Millions of Americans who are worried about the deleterious effects of global climate change have been ardently working towards a greener future for years. Despite the public’s best efforts to reduce carbon emissions and foster environmental policies which can safeguard our planet for generations to come, however, efforts to mitigate climate change have been largely stymied by President Trump’s inability to address the issue. At times, he’s made things worse by downright dismissing it as a hoax.
Donald Trump ignored climate change for years – but now it’s finally costing him. Here’s how rising sea levels, arid conditions, and other deleterious effects of climate change are coming back to haunt President Trump.
Trump will likely owe millions thanks to CO2 emissions
One of the most obvious ways that global climate change is costing Donald Trump is the fact that he’s being forced to grapple with real estate regulations pertaining to carbon dioxide emissions. New York City has levied fines against buildings which are major CO2 emitters, for instance, and recent developments point to Trump Tower and other Trump properties as being major sources of emissions that are likely going to be taxed sooner rather than later.
This would be a first for Donald Trump – actually paying his taxes – but it certainly won’t be the last time he feels the financial sting of global climate change. Unless the Trump Organization takes extensive efforts to retrofit some of its major buildings, it could be slapped with steep fines of $2.1 million every year from 2030, the deadline by which positive changes must be made. New York City officials have revealed that President Trump’s properties churn out the pollution equivalent of about 5,800 cars, with Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue being one of the notable polluters.
It should be of little surprise that Trump Tower is spewing hot gasses into the environment which are killing us all – Donald Trump became famous in the first place thanks to his ability to produce more hot gas and toxic opinions than anyone else around him, after all, so the reality TV star being hit with new fines is a kind of cosmic justice. Just like winning lots of money. Still, we shouldn’t gloat over the president being forced to pay fines so much as we should be using this as an example to demonstrate his inability to lead. After all, if President Trump can’t get his own company’s carbon emissions under control, he certainly can’t steer the republic in a greener direction.
It’s always someone else’s problem
For Donald Trump, all of the crises which plague him in life are inevitably someone else’s problem. Getting sued? Just hire a team of expensive lawyers to take care of everything for you! So too when it comes to his carbon emissions is President Trump effectively passing the buck unto others, as he’s clearly illustrated that he has no desire to mitigate his environmental impact. This is a man who’s maintained his fortune in part by owning golf courses, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that environmental considerations never come into play in his political calculus.
Unfortunately, it’s the American people who are going to find themselves stuck with the real bill when it comes to fighting climate change. President Trump may finally be forced to confront rising global sea levels and carbon emissions in the form of steep fines, but his inability to work for a greener future is ultimately going to cost future generations more so than it will this septuagenarian who will be long-gone before the real impacts of climate change are known. Come the next election, Americans need to remember that way that Donald Trump is ignoring climate change when they hit the voting booth.