[Editor Note: On June 1, 2017, President Trump provided one of the greatest political moments in the history of the sustainability debate between Malthusianism and free-market environmentalism with this decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. His statement (and that of EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt) are reprinted below.
…“Thus, as of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris Accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country. This includes ending the implementation of the nationally determined contribution and, very importantly, the Green Climate Fund which is costing the United States a vast fortune.”
“The United States, under the Trump administration, will continue to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on Earth…. We will be environmentally friendly, but we’re not going to put our businesses out of work and we’re not going to lose our jobs.”
“The Trump administration has taken action on some of the think tank’s top priorities, like announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, approving the Keystone XL pipeline, moving toward axing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and proposing to dramatically scale back climate change research across the government…. And Heartland isn’t done yet. It’s asking for plenty more.”
Joe Bast is a winner–and he has taken retirement after countless days, nights, weekends, and holidays fighting against the statist mainstream. As I wrote earlier this year at MasterResource.
JOSEPH BAST: Where would the contra-IPCC movement be without the founder and head of the Heartland Institute, whose many conferences have given hope and solace to the critics of the fake consensus of climate alarm and forced energy transformation? Joe Bast went where fellow libertarians feared to tread, and it appears that (via his Jay Lehr) he captured the attention of the 45th and current President of the United States (priceless!).…
“Beginning with the Memorial Day weekend and throughout the summer, Americans will spend their hard-earned dollars traveling to visit family, friends, and the great outdoors. Meanwhile, Big Oil will be making huge profits off of these travel expenditures on fuel, while at the same time fighting for decreased public health and climate-change protections.”
– Center for American Progress (and Climate Progress), five years ago.
The American Automobile Association predicts that 41.5 million Americans will hit the open road this Memorial Day weekend, a two-million increase from last year.
“A strong economy and growing consumer confidence are giving Americans all the motivation they need to kick off what we expect to be a busy summer travel season with a Memorial Day getaway,” stated Bill Sutherland, senior vice president for AAA Travel and Publishing.