Kudos to 1,000 Businesses For Climate Change Action; Daggers to Rex Tillerson and the War Against the EPA
Don Corrigan serves up his weekly opinion about who deserves a dagger for being a foe to the environment and who deserves a daisy for being a friend of the environment.
This week: IKEA and Rex Tillerson
Daisies to IKEA, Adidas, and Hilton Hotels, which are among 1,000 businesses that have signed an Open Letter to President Trump urging him to reconsider his stands against addressing climate change issues.They urge him to reverse course on policies that will irreversibly hurt the environment. Their letter states: “We want this economy to be energy efficient and powered by low-carbon energy. We believe there are cost-effective and innovative solutions that can help us achieve these objectives. Failure to build a low carbon economy could put America’s prosperity at risk. But the right action now would create jobs and boost competitiveness. We congratulate U.S. and world leaders on the historic climate change agreement reached in Paris. We pledge to do our part, in our own operations and beyond, to realize its vision of a global economy that limits global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.”
Daggers to Rex Tillerson and an Anti-Environment State Department, which has snubbed the UN’s climate chief, Patricia Espinosa. She has been unable to secure a meeting with the U.S. State Department as Donald Trump’s administration mulls whether to withdraw the US from the international climate effort.
Espinosa is executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She has sought a meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other officials over the commitment of the new administration to global climate goals. It’s no wonder that American officials do not want to meet with her. Tillerson headed an oil company that has tried to hide its own findings on how CO2 has been warming the Earth and damaging the environment. And President Trump recently unveiled a budget that slashes both the EPA budget and funding for the State Department. Diplomacy is not a priority for Trump’s America. Nor is addressing the concerns of the 1,000 American businesses that are urging in their letter to Trump that he abide by the Paris Climate Accords and promote a more responsible, low-carbon future for America.
Daggers & Daisies, a regular weekly opinion feature of Environmental Echo, singles out friends and foes of the Earth for attention. Readers are encouraged to submit their nominees for Daggers & Daisies at environmentalecho@gmail.com.
Environmental Echo 
Some the businesses lined up to back action on climate change are pretty surprising and mainstream. It shows just how completely out of touch this current administration is when it comes to trying to discard science, evidence and 21st Century thinking. Based on this list, you cold easily come to the conclusion that this Administration and the new EPA Chief are anti-business. They don’t want to accept science, new technology and less toxic living.
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