Trump the environmentalist? How his Iran war exposed the fragility of dirty energy
Gavin Newsom says Trump is a ‘gift’ to the climate cause for dispelling notions of fossil fuel energy security Of all the epithets hurled at Donald Trump since he became US president, perhaps the most unusual was delivered last week – that he is, in fact, some sort of environmentalist. Trump is the “greatest gift” to the environmental movement, argued Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, due to…
Donald Trump, the controversial former president of the United States, has been called an "accidental environmentalist" by Gavin Newsom, the governor of California. The reason for this unusual title is the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran, which has exposed the fragility of fossil fuel energy security. Newsom, speaking at Climate Week in New York, argued that the war has highlighted the vulnerability of countries to disruptions in the Middle East and has accelerated investments in clean energy and renewables.
The strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil and gas exports usually flow, has been disrupted by the conflict, causing the cost of fossil fuels to soar. In response, countries have turned to cleaner forms of energy such as solar and wind. This has led to a projected 0.5% drop in global fossil fuel emissions this year, according to Carbon Brief.
The conflict has also had an impact on the US cattle industry due to tariffs and importation of foreign ground beef. Critics argue that while Trump's actions may have hastened the adoption of clean energy in some countries, he has gutted green tech in the United States and set the country back decades.
Written by urgent.news from The Guardian US's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
