The Climate Case for Impeachment

Will they or won't they? Impeach the Donald, I mean. As the U.S. Congress moves glacially along the impeachment path, I propose impeaching him not on the grounds of his political and legal sins but on the grounds of his unfitness to lead a major nation at a time of anthropogenic climate change. His ignorance and incompetence threaten the security of all of us, not just his own people. I submit the following evidence:

• He has been quoted as referring to global warming as a "Chinese hoax." While he has modified that view he continues to insist global warming is not man-made.
• He has withdrawn his country from the Paris Climate Agreement.
• He has appointed officials to positions of authority over climate-sensitive agencies that are clearly unfit. He most recently attempted (but fortunately failed) to appoint Kathleen Hartnett White who has been described as a "fossil fuels evangelist" to the position of chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.
• He is systematically reversing environmental and climate protections in order to maximize production of domestic fossil fuels.
• He has consistently ignored, buried and undermined climate science. He even encouraged a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator to go on television and argue against it.
• He killed the Clean Power Plan, designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and replaced it with the much weaker Affordable Clean Energy rule.
• He has muzzled government scientists to prevent them from expressing views that illustrate how human behavior affects climate change.
• He has withdrawn funding for important and successful conservation programs even in direct contradiction of instructions from Congress.
• He withheld $2-billion of the $3-billion the United States promised to the Green Climate Fund which helps developing nations reduce their emissions. (Other countries have generously made up the shortfall.)
• He has interfered in attempts by states to implement emission-reducing measures; for example, revoking California’s authority to set its own tailpipe-pollution standards and suing the state over its cap-and-trade agreement with Quebec.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should suffice for a moral if not a legal impeachment. Unfortunately only the U.S. Congress can bring him to account. Too bad, because the rest of us have a solid case.