Readers respond: The 30,000-foot view of Trump's win.
Johnny Silvercloud/flickr

Readers respond: The 30,000-foot view of Trump's win.

Our piece last week reflecting on the uncertainty of Trump's presidential win elicited several responses. Here are three of them.

Readers respond: The 30,000-foot view of Trump's win


Nov. 14, 2016

Editor's note: Douglas Fischer's essay on the presidential election, "Checks, balances and the 30,000-foot view of Trump's win," elicited several responses from readers. Three are published below. We always welcome feedback.

Profound and lasting impacts

To the Editor:

In his commentary, Douglas Fischer fails to acknowledge that our energy and environmental policies over the next four years will have impacts in geologic time, dramatically re-shaping the view from 30,000 feet and experience in the microcosm below, well beyond the next political cycle.

After the reins on the plunderers are further loosened, these will not be mere blips that can somehow be easily corrected through wiser checks and balances. The destructive climate-changing forces that will rapidly accelerate in positive feedback loops are certain to carry us well beyond tipping points, creating an increasingly unrecognizable world, uninhabitable for a growing number of species, with much suffering, far, far into the future.

It is a grave diagnosis.

Ted Schettler

Bolinas, Calif.

Perspective for the path forward

To the Editor:

I teach a class called: “Climate change, the environment and human health." Since Wednesday morning I have been struggling with how to teach this class for the rest of the semester. The first third focused on the science underlying climate change. The next third examined the impact of those changes on human health.

The final third starts Tuesday and is where I was stuck. It's supposed to offer a mixture of reasons for hope and optimism balanced with the very real challenges ahead. Until reading your article, I had no idea how to do that. You have given me a path forward and a reason to have some clear-eyed perspective.

Michael Laiosa

Zilber School of Public Health

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

The view from 64º North

To the Editor:

Just read your article. I still feel pretty hopeless. It feels like a future without snow. I have no choice but to adapt to a new reality no matter how much I love snow.

Dave Hayden

Fairbanks, Alaska

Collapsed house surrounded by rubble and wood debris.

U.S. to stop publicly tracking financial toll of billion-dollar climate disasters

The federal government will no longer collect or share data on the financial costs of extreme weather events, a move that scientists and lawmakers say will obscure the growing risks of climate change.

Rebecca Dzombak and Hiroko Tabuchi report for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
Disaster aid on a flatbed truck.

Congress proposes major reforms to FEMA in bid to counter Trump cuts

A bipartisan House effort seeks to restructure the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) into an independent agency and expand its powers amid President Trump’s push to shrink or eliminate it.

Thomas Frank reports for E&E News.

Keep reading...Show less
Aerial photo of wind turbines near field with clouds floating over them casting shadows below.

Trump administration budget shifts lead to layoffs at key federal renewable energy lab

More than 100 employees at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory were laid off last week following new federal orders and funding changes under the Trump administration.

Rachel Frazin reports for The Hill.

Keep reading...Show less
Solar battery with red and black connection cables.

Virginia governor blocks bipartisan solar and battery bills, citing cost to utility customers

Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed two bipartisan clean energy bills in Virginia that would have expanded small-scale solar and battery storage, despite support from utilities and environmental groups.

Charles Paullin reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow excavator on an excavated mountain during daytime with sun rising over the horizon.

Trump’s mining push undermines itself by gutting clean energy demand

The Trump administration is accelerating domestic mining projects while simultaneously undercutting the clean energy policies that would create a stable U.S. market for critical minerals like lithium and graphite.

Alexander C. Kaufman reports for The Atlantic.

Keep reading...Show less
A pile of plastic bottles for recycling.
Credit: Photo by tanvi sharma on Unsplash

Plastics industry misled public on decades-old recycling tech

The fossil fuel industry has aggressively promoted “advanced recycling” as a breakthrough solution to plastic pollution — even while knowing it rarely works.

Dharna Noor reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
Seabed with rocks and rays of sunlight permeating the depths.

Trump’s order on deep-sea mining risks fragile ocean ecosystems and global cooperation

President Trump’s decision to fast-track deep-sea mining permits without international agreement has alarmed scientists and conservationists who warn of long-lasting environmental damage and geopolitical fallout.

Richard Schiffman reports for Yale Environment 360.

Keep reading...Show less
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.