Peter Dykstra:  The Trump & Boris Show
Credit: The White House

Peter Dykstra: The Trump & Boris Show

Some new, lowbrow basic-cable comedy? Don't you wish.

There are President Trump's children: Eric, Junior, Ivanka, and the rest. Then there are his symbolic spawn, taking root in governments around the globe like a rejected sci-fi movie pitch.


When Queen Elizabeth II formally made Boris Johnson the newest British Prime Minister on Wednesday, he joined a growing list of "populist" new leaders whose collective rise bodes ill for a healthy planet.

Scott Morrison in Australia may not play the tyrant card, but he represents a turn toward coal-burning, climate change denial. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines loom as a return to cold-blooded tyranny; Duterte is halfway into his six-year term in the Philippines, and has earned comparisons as "the Filipino Trump."

He's less of a full-throated eco-disaster than his Brazilian counterpart, but let's turn back the clock a bit. In 2013, Yeb Saño turned that year's U.N. climate conference on its emotional ear.

The youthful Saño was the chief Filipino climate delegate under President Benigno Aquino III, and he turned a normally tedious conference into a genuine crying jag with a speech about his nation's agony at the mercy of Typhoon Haiyan. The unprecedentedly strong storm killed at least 6,000 and displaced four million.

Saño left government for NGO work on climate. While Duterte hasn't leapt headlong into climate denial, he's resisted calls to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and even chided diplomats for "accomplishing nothing."

Bolsonaro has similarly earned "Brazilian Trump" comparisons, but the environment is taking the main hit. Illegal Amazon deforestation – already a crisis – is accelerating, while the Bolsonaro government is moving apace to legalize even more destruction.

In May, Australia's Scott Morrison rose to Prime Minister in what was dubbed "the climate election." The climate lost, and Morrison is pumping more Aussie coal into Asian exports to growing economies like China and India.

Boris Johnson's new cabinet reflects their boss: They're all over the map, from Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers ("action on climate change is vital") to Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, who deploys denialist language like "climate alarmism." (Thanks to the sleuths Mat Hope and Richard Collett-White at DeSmogBlog UK for these.)

At a time when the world is in desperation for climate leadership, we're getting climate despots instead.

several rows of solar panels on a roof

Climate activist Bill McKibben to Houston: It’s solar’s time to shine

Speaking in the heart of the oil industry, climate activist Bill McKibben said solar power has become the cheapest and fastest-growing energy source, offering Texas a path to lead the clean energy transition.

landscape photography of trees and mountains with melting snow in the foreground

New Hampshire snowpack decline reveals hidden impacts on forests and water

New England residents know that snow is disappearing from our landscape, and scientists have proven that climate change is to blame. But the effects of snowpack decline go far beyond what’s visible.
a couple of people walking across a dry field

Syria's worst drought in decades pushes millions to the brink

A devastating drought has slashed Syria’s wheat harvests by 40%, pushing millions closer to food insecurity as bread prices soar and farmers abandon their land.

A man sitting at a desk with a laptop and computer printouts

Trump's call to end quarterly reports gets unlikely support from climate-conscious investors

A call by Donald Trump to ditch quarterly corporate reporting has received cautious support from an unlikely source: international investors pushing business to do more on longer-term sustainability issues, many lambasted by the U.S. president.
An aerial view of a rail yard with tracks and trains

Effort to curb Southern California rail yard pollution stalls under Trump

A landmark rule to cut toxic emissions from Southern California’s rail yards has been blocked under the Trump administration, leaving communities in the Inland Empire pushing state officials to take action.

Marching for climate with sign:  "There Is No Planet B"
Photo by Li-An Lim on Unsplash

It isn’t just the U.S. The whole world has soured on climate politics.

How do we think about the climate future, now that the era marked by the Paris Agreement has so utterly disappeared?
An old oil pump jack in a dry field

New Mexico’s billion-dollar oilfield orphans

A recent report warns that bankrupt oil companies could leave New Mexico with up to $1.6 billion in cleanup costs, as orphaned wells and leaking tank batteries pile up.

From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.