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Saturday, June 3rd, 2017

China is the winner from Trump’s climate own goal

Author:     Clyde Russell
Source:     Reuters
Publication Date:     Thu Jun 1, 2017 | 9:05pm EDT
 Link: China is the winner from Trump’s climate own goal
Stephan:   You can feel the pieces moving on the board; I was not kidding when I said yesterday that we woke up in one country and went to bed in another. The Paris Accord at one level was a theater of ritual. But rituals are powerful precisely because of their symbolism, and the power people invest in them. The Republican Party and its creature Donald Trump are themselves the expression of the fear, rage, hate, and loss of moral compass of a large segment of the American people. The only way we are going to change this is by individual consciousness and action. It is our beingness and our collective intention to foster wellbeing at every level that is the only way out of the maze. Are you part of the problem, or part of the solution?

Chinese President Xi Jinping

It’s not hard to imagine Chinese President Xi Jinping having a wry smile at both the decision by Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord and the global reaction.

While President Trump’s decision had been expected, it does confirm that world leadership on efforts to limit global climate change will now shift to Asia, and China in particular.

Xi is now free to accept the mantle of global leadership on climate action, which will give him an opportunity to advance China’s interests across the world at a time when Trump’s actions are likely to cost the United States influence and allies.

The best part for Xi is that this hasn’t cost him anything, Trump has done the damage to the United States all by himself, and is most likely unaware or uncaring of the likely consequences, which go well beyond the blow to the image of the United States as a global leader.

It’s been a good past few weeks for Xi, given the successful hosting of a regional summit in Beijing […]

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