Trump has been renowned for his anti-climate change rants, let's analyse whether anything he says on the matter has value (hint, it doesn't!).
1. The United States has the largest ABSOLUTE carbon emission reduction. Large reductions are really only possible in big countries, with a lot of people. Such as the USA. When the carbon emission reductions are brought to percentiles, many European countries such as Denmark and the UK performed better than the USA.
2. President Trump forgot to specify that although China dumps the highest level of carbon into the atmosphere today, historically, the USA has the greatest absolute value of carbon emissions on the planet. Between 1751 and 2017, China has released 200 billion tons of CO2, while the USA has released almost double this amount, 399 billion tons.
3. The statement regarding the WHO is correct. 91% of the world’s population are exposed to air pollution above the WHO’s suggested level. However, a study by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute estimates that, as of 2016, around 15% of Americans experience levels of pollution above the WHO’s suggested level.
4. According to the data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, that goes until the year 2016, the USA is behind China when it comes to the total primary energy production. Yes, the production has expanded during Trump’s government, but not enough to surpass China. In 2018, the Asian nation produced 107 quadrillion Btus, while the USA only produced 96 quadrillions.
5. The 2018 Environmental Performance Index places the USA as 10th overall for best air quality and 29th for water and sanitation. When it comes to drinking water, the American nation, as well as nine other countries, is ranked No. 1. Moreover, the USA ranks 39th in wastewater management and 83rd on air pollution management.
6. As cited in another post of our website, renewable energy is the cheapest way of fighting climate change, as the longer we wait to take action, the more money will be required to combat the more extreme consequences of climate change.
7. The Paris Agreement, amongst many other benefits, generated a lot of investment on the renewable energy sector in the USA, which caused a rapid growth of American jobs. An analysis of the Environmental Entrepreneurs concluded that 2.5 million Americans worked in the clean energy sector in 2017.
8. The only top ranking the USA has on drinking water dates of 2016, meaning it does not reflect any policies under Trump’s presidency. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agency does not document any meaningful improvement on air and water indicators during his government, as some of them improved and some worsened.
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