What stupid shit has Trump done today?

[coley]

Yes, the world would have been a far better place had Hillary won.

Perhaps not "a far better place" but a noticeably better than what is currently on offer?

 

[ferrelhadley]

Steffan Rahmstorf, one of the worlds leading climate scientists does a decent job of explaining why we are so keen on emissions peaking in 2020.
Why global emissions must peak by 2020

ven the CO2 budget corresponding to the mid-point of this uncertainty range, 600 GtCO2, is equivalent to only 15 years of current emissions. Fig. 2 illustrates three scenarios with this budget and different peaking years for global emissions. It makes clear that even if we peak in 2020 reducing emissions to zero within twenty years will be required. By assuming a more optimistic budget of 800 Gt this can be stretched to thirty years, but at a significant risk of exceeding 2°C warming

We have only just bumped above the 1C above preindustrial in the past year or so. We are withing the range of the Holocene, the early Holocene (8kya) we had the Earth about 5million kms closer to the Sun during Northern hemisphere summer so we had warmer temperatures than the recent past (most recent 4 kya, or thousand years ago).

But in the past few years we have seen changes in the Arctic sea ice, the northern polar jet stream and the AMOC (northern Atlantic part of the thermohaline circulation) we were not expecting to see for decades and tenths of a degree C above what we are seeing.

Here Mann, Rahmstorf and others think they have an explanation for the jet stream
Influence of Anthropogenic Climate Change on Planetary Wave Resonance and Extreme Weather Events : Scientific Reports
Jason Box, Stefan Rahmstorf and Mike Mann come up with some possible views on the AMOC
Influence of Anthropogenic Climate Change on Planetary Wave Resonance and Extreme Weather Events : Scientific Reports

This is all pretty new and pretty cutting edge, but we think we see much greater changes in the atmospheric and ocean circulation from this level of temperature increase than we expected.

On the flip side the costs of onshore wind, off shore wind and solar pv has dropped far beyond the wildest expectations. I do not think any projection of cost has been over shot nor any projection of scale of deployment has been undershot.
The downside danger is insane, the upside of lowering cost new technologies is exceeding our expectations by some distance.

We are stuck in this incredible fulcrum of history when the margins between unexpected success and horribly anticipated disaster are so narrow. We have had three years of stalled CO2 increases from industrial activity. Its there, you can taste it, the new technologies to give us a planet for our grandchildren. But it looks that missing may have a bigger impact than we expected. .

Its utterly fucking insane and I do not have the language to reach out to people with the message of the narrow gap between hope and disaster.

I will just listen to OK Computer and have a shit load of beer.

 

[coley]

I saw today that there are fewer people employed in mining in the US - in total, including all the office staff and so on - than work for the Whole Foods chain of supermarkets.

Or, twice as many people are employed in the rapidly growing solar industry as are employed in the mining industry.
TTT isn't interested in the coal industry ( its finished) he wants to use his supposed interest in rescuing a smelly corpse in order to swipe away enviromental protections that are hampering the gas and oil billionaires.

 

[coley]

I wonder what he thinks of the US' most populous states and cities now vowing to work together outside of his admin's control and, by inference, with China and the EU? (California has already explicitly stated they will and they seem to be in the leadership position in this ad-hoc grouping)...

Well done Donald you massive twat.

The mayor of Pittsburgh shot TTT down beautifully, worth googling, and it's the same in Australia, the States and territories are largely ignoring central govt and embracing wind and solar and possibly battery storage in a big way.
TTT and his dinosaur party are taking a last grab at looting the US before they are voted into extinction.

 

[coley]

It's a victory for the Koch brothers and their fossil fuel interests, and proof that billionaires can skew public opinion and have politicians dancing on strings in reaction to this counterfactual bullshit. As ever.

And yet Exxon Mobil shareholders have just kicked the board of directors in the nuts times are a changing , hopefully

 

[coley]

In The New Yorker AU REVOIR: TRUMP EXITS THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT
Points out Paris was a really weak agreement crafted to avoid the Senate. Trump's election and his carbon loving energy agenda really meant US contributions were dead in the water anyway.

The sad thing is looking at the polling withdrawing is a decision based on partisan bullshit that really only very conservatives voters believe.

You could sum Trump's policies up as reversing what little that nasty man Obama did.

Obama was a President a lot of Americans did think far too liberal. He often acted by executive fiat avoiding the difficult business of persuading the other arms of government. A donnish man who didn't think it was necessary to make a great drama to sell his policies. Which makes it much easier for that slim legacy to be shredded theatrically by his obnoxiously conservative replacement. That gleeful demolition may be all Trump gets done.

He was a black man who quickly realised that a large section of the American electorate and a sizeable chunk of the GOP hated the idea that he actually got the presidency, hence the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction, he did what he could, mostly on the enviromental front, he made some pretty huge mistakes 'red lines ect' but he is/was hated, not for his policies but that he was the wrong colour, the US right will never forgive the Democratic left for foisting Obama into the presidency, Trump is their 'revenge'

 

[MightyTibberton]

 

[MightyTibberton]

 

[coley]

Clean coal is a bit like homeopathic nuclear energy isn't it?

Beautifully put

 

[coley]

"clean coal" I think is the technology used to "scrub" CO2, sulphates and dust out from the flue gases from the combustion plant.

You are going to need a lot of building projects to use the PFA (in bricks) and gypsum (plasterboard) produced as "by-products" ... and you don't get all of the CO / CO2 ... for that you need tree planting

It takes about a third of the energy output of the coal fired power station to power the 'clean coal' infrastructure and then it only really works if there is a depleted oil/gas field available to pump the CO2 into, even then most studies reckon 30% of the CO2 leaches back into the atmosphere.

 

[gosub]

tbf. America has no evidence that Climate change is happening.....








since Trump had it all deleted.

 

[not-bono-ever]

It's a victory for the Koch brothers and their fossil fuel interests, and proof that billionaires can skew public opinion and have politicians dancing on strings in reaction to this counterfactual bullshit. As ever.

Was just checking to make sure someone brought up the truly awful Koch brothers. Good work.

 

[Yossarian]

I don't know if it's because of some weird quirk of human psychology or what, but Trump's stupidity seems to be providing as much impetus for action on climate change as the threat of looming disaster.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I don't know if it's because of some weird quirk of human psychology or what, but Trump's stupidity seems to be providing as much impetus for action on climate change as the threat of looming disaster.

The looming disaster is too abstract, whereas the concept of some lunatic actively trying to bring about the end of the world is one movies and TV have been preparing us for for generations.

 

[MightyTibberton]

He didn't do this today, but it was reported yesterday I think that the Trumpo gang are handing a torture report back to Congress, where it will be harder - if not impossible (I'm no expert on American government document handling, but that's what the report says) - for it to be reported on or even read. The person who tweeted the link to this report made the point that this is particularly worrying as Trumpo ran on a "pro-torture" platform.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/us/politics/cia-torture-report-trump.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

 

[bimble]

The looming disaster is too abstract, whereas the concept of some lunatic actively trying to bring about the end of the world is one movies and TV have been preparing us for for generations.

Yep. And anger is motivating, focusses the mind.

 

[Pickman's model]

Yep. And anger is motivating, focusses the mind.

no it doesn't. that's famously when you lash out, not caring whether the target's appropriate.

 

[CrabbedOne]

He was a black man who quickly realised that a large section of the American electorate and a sizeable chunk of the GOP hated the idea that he actually got the presidency, hence the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction, he did what he could, mostly on the enviromental front, he made some pretty huge mistakes 'red lines ect' but he is/was hated, not for his policies but that he was the wrong colour, the US right will never forgive the Democratic left for foisting Obama into the presidency, Trump is their 'revenge'

I'd not underestimate how much they hated Obama purely for his policies. Let's face it some where poorly sold and pretty unpopular even with Dems. A lot of conservative Republicans now view Democrats as a separate rival culture that's literally out to destroy the real America. Obama could have been a Southern WASP like Bill Clinton and he'd still have been feeling that GOP base mobilising hate. Any expressions of sympathy with liberal politicians I'd take with a pinch of salt. They'll turn on them viciously if they become a threat.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Slate Criminal, or Stupid, or Criminally Stupid?

A podcast interview with Tim O’Brien, executive editor at Bloomberg View on Jared Kushner.

It's suggested Trump effectively delegated much of US security policy to Bambi. His young politically naive son in law. Like Trump a very entitled chap of limited worldly experience who often does not display the best judgement and carries a burden of enormous compromising debts. Already exposed to predatory Chinese and Russian lenders who are really just outgrowths of their states.

I think Jared probably is quite a bright young man but how does a career in real estate prepare a guy for being left out in the snow perhaps with skilled foreign intelligence operatives circling what they might well sense is a very tasty snack. It's quite possible Jared is innocent, way too innocent, to play this sort of game. At least not when the FBI jackals come in to pick over the carcass.

 

[CRI]

I'd not underestimate how much they hated Obama purely for his policies. Let's face it some where poorly sold and pretty unpopular even with Dems. A lot of conservative Republicans now view Democrats as a separate rival culture that's literally out to destroy the real America. Obama could have been a Southern WASP like Bill Clinton and he'd still have been feeling that GOP base mobilising hate. Any expressions of sympathy with liberal politicians I'd take with a pinch of salt. They'll turn on them viciously if they become a threat.

His policies weren't that radical and the GOP dominated Congress did everything possible to obstruct even the moderate ones.

Lifelong Republicans would never have backed any Democrat President on most things. But there was a special fury that emerged when that President was African American. White supremacy still permeates American society and it's politics.

The hatred was and is more evident with Republicans, but plenty Democrats voted the party line but with reservations. They certainly weren't immune to institutionalised racism either.

 

[coley]

It is being reported that one of the reasons El Trumpo pulled out of the Paris agreement is because he believes it's French and Macron was rude to him!

EDIT: Not really "reported" that was Twitter stuff! Some of it is true - and properly reported below.

Ouch, he bruised me knuckles, the French git, bugger, the Paris thingeemajob? Hey, Spicer, is Paris in France? Don't really know master, I'll,check, .....

 

[danny la rouge]

This has made me very angry. I didn't think my disdain for this person could sink any lower, but he's surpassed himself here. What an utter fucking cunt.

 

[MightyTibberton]

I've never bother responding to any of his tweets before, but I have tweeted "fuck off" to him on that one. He's vile. I hope May will condemn this attack on the mayor of a city under terror attack and this disgusting attempt to link that mayor's religion - which is what he is doing, have no doubt - to the attack.

 

[danny la rouge]

I've never bother responding to any of his tweets before, but I have tweeted "fuck off" to him on that one.

Me too, and I've never sworn in Twitter before.

 

[CRI]

View attachment 108434

This has made me very angry. I didn't think my disdain for this person could sink any lower, but he's surpassed himself here. What an utter fucking cunt.

Utter fucking cunt doesn't even begin to cover it. I've never loathed a person so much in my life, along with all the people who enable him - his administration, the GOP congress and the the vile bastards that make up 84% of my home town, who voted for him and according to my sister, believe he's the greatest leader America has ever known. It makes me angry that this makes me so angry, the fuckers.

Edit: My late mother despised the Presidential "unholy trinity" of Nixon, Reagan and Bush Junior with a passion. I can hear her spinning in her grave from 5000 miles away, complimented by whirring from my dad in the next door grave.

 

[CRI]

I've never bother responding to any of his tweets before, but I have tweeted "fuck off" to him on that one. He's vile. I hope May will condemn this attack on the mayor of a city under terror attack and this disgusting attempt to link that mayor's religion - which is what he is doing, have no doubt - to the attack.

May's probably regretting holding hands with him, literally and figuratively, but she's refusing to distance herself from his abandonment of the Paris accords, or much of any of the other reprehensible things he's said and done.

 

[danny la rouge]

Let's leave to one side the crassness, the stupidity, the innappriateness, the gobsmacking verbal incontinence, the question of whether he was implying anything. (Does he even have the ability to make snide racist digs? Or is he just opening his mouth and saying stuff?) Leave all that to one side for a moment. If you can. And focus on this: the "leader of the free world", the President of the United States, has a message for London this morning and it's this: "PANIC!!!"

He should be detained by the security services.

 

[CRI]

I was going to post a link to this following on from the we convo upthread about whether Trump and his supporter's hatred of Obama was to do with legitimate concerns about policy or really just because he was a Black guy who got out of pocket, and had the temerity not to even conform to the stereotypes they depend on to exert their own racial superiority. As you can guess, I think it was the latter. Trump and his acolytes are still hating on him, months after the election, and some of the vitriol flung against Hillary Clinton is hatred of Obama by proxy (with a massive dollop of misogyny, too of course.)

The Trump Doctrine: Erasing The Black Man’s Legacy

There's more in this short piece that I think points to Trump's position, and even if some in his administration, the GOP led congress and among his supporters don't agree 100% with all of this being okay, they are content enough to let it happen. They either share his fury at an uppity Black man or see his presidency as a vehicle for policies they crave (e.g. anti LGBT, banning abortion, reducing gun control, etc.), or most likely, both.

Trump’s an unhappy, unstable, never-satisfied, self-loathing lonely old man—in a job he truly never wanted and is woefully ill-equipped to perform—with a general disdain for the weak, the sick, the helpless, the needy, the poor and the powerless.

Trump has serious issues with women, immigrants and brown people. He lacks respect for the independent branches of government, checks and balances, due process, equal protection, the judiciary and our free and open press. The Constitution is his enemy.

So everything he does, every...single...thing, is to personally benefit him and his family. And to satisfy the three critical elements of The Trump Doctrine: (1) undo the black dude’s legacy; (2) project a screw-everybody-else-I’m-the-boss image (hence, the myriad executive orders to compensate for zero legislative accomplishments); (3) feed the base. He is the “I alone” president governing as if he’s still in full campaign mode. The president of some of the people.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On CNN What if Donald Trump doesn't matter?

...
In May, I stopped by the latest technical negotiations of the Paris Agreement in Bonn, Germany. I wrote about how climate negotiators there wanted to believe that Trump didn't exist -- but I honestly saw that as wishful thinking, the new climate denial. How could America's role in the climate fight not matter? The emissions certainly matter, since the United States creates about 15% of the world's carbon dioxide pollution per year, according to the European Commission's Joint Research Center. And the politics matter too, since the United States (under the Obama administration) negotiated the Paris pact with China.

But the Trump administration is steering so wide of fact and reason that it risks losing relevance.
...

I do wonder about that headline in the context of US foreign affairs.

The US has always dragged its feet on climate change. Paris was intentionally non-binding and only approved of late in Obama's Presidency. The US doing less than it said it was going to do was always likely. This points out states like California, a massive part of the US economy, will still make some efforts. Actually US public opinion is leaning toward believing in Climate Change. Trump's retreat to coal is a campaign trail illusion. They are going to be increasingly burning cleaner natural gas. Renewables have global momentum and big US corporation see a buck being made in them. Far from leading a retreat to carbon fuels Trump may be mobilising other leaders to capitalise on his unpopularity and act on climate more vigorously. Trump flouncing away from Paris will make it less effective but here he may make less difference than it seems.

And in general he's just not an effective manager let alone leader as President. A canny politician like Ted Cruz for instance could be getting up to much more mischief. There are 1,200 government positions requiring Senate confirmation. More than half a year after he was elected Trump has staffed just 40 of them, ~3%.

As Tom Ricks has been saying US in electing Trump launched a decapitation strike on itself and is experimenting with what's like not to have an executive branch of government. It's actually not managing that badly despite Trump. Obama sometimes refused to be drawn into fulfilling the self appointed US world leadership role. Trump's simply walking away from being leader of the free world in a big nationalist sulk. And it may be the global order shrugs and just gets on with business as usual. The problem is not his daft rack of intended policies but that he still has an obvious capacity and powers to impulsively do very stupid things.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On AlJaz France 'corrects' White House video on Paris accord

The French Foreign Ministry have just crayoned all over the deck and in English.