Current Events: Climate Change and Trump

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend any of the events throughout the semester so I am choosing to write about the current situation on climate change with our new president. This course has exposed each of us to our impact on the carbon footprint. I found it very interesting to take the quiz and find out how much of an impact my life has on the carbon footprint and the ways in which I can change it to make my number lower.

In a recent article published in The Guardian, “What businesses want Trump to know about climate change,” several companies voiced their reasons why they want Trump to stay in the Paris Agreement. Some of these companies included New Belgium Brewing, Staples, General Mills, Monsanto, and several others. It is interesting when taking into the account of the carbon footprint to consider the way that businesses affect the not just the economy but climate change as well. New Belgium Brewing pointed out the threat of climate change to their entire industry because they are brewers and depend on agriculture. Even Monsanto understands the threat of climate change on the crops and the carbon emitted from the soil affecting our planet.

Another company, Staples, is not a company that I would have thought of when considering climate change. I loved learning that the company set a goal in 2010 to reduce their carbon emissions halfway by 2020 and they are already 50% of the way there. The director of sustainable products and services, Jake Swenson, gave the example of the way suppliers, landowners, and products will be affected by climate change because the forests could have an increased risk of fires, droughts and insects due to the rising temperatures.

General Mills is taking efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions through focusing on healthy soil. The chief of sustainability is ensuring that farmers take efforts in growing clean dirt that does not hold unhealthy gases contributing to climate change. Even companies like Levi, a 160 year old company, depends on the availability of raw materials to keep their business successful.

With reading the support from companies who believe in climate change, it made me realize how much the economy is effected and not just the planet. Similar to what we learned in class about the economy and the environment, I agree that they must work together. These companies understand that to continue creating their products they must have good resources to do so. If the world is affected by a growing impact on climate change then the companies will not be able to thrive successfully. And when the companies are not doing well, the whole economy starts to decrease and the way we care for our people and the planet will be greatly affected. The companies, the people, and the president or other authoritative positions can each make a big difference with several small steps. Working together is ultimately the way to reduce the carbon footprint of the world. I hope that the support of these companies encourages others to do the same. The link to the article can be found below for those who are interested in reading the full article.

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/nov/23/trump-business-climate-change-paris-emissions-cop21

5 thoughts on “Current Events: Climate Change and Trump

  1. I am really glad you posted about this because it is a very controversial topic that is going to effect our generations tremendously. To see that company’s like Monsanto are concerned about the environment and the impact of carbon emissions must say something to the public. We need to find a way to bring forth these issues to the people, who have the power to make changes, and I think that by these company’s coming forward, we have made a good start. It is going to take much more than just four company’s to make a change and by us learning about these issues through this class, hopefully we can be the generation to see this change through.

  2. Enormous corporations such the ones you have listed can have a tremendous impact on political decisions. It seems that Trump has the desire to “make the economy great again”, but if he were to blatantly ignore environmental regulations and the Paris Agreement, his actions will yield the opposite result. Clearly, the condition of the environment and the economy are intertwined. Prior to reading your article, I had not considered how the negative effects that further environmental destruction will have on our economy may in fact be a sufficiently persuasive argument to convince Trump to abide by environmental regulations. If he were to ignore them, his actions could further contribute to economic catastrophe caused by the failure of large corporations that can no longer obtain their natural resources for production. Thank you for sharing a very informative read about an issue that is fundamental for our future as U.S. citizens and citizens of the world.

  3. It’s unfortunate that so many Americans were short-sighted enough to elect a climate change denier into office simply for reasons of change, the economy, and a hatred of the Clintons. We’re going to have to keep a close eye on the Trump administration’s handling of climate issues, as even one misstep could be catastrophic. It is comforting, however, to see that these businesses are taking climate change seriously, as they have more power to change policy than we do as individuals.

  4. I’m really glad I read and saw this because with the new presidential elect I was scared about what was going to happen to this world considering climate change but with these big companies supporting climate change and understanding the problems it would create not only for them and their company but also the world is the type of companies we need more of. Them speaking up like this could really help and persuade other big companies to support climate change.

  5. Thank-you for calling our attention to this important article, Dianna! I didn’t know about the “Low Carbon USA” letter before reading it. Climate change clearly effects the economy, and it’s refreshing to see large companies stepping up to take action.

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