Dave Anderson What should we make of Donald Trump’s renewable energy and global warming Tweets?
Donald Trump has posted more than 100 Tweets attacking wind and solar power. He has also suggested on Twitter that global warming is a hoax manufactured by the Chinese. These personal views stand in sharp contrast to the earlier positions that Trump took at one point in his career as a businessman. Trump’s Twitter rantings also belie parts of the energy plans put forth by his presidential campaign and transition team.
So which will Donald Trump will show up to lead the White House in 2017? That may depend on how hard the public pushes Trump to embrace forward thinking clean energy policies.
Donald Trump once supported renewable energy and action on global warming
Donald Trump once supported U.S. action on global warming and clean energy. In 2009, Trump’s name appeared alongside other entrepreneurs in a full-page New York Times ad addressed to President Barack Obama and members of Congress, which said:
We support your effort to ensure meaningful and effective measures to control climate change, an immediate challenge facing the United States and the world today. Please don’t postpone the earth. If we fail to act now, it is scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet.
We recognize the key role that American innovation and leadership play in stimulating the worldwide economy. Investing in a Clean Energy Economy will drive state-of-the-art technologies that will spur economic growth, create new energy jobs, and increase our energy security all while reducing the harmful emissions that are putting our planet at risk…
The ad was timed to coincide with the start of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, where it said leaders would gather to “determine the fate of our planet.”
Donald Trump’s Tweets reveal a major flip-flop
Donald Trump’s renewable energy and global warming Tweets confirm that he later flip flopped on these key issues.
In one Tweet from 2012, Trump mocked our nation’s forward thinking investments in wind and solar power:
Nor has Trump shied away from sharing his personal disdain for wind power on Twitter:
In reality, popular investments in renewable energy have paid off in a big league way. Wind and solar power are more affordable than ever and will continue to rank among our nation’s top new sources of electricity in 2016.
The costs of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) power have declined significantly in recent years. Source: Department of Energy
When Donald Trump has gotten cold in recent years, he has selfishly Tweeted out demands for more global warming:
This is a strong departure from the Donald Trump who just seven years ago recognized the need to “act now” to prevent “catastrophic and irreversible consequences” from global warming.
Donald Trump’s campaign plans send more mixed messages
Advocates for the wind and solar industries have signaled their willingness to work with the incoming Trump administration. Trump has laid out vague plans to “pursue all forms of energy” – including “renewable energy and the technologies of the future.” Renewable energy could in theory benefit from Trump’s campaign plan to work with Congress to “spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over ten years.”
However, Donald Trump also plans to rescind President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s first-ever limits on global warming pollution from power plants. In addition, Trump aims to “cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.”
Donald Trump should represent all Americans as president
“I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me,” Trump told the nation on the night of his election.
Donald Trump should know that Americans overwhelmingly favor expanding solar and wind over other sources of energy, including fossil fuels and nuclear power. And a growing majority of Americans are increasingly concerned about global warming.
Trump’s transition team now wants Americans to share their ideas on how to “Make America Great Again.” This is a great opportunity to remind Donald Trump that continuing our nation’s transition to clean energy will do just that.
