2022, he did not vote for the IRA – like all Republican elected officials in Congress. But he said he didn't want projects like the factory to be compromised”, indicates the economic media in another article. As for the elected Republican from Tennessee Chuck Fleischmann, whose electoral land saw the growth of a battery factory and its 300 jobs, he “would be happy to explain the benefits of this technology to officials in the second Trump administration”.
Oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66 and Occidental Petroleum, will happily join the advocacy. Their leaders mostly pro-Trump “fear losing vital tax credits for their investments in renewable fuels, carbon capture and hydrogen,” underlines The Wall Street Journal. We bet that they will be able to find friendly ears to understand their point of view.
But even if some green industrial projects survive the new administration, overall it is a nightmare for the climate. Let's not forget that the slogan of the Republican Party in 2008 was already “Drill, baby, drill !” (“Drill, guys, drill!”). And during Donald Trump’s speech at the Republican convention in July, he again boasted: “We have more liquid gold under our feet than any other country, by far.”And liquid gold feeds the economy, to which it owes its election.
In brief
No Papuans at the COP
Papua New Guinea has announced that it will boycott COP29 – which opens next Monday in Baku – with its Foreign Minister, Justin Tkatchenko, calling it “waste of time”. “COP meetings have become an annual cycle of promises […] and unfortunately commitments not respected”, deplores the Indian daily Mint which relays the information. To find out more, click here.
The Swedish army doesn't like wind turbines
That's how many offshore wind projects the Swedish government rejected this week on the grounds that they would hamper the military in the Baltic Sea. These thirteen (out of fourteen) offshore wind farm projects presented to him were to produce 140 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. “If it is so obvious that offshore wind power is not compatible with enhanced defense capabilities, why was this decision not made sooner?” wonders Today's Industry, the economic newspaper of the kingdom. To find out more, click here.
Lack of prevention in Spain
After the violent bad weather which left more than 200 dead in the regions of Valencia, Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia on October 29, it is clear that “it is not the forecast that has failed, but the prevention”, asserts El Diario.es. The criticism first targets the autonomous Valencian executive, which, in 2023, abandoned the project to create a unit in charge of emergencies carried out by its socialist predecessor. Spain must now “examine the errors made and the alert mechanisms. Assess the dangerousness of constructions in flood zones and make decisions”, and adapt to the new climate reality, concludes El Periódico de Catalunya. To find out more, click here.
No snow on Mount Fuji
At the end of October, the summit of Mount Fuji, the highest point in Japan with its 3,776 meters above sea level, was still not covered in snow. “This is the first time [depuis le début des relevés, en 1894] that we have to wait until November to see the summit […] snow white”, underlines the Japanese site specializing in climate news Tank. “I suspect that global warming is one of the factors, although we don't know the exact reasons.” of this phenomenon, estimates Mamoru Matsumoto, of the Japan Meteorological Agency, interviewed by the daily Asahi Shimbun. To find out more, click here.
