If elected President of the United States, Donald Trump would be the only leader in the industrialized world who openly denies the existence of climate change. Not only could a Trump presidency be a disaster for the environment, but it could also put the brakes on the forward progress made on climate change negotiations with the rest of the world.
This is just one of the reasons why climate activists and labor unions have decided to team up to do everything possible to prevent a Donald Trump presidency in the United States.
Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have announced a $10 million campaign blitz aimed at taking down Trump and to replace members of Congress with more progressive thinkers. Steyer is quoted as saying that “stopping the Party of Trump is our number 1 priority this year.”
Earlier this year, Steyer announced that he was prepared to spend more on the 2016 elections than he did on the 2014 elections. That year he spent more than $70 million on political activities and campaign contributions to help elect environmentally friendly politicians.
The ad campaign from Steyer and the SEIU will focus on more than just environmental issues, bringing in examples of Trump’s xenophobia and racism in what they hope will be enough to convince black and Latino voters to work to defeat Trump in November’s election.
The issue of environmental justice — one of the main areas of focus for the Steyer/SEIU alliance — has been severely lacking so far in the presidential campaign. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has made big proposals about reducing the role of coal in U.S. energy production, only to back off of these proposals when pushed by workers in the coal industry.
But unlike Trump, Clinton accepts the science that tells us that the planet is warming at an alarming rate and that human activity is the number 1 driver.
Image via Business Insider.
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