It is no secret that our current President is skeptical, to say the least, about the imminent threat that climate change represents to citizens at a global scale. He has expressed his opinion publicly in several occasions, stating that he does not believe in global warming, specifically “man-made global warming” and how he expects the Earth to cool off on its own eventually. Needless to say his words do not comfort the people who are really concerned with this issue; a recent government report confirms that the climate change threat is in fact alarming and that in needs to be addressed ASAP.
Our government has already spent over $350 billion on response to climate change issues and the Government Accountability Office expects it to spend even more if the global emission rates don’t go down. As an influential power in our international system, the United States should be taking the initiative to counteract the issues caused by climate change, instead of backing out and reducing budget for the restorative and preventive programs.
The GAO’s report is a call directed specifically to President Trump to create “appropriate federal responses” to the risks that were identified. Ever since the new administration took place in government, our response to climate change has drastically changed to one of indifference and in-action; with Trump’s latest announcement about climate change being the intention for the US to exit the Paris climate accord, which is an agreement within the United Nations that aims to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce government spending on climate change action.
We are hoping this new report serves as a wakeup call for President Trump and congress to start talking about a new approach to counteract climate change and alleviate the damage that has already been done by extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes and wild fires in vulnerable areas.
Sources: CNN
Picture: The Atlantic