By Joe Stern
To the scorn and anger of the world, Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris accord, an already weak, non-binding “climate treaty” limiting greenhouse gas emissions. On the occasion of this action, Trump, citing the case of embattled coal miners, spoke as if the Paris accord threatened the livelihood of American workers. Trump claimed that compliance with the accord would result in “a massive redistribution of US wealth to other countries.”
However, despite his supposed defense for US workers, Trump’s policies will only intensify the war on the working class here and around the world. In the US, there are between 65 and 78,000 coal miners. On the other hand, more than 275,000 people are employed in the solar industry and 102,000 in wind. Trump would rather bemoan the plight of the coal miner than invest in alternative energy and spur real job growth. His actions only further reveal fossil fuel capital’s stranglehold on the US state.
Among the many giveaways to the fossil fuel capitalists, Trump proposes to drill for more oil in the Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Circle. He has approved continued construction of the Keystone Pipeline. He has instructed Interior Secretary Zinke to rescind, repeal or suspend rules that regulate oil and gas drilling in National Parks and Monuments. All the while, the White House budget proposes severe cuts in the funding of any protections meant to mitigate oil and gas companies’ impact on the environment, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Ponchartrain, and estuaries throughout Southern wetlands.
There is, however, resistance to these destructive policies. A group representing at least 30 mayors, 3 governors, 80 universities, and 100 businesses will meet with the UN pledging to meet US greenhouse gas emissions targeted under the Paris Accord. Citing their governments’ violation of the Paris accord, groups worldwide have won legal victories in defense of their citizens’ rights to a hospitable environment.
Mass resistance must be initiated. Technology will not save us from catastrophic climate change nor will faith in divine intervention. The fossil fuel, military-industrial, and financial capitalists’ lust for profit will not cease. Only sustained, revolutionary struggle to overthrow capitalism and establish socialism worldwide can save us from the destructive effects of climate change. If we refuse this challenge we will join the 99.9% of the world’s species that have vanished from the earth. But if we find the courage and will to organize, resist and revolt, we have the world to win.