In the battle against climate change, policies made by world leaders play a critical role in shaping our future. Climate change is the number one global issue in the world, not only threatening the environment and our future but also the economy. We live in an economy that thrives while hurting the environment.
Before President Donald Trump’s victory in the election, he vowed to undo climate policies under the Biden Administration, such as the Reduction Act, which led millions of people to clean energy. Trump’s climate policies disregard our future and prioritize short-term economic gains over the long-term state of the planet.
During Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, he mentioned withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, causing detrimental changes to the climate. According to Climate Action Tracker “US greenhouse gas emissions [will be] at least 3% higher in 2030 than with the policies still in place.” This worsens our already ongoing climate crisis.
Trump vows that these changes will be worth it for our economy. “[The Paris Accord is] designed to kill the American economy,” Trump said. The truth is climate change, which is worsening due to Trump’s actions, will be the real cause of death to our economy.
Trump believes costing our planet’s climate is worth it to save American Jobs, however, he does not acknowledge that it is possible to both create jobs and protect the environment.
“I’m not going to put the Paris Agreement and other things ahead of the jobs of American workers,” said Trump.
The absence of the Paris Agreement would benefit a small percentage of jobs, mostly those in the fossil fuel industry. However, there are over 4.2 million job opportunities that opened up in 2022 due to political leaders putting the climate before short-term gain, and it is predicted that 24 million more will open up by 2030 if Trump does not go forward with repealing the act. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the clean energy sector is one of the fastest-growing job markets in the United States. If we continued with the Paris Agreement, roughly 6 million jobs would be lost, but if we continue down the path Trump is forging, we risk greater economic instability, environmental destruction and irreversible climate damage.
Climate change has brought in threatening factors for our future. According to the World Wide Fund For Nature, habitats such as the Amazon, Arctic and Eastern Himalayas are in the midst of being impacted by the change in climate. Defenders of Wildlife says “habitats around the world are beginning to shift, shrink, melt and e&ven disappear entirely from climate change.” Nature is not the only victim, humans should be ready for immense changes in the coming years.
According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, seafood industries support 1.2 million jobs and added $69.2 billion to gross domestic production when they last counted in 2017. However, due to the increased level of carbon dioxide, our ocean is becoming more acidic. Since 1985, the ocean’s pH level has decreased from 8.11 to 8.05. At this rate, our ocean would have a pH of 7 in 76 years, making our ocean acidic, which would cause significant changes to what we are used to today.
Ocean acidification will negatively impact the economy in numerous ways. Over 1.2 million jobs will be eliminated due to disruptions of marine ecosystems and sea life extinction.
Smithsonian Ocean predicts that “Some marine species may be able to adapt to more extreme changes—but many will suffer, and there will likely be extinctions.”
According to UCSUSA, fisheries in the Northwest are already facing the problems of warming waters, causing multimillion-dollar losses to local economies. Acidification also decreases storm protection from reefs affecting tourism opportunities that will hurt the economy as well. Trump states his policies favor the economy, yet he does not acknowledge that it would have long-term consequences to not just the economy, but to the planet.
Not just ocean acidification, but several other challenges will be approaching in the near future. Trump plans for increased oil production, giving us more greenhouse gas emissions. This is setting us up for extreme weather conditions. Our planet is on the road to intense weather conditions such as stronger hurricanes, long-term wildfires, extreme heat and precipitation and harsh winters.
Some may argue that extreme weather conditions are worth it because our economy will be thriving, but the cost of climate change is set to harm our economy in the future. According to the NOAA, extreme weather events will cost us billions due to infrastructure repair, agriculture loss, and disaster recovery. Natural disasters caused by climate change will result in billions of dollars annually. Since the 1980s, we have had 400 weather and climate disasters, costing us $2.785 trillion. According to NASA, “Earth will continue to warm and the effects will be profound.” causing the cost of protecting our planet to increase exponentially, unless we take action. Even though global warming was a serious issue before Trump was president, his policies significantly worsened the situation. If he were to keep our long term economy in mind, he would not be campaigning for more oil production.
Even though it seems like our planet is destined to fall apart, there are still small things we can do to help our planet. Investing in renewable energy, such as solar panels, is not only cheaper but does not produce greenhouse gasses. Recycling and reducing waste will help minimize pollution. These may seem like small, useless changes, but collectively, the impact will benefit our planet in the long run. By doing your part and advocating for the planet, you can make a difference.