Physical Address
23,24,25 & 26, 2nd Floor, Software Technology Park India, Opp: Garware Stadium,MIDC, Chikalthana, Aurangabad, Maharashtra – 431001 India
While climate change was absent in the 2024 Indian Lok Sabha elections rhetoric, the recent record-breaking heatwave in India surfaced in U.S. politics when Bernie Sanders criticised Republican nominee Donald Trump. Bernie wrote on X on May 31, “Donald Trump thinks climate change is a “hoax.” Tell that to the people who are now experiencing the hottest temperatures ever recorded in India. Trump’s support of the oil industry threatens the human race. We must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels.”
Sanders further wrote in an email to reporters, “If Donald Trump is elected, our kids and grandchildren are going to continue to see rising global temperatures that will lead to shorter lifespans and worse mental health; increased instances of food and waterborne disease; human and animal diseases; increased exposure to wildfires that will mean more heart and lung diseases and flooding during extreme weather events. . . . It will mean substantially increased risk of wars, social unrest, and mass migrations. It will mean an estimated $100 trillion in lost global economic activity, with more than 100 million people thrown into extreme poverty.”
According to a recent exclusive report by The Washington Post, Donald Trump has reportedly promised to scrap President Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and wind energy, along with other initiatives opposed by the fossil fuel industry. The report described how at a recent Mar-a-Lago (Trump’s club) meeting with top oil executives, Donald Trump was urged to address ‘burdensome environmental regulations’ despite their ‘$400 million’ lobbying effort. Trump suggested they should raise $1 billion for his return to the White House, promising to reverse dozens of Biden’s environmental rules and prevent new ones.
“Trump’s remarkably blunt and transactional pitch reveals how the former president is targeting the oil industry to finance his reelection bid. At the same time, he has turned to the industry to help shape his environmental agenda for a second term, including rollbacks of some of Biden’s signature achievements on clean energy and electric vehicles,” the Washington Post report said.
Biden Vs Trump – U.S. 2024 is a climate election?
The Washington Post report also pointed out that the difference between Biden and Trump, the two Presidential candidates, on climate policy is stark. Biden, viewing global warming as an “existential threat,” has enacted over 100 environmental regulations to cut air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, toxic chemicals, and conserve public lands and waters. Conversely, Trump, who deems climate change a “hoax,” weakened or eliminated more than 125 environmental rules and policies during his tenure.
An analysis by The Washington Post has also found that recently, the Biden administration has rapidly reversed 27 of Trump’s environmental actions and implemented 24 new ones, particularly targeting the fossil fuel industry. Notably, the Interior Department blocked future oil drilling across 13 million acres of the Alaskan Arctic.
Carbon Brief reports that a second Trump term would add 4 billion tons of climate-warming gases to the atmosphere by 2030, equivalent to the annual emissions of Europe and Japan combined. “A second Trump term that successfully dismantles Biden’s climate legacy would likely end any global hopes of keeping global warming below 1.5C,” Carbon Brief said.
In 2012, Trump called climate change a “hoax” and a “money-making industry” created by China to damage the U.S. economy, according to AP. The former U.S. President has consistently expressed his skepticism about climate change. He also wrote on X in 2012, “In the 1920’s people were worried about global cooling–it never happened. Now it’s global warming. Give me a break!”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and other Republicans have argued that President Joe Biden’s policy promoting electric vehicles is unfair to consumers and constitutes government overreach. Trump described the Biden administration’s policy to promote electric vehicles as a “radical plan” that could devastate the economies of states reliant on automaking.
India heatwave
The unprecedented heatwave continues in India and as of June 1 has resulted in over 45 deaths in the last 36 hours alone, bringing the nationwide death toll from the heatwave to 87. Reports say that many of these are poll workers working in the culminating part of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in India. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a series of meetings with top government officials to assess preparedness and measures being undertaken to alleviate the impact of extreme weather conditions like heatwaves.
References:
https://www.laprogressive.com/climate-change/trump-would-be-catastrophic
Analysis: Trump election win could add 4bn tonnes to US emissions by 2030
