Does Trump 2.0 Mean Game Over for the Climate?
by Courtney DuChene
Do your part
The climate crisis is so severe we can’t solve it with individual action alone. Governments and businesses need to commit to substantially reducing carbon emissions and make investments in renewable energy technologies.
That said, Mann spouts off a long list of things individuals can do — “speaking up, demonstrating, supporting environmental organizations, putting pressure on your local and state representatives,” for starters, he says. Climate protests, largely led by young people, exploded during Trump’s first term. Why not do that again — and keep the focus on the issue next time a Democrat is in office?
Beyond protesting and calling elected officials, people can install solar panels, commit to buying from the circular economy and reducing waste, improve their recycling habits and take action in many, many other ways.
“People are like, oh well, I just recycle, and that’s how I help the environment,” Hoffmann says. “In our day to day habits, we can lower our carbon footprint. We can buy and drive electric cars. We could use public transportation.”
A good place to start is taking advantage of the subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act. Now.
Trump said in September that his administration will “rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.” The bill provides tax credits for electric vehicles, installing rooftop solar panels, installing heat pumps — and lots of other energy efficient upgrades.
Philly has questionable recycling practices. But we have a number of independent recycling services that you can subscribe to to recycle pretty much anything. There’s also a number of sustainable and zero waste businesses you can frequent.
“The social science on all this is pretty clear: People are more motivated to take action on the issue when focusing on climate solutions,” Cardoni says.
“Humans designed our society to run on fossil fuels. We can design it to run on clean renewable energy, and we could do it really fast if we want to. … I know that if we can build that greener and cleaner future for everyone, we can still stop the worst impacts of this crisis.”
