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Trump Misunderstood MIT Climate Research, University Officials Say (reuters.com)

MIT officials said U.S. President Donald Trump badly misunderstood their research when he cited it on Thursday to justify withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. From a report: Trump announced during a speech at the White House Rose Garden that he had decided to pull out of the landmark climate deal, in part because it would not reduce global temperatures fast enough to have a significant impact. "Even if the Paris Agreement were implemented in full, with total compliance from all nations, it is estimated it would only produce a two-tenths of one degree Celsius reduction in global temperature by the year 2100," Trump said. "Tiny, tiny amount." That claim was attributed to research conducted by MIT, according to White House documents seen by Reuters. The Cambridge, Massaschusetts-based research university published a study in April 2016 titled "How much of a difference will the Paris Agreement make?" showing that if countries abided by their pledges in the deal, global warming would slow by between 0.6 degree and 1.1 degrees Celsius by 2100. "We certainly do not support the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris agreement," said Erwan Monier, a lead researcher at the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, and one of the study's authors. "If we don't do anything, we might shoot over 5 degrees or more and that would be catastrophic," said John Reilly, the co-director of the program, adding that MIT's scientists had had no contact with the White House and were not offered a chance to explain their work.

361 comments

  1. Not "misunderstood" by XXongo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think Trump "misunderstood" the science; he didn't have any understanding of the science in the first place.

    1. Re: Not "misunderstood" by negRo_slim · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Science or not, funneling American wealth to third world countries via a non-binding agreement is enough of a reason to oppose participation in this treaty and to be glad it was never submitted to be potentially ratified.

      --
      On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
    2. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Njorthbiatr · · Score: 2

      Name me a binding agreement between two countries, then.

    3. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does the Paris agreement "funnel American wealth to third world countries"? The accord specifically avoids containing any liability or damage payments from the worst GG emitters to poor countries. What, specifically, do you mean?

    4. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not really the point. Trump obviously does not. Trump just repeated some conspiracy nutter climate denialist claptrap he read somewhere, or some one fed him. (Which is how the Trump admin works. Just a shit show run by opportunistic losers.)

      MIT knows this, but since the operate like a legitimate organization they're sort of obligated to take what the Precedent says at face value. This is, presumably, the President is a functioning adult. MIT has a duty to correct the President statements because they were cited in an opinion they believe is factually incorrect. They have an obligation to disclaim the President's statements because they don't want their research to be associated with it.

      That's what an organization with a proper functioning public face does. They don't pinch off angry miss-typed tweets late at night after being humiliated on the international stage by every western leader in Europe and then pull out of an important international agreement because of a bruised ego.

    5. Re:Not "misunderstood" by gtall · · Score: 1

      More to the point, he cannot read very far into any document without losing his attention. First off, it doesn't mention "Trump" in every paragraph. Second, it refers to terms he's never seen before, like "science". Third, it probably contains mathematics which for him means if it isn't second grade math, he's lost.

    6. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Short-sighted rhetoric.

    7. Re: Not "misunderstood" by gtall · · Score: 2

      Hmm...then you'll be wanting to accept climate refugees graciously into your home when the U.S. has helped put them out of their home countries due to climate induced changes, yes?

    8. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Science or not, funneling American wealth to third world countries...

      Well, it sure is good that the USA didn't do anything stupid like spending a trillion dollars trying to impose democracy on Iraq. :)

    9. Re:Not "misunderstood" by gtall · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That would only make him happy because then he'd be the greatest martyr that ever lived. If you really want to cause him pain, then it would be better if he were ignored and the rest of the country moved on without him and his alleged administration.

    10. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Harmonized import tariff schedules would be one example..

    11. Re: Not "misunderstood" by butchersong · · Score: 5, Informative

      That would be pretty much any treaty that has properly gone through the senate.

    12. Re: Not "misunderstood" by zifn4b · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Science or not, funneling American wealth to third world countries via a non-binding agreement is enough of a reason to oppose participation in this treaty and to be glad it was never submitted to be potentially ratified.

      I wish I had mod points for you. You get it. Sadly, many here do not. America is not a charity for the rest of the world. It's not a matter of wanting to be either. It's logically not possible for one country representing a small fraction of the world's population to prop the rest of the world up. It's a nice idea, it just doesn't match reality. To quote one of my favorite songs by RUSH, "You can twist perception but reality won't budge."

      --
      We'll make great pets
    13. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      accept them with bullets, maybe

    14. Re:Not "misunderstood" by sycodon · · Score: 2

      So...the study says, "...global warming would slow by between 0.6 degree and 1.1 degrees Celsius by 2100..."

      But now he says, "If we don't do anything, we might shoot over 5 degrees or more..."

      So is he saying that if agreement were fully implemented and everyone reached their goals, then we would shoot to only 3.9?

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    15. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope survival of the fittest. We won, they lost, I don't see where your logical disconnect is.

    16. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      America is not a charity for the rest of the world.

      But it is, and Trump is signaling that he thinks Americans should continue to live off the rest of the world.

    17. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We won, they lost

      The war hasn't even started yet.

    18. Re:Not "misunderstood" by aicrules · · Score: 1

      That's climate science for you. Politics and grandstanding. Any hope of finding reality is lost in all that.

    19. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoa. That's a sick burn, snowflake!

    20. Re: Not "misunderstood" by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      I don't think Trump "misunderstood" the science; he didn't have any understanding of the science in the first place.

      That's what the word misunderstood means. To fail to understand. Like if you misunderstood the meaning of the word "misunderstood", you would not have any understanding of it in the first place.

    21. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, the good old Social Dawinism, the philosophical framework for WWII. Because it worked so great in the 1930s.

    22. Re: Not "misunderstood" by jeff4747 · · Score: 0

      Yes, much better to spend 100x that American wealth building sea walls, relocating the millions of people who's homes/businesses are consumed by the ocean, and dealing with the aftermath of increased violent storms.

    23. Re:Not "misunderstood" by MrL0G1C · · Score: 0

      Is it still martyrdom when some whack job whacks you?

      --
      Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
    24. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least their one step above the average leftist cretin that thinks the world is ending now. Didn't Gore tell you that 20 years ago, we should all be dead by now? Why are you still here?

    25. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Dutchmaan · · Score: 1

      ...I love how people think that the science is about politics, but being anti-science isn't...

    26. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Informative

      If you want to hit Trump where it hurts, you get him in the one thing that he really values: himself. I don't want to see him assassinated. Beyond that fact that it's a bad idea to call for the death of any US President - no matter the reason - it wouldn't "fix" this problem. Instead, I want to see him kicked out of office, jailed, and for his name to become toxic. When people think "Nixon", they think of a crook. I want his name to represent so much worse to the point that nobody wants anything to do with the name "TRUMP". That would really hurt Donald as his name seems to be the thing he values above all else. (I will apologize to anyone who happens to have the Trump last name, though.)

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    27. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Ichijo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" --Upton Sinclair, 1935

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
    28. Re:Not "misunderstood" by aicrules · · Score: 2

      My statement was neither about pro or anti, it applies to all climate science that you hear about in the media. That includes those who say climate change isn't an issue. The blowhards on both sides make it impossible to have anything approaching a civil debate about a topic (what actions to take and why) which is absolutely and in every way up for debate.

    29. Re: Not "misunderstood" by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      nope, they can move to syria or iraq -- thus completing the circle of strife.

    30. Re:Not "misunderstood" by lactose99 · · Score: 1

      So rather un-understood

      --
      Fully licensed blockchain psychiatrist
    31. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you for repeating the racist alt-right talking point meme of the day. Good job thinking for yourself.

    32. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Barsteward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Believe it or not, USA is NOT the only contributor to the Paris Agreement, the USA contribution is only 3% of the total figure. So you want to pollute and let everyone else clear up the mess. We all have responsibilities to this planet.
      "Per capita, however, the U.S. pumped out more CO2 than China and India combined in 2015. On average, each individual living in the United States contributed 16.07 tons to the country’s total. But each individual living in China and India contributed 7.73 and 1.87 tons on average, respectively." quote from https://www.usatoday.com/story...

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    33. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Njorthbiatr · · Score: 1

      Why would the other country care if it's been ratified by a congress that isn't theirs? That congress has no authority over the other sovereign state. What is the Finland going to do if Russia says, "Well we know we had agreement, but we're not going to honor it." Absolutely fucking nothing, that's what.

      Any treaty between two sovereign powers is non-binding because the other can just ignore it if they REALLY feel like it without being held directly accountable by anyone except the other party, who must resort to punitive measures such as sanctions or military prowess to get what they want, which is what they do ANYWAY.

    34. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Bradac_55 · · Score: 2

      Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations - ratified by the United States Senate unlike the Paris Accord.

      Which funny enough let China keep growing emissions for another 13 years, and funneled US money to India forever while Russia just would ignore it as there was no teeth behind the accord.

    35. Re:Not "misunderstood" by dcollins117 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't think Trump "misunderstood" the science; he didn't have any understanding of the science in the first place.

      Trump has been consistently wrong on every issue. I keep waiting for him to make a mistake and accidentally get something right, or perhaps just try it once just to see what it feels like, yet incredibly it hasn't happened yet. It's really extraordinary when you think about it.

    36. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Bradac_55 · · Score: 1

      Well that's stupid, take a look at the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations article 9 there is real teeth behind it.
      The only way we could say no to that is to have the Senate remove the treaty which has blowback even then.

    37. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Three percent of a hundred billion annually (set to grow in the future) is still three billion annually. That's just starters, because the contributions will increase. That's half the EPA budget. We'd be giving away to corrupt dictators and middlemen bankers half the amount of money that we spend on our own country's environment. Don't think for a second that a dime of that money will ever go to actually fighting climate change. Aid to the third world usually ends up in someone's pocket: think of Nigeria and the military aid we sent to fight Boko Haram, and then realize that the soldiers never got a single weapon out of it but the Nigerian defense minister got a nice house.

    38. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Bradac_55 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Try reading it.

      India specifically gets US dollars to fund it's green industry pretty much forever. China gets to keep uping emissions for 13 years and then the US pays them to use green energy that they are already building. Russia just gets to ignore the entire thing.

      Several other 3rd world countries also gets US dollars but not as bad as the above. It was a horrible accord that only an idiot would sign *John Kerry*

    39. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      I want to know how King Stupid is 100% confident in that "two tenths of one degree" figure but 0% confident in all the others.

      --
      No sig today...
    40. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That perspective might make more sense if the US was self-sufficient in energy and natural resources. As it stands, the US - with less that 5% of the world's population - consumes 25% of the world's annual fossil fuel production, with similar figures for natural resources in general.

      The US is a massive drain on the rest of the world, and is only able to maintain this status because of the international reserve status of the US dollar which artificially props up its currency. The rest of the world is currently a large charity for the United States.

    41. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, most Republicans are snowflakes. They're white, cold hearted, and when you get enough of them together schools get closed down...

    42. Re: Not "misunderstood" by higuita · · Score: 1

      and then join ISIL and attack US related targets

      --
      Higuita
    43. Re: Not "misunderstood" by higuita · · Score: 1

      who should pay for fighting global warming? the country that do almost no pollution or the one that is huge polluter?
      If the USA do not want to pay any money, simple, be totally green... if you do that, you can even get some money from the other polluters!

      --
      Higuita
    44. Re:Not "misunderstood" by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      You assume that he attempted to read the document.

      I doubt this. More likely, he was working from a briefing about the document from Steve Bannon or another advisor.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    45. Re: Not "misunderstood" by randomlygeneratename · · Score: 1

      The worsening of the climate will certainly have its cost. It's not strange to expect to have to pay something towards fixing it up front, and since it is a global problem, it would be hard to get many countries to sign on to going out of their way to use green energy, unless there was at least some help. Without any aid, many fewer countries would have signed on, and their lack of participation would ultimately hurt the world's progress on climate change. Seems rational, especially considering the ultimate security impacts of worsening climate, it's probably small compared to the overall defense budget.

    46. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it ironic that your post about the definition of "misunderstand" reveals your own misunderstanding of XXongo's post, or is it just funny/sad?

    47. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Berlin in 1937 sure looked a hell of a lot more civilized than San Francisco does in 2017.

    48. Re: Not "misunderstood" by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Why are you using per-capita output? The atmosphere doesn't care about per-capita output.

      And China and India are INCREASING their emissions and will continue to do so as they develop and each capita demands a higher standard of living. Their options are to increase pollution or kill a bunch of people. (Or, considering their governments and social structures, why not both?)

    49. Re: Not "misunderstood" by LostInTaiwan · · Score: 2

      Science or not, funneling American wealth to third world countries via a non-binding agreement is enough of a reason to oppose participation in this treaty and to be glad it was never submitted to be potentially ratified.

      I wish I had mod points for you. You get it. Sadly, many here do not.....

      I don't think you get it either. Where have you been in the last 16h years? The Iraq War, and the still on going may be escalating Afghanistan War has cost us over $2+ Trillions and counting. You think wealth didn't transfer from the American people into the pockets of the few who profited from the never ending war?

      Charity goes both ways, immediately after 9/11, we were the biggest recipient of world charity. Some countries even sent their kids off to a foreign land to help us fight our war? ...hmmm...where was Russia back then?

      Please stop using the same tired straw men argument to justify isolationist views. You have no problem with wealth transfer and charity as long if they serve your own ideology.

    50. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Donald Trump's greatest gift to man is that he will save you even while you hiss and spit at him.

    51. Re:Not "misunderstood" by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Trump says a .2 degree reduction in temperature isn't enough.
      TFS says a slow down (of the rate of increase) of .6 - 1.1 degrees is the anticipated effect, not a reduction in temperature.

      So maybe Trump got it wrong, but he got it wrong on the other side. He said something far better than the Paris agreement is not enough to justify handing over billions yearly (and increasing yearly) to third world nations. And he's right.

      I doubt he cares, and I don't believe he's being honest/genuine about any of his motivations for pretty much anything (see just about every President ever), but he's correct in this instance. The Paris agreement is a joke. If it was worth half a shit Obama would've tried to get it ratified as a treaty.

    52. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump: A loser president, supported by losers, elected by losers.

      Just like you.

    53. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Science or not, funneling American wealth to third world countries via a non-binding agreement is enough of a reason to oppose participation in this treaty and to be glad it was never submitted to be potentially ratified.

      JFYI Switzerland is "funneling" 93 dollars per capita, the US a whopping 9 dollars per capita, but hey Switzerlandish folks can afford it, right?

    54. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Paradigma11 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why are you using per-capita output? The atmosphere doesn't care about per-capita output.

      And China and India are INCREASING their emissions and will continue to do so as they develop and each capita demands a higher standard of living. Their options are to increase pollution or kill a bunch of people. (Or, considering their governments and social structures, why not both?)

      What else than a per capita output?

      Would you give Luxembourg the same CO2 allowance as india?

      Kepping less developed countries down by restricting their CO2 output to a fraction of those in the US won't fly this day and age.

    55. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're absolutely correct. It was France's idea for an assembly line that revolutionized automotive manufacture. It was Poland's idea for heavier than air aircraft that ushered in travel by air. It was Taiwan's technology behind TV's. It was South Africa's ideas that led to the transistor. It was China's idea to use phone lines to connect computers together. Yup, you sure are smart. Either these (and many others - I didn't touch health care innovations) did not increase Global GDP or you are a fool.

    56. Re: Not "misunderstood" by mtmiller100 · · Score: 1

      Agreed. I listened to his whole speech. The vast majority of the reasoning he gave, has to do with everyone else being allowed to increase their emissions, while we not only have to decrease ours, we have to pay those other countries for the privilege. This story is just another misdirection attempt.

    57. Re: Not "misunderstood" by slack_justyb · · Score: 1

      funneling American wealth to third world countries via a non-binding agreement

      If it is non-binding, which it is, then what pressure is there to funnel anything? I get the President did what he did, but what I don't understand is the why. Why openly reject an agreement that just simply not doing it would have sufficed? I feel the reason being is that the President wanted a big show of defiance, like he's outside of some corrupt group. However, it makes no sense that he jumped off a cliff with zero other people joining him in the jump. Now that he's taken his stance, which can't possibly go into effect until 2020, right about election time, he's got the weaker stance.

      Imagine if you will, 2020 comes, no one else joins him in his stance. That's going to get plastered on pretty much every person's arsenal of political attacks on him. "The President stands alone in the world" or something like that. Tie that to how he's incited other countries to now actively work against him. His line of, "I work for Pittsburgh not Paris" directly puts France in the cross hairs, something tells me France just got a sudden rush to go down with the ship if need be on this agreement just to spite him. Add in the alienation of Germany that he seems bent on, and you have two of the biggest three countries in the EU now having axes to grind. Oh and it wasn't lost how the UK, the third largest in the EU, was awfully quiet about any kind of lifeline of support to the President. Why is that? Because it's non-binding, even if the UK wanted out, it's a non-binding agreement, it literally is no sweat off their back to just simply do nothing. They would actually have to go out of their way to get behind him at this point.

      And I think that's the kicker on the International stage here. Trump is the odd man out and there is nothing to induce any other country to change their position. If the President at some point feels he needs at least one other country to get behind him, he's going to be swiftly met with, "Well what will your country do for ours?" Because, them not helping him won't hurt them and helping him might stir a pot they would rather let sit for the next five years. And that's the thing, I don't think the President is going to feel at any point in his term that he needs the International community, and that's going to make his lofty goals that he's set out that more difficult. I get the principal of the matter, but our great deal maker in command should understand the basic principal of leverage. Leverage that he just willfully tossed away all because he wanted to make some sort of point on an agreement that didn't even have teeth and was mostly symbolic in nature.

      So say what you will about the accords and its merits or lack thereof. However, being odd man out isn't a good position to be in, in any situation. Anything he goes to the table with for trade agreements is going to have the specter of his actions yesterday not far behind. "Oh you are the only country on the entire planet that didn't go with the Paris Accords, well we're going to look at your terms and get back to you in three years."

      If anyone is arguing the lack of power in this agreement, cannot deny how bad on the International stage this is going to look. If anyone wants to argue that this amounted to welfare to third world counties, then you cannot claim that the agreement lacked power, and thus you have to admit that the actions yesterday were hasty without at least one other country being in the band wagon. Either the President felt the agreement lacked power or it had power but he failed to get anyone else on this planet to agree with him that the terms should be changed. But it is either it does or does not have power, it cannot be both. And truth told it lacked any kind of power, which should have signaled to the President that he had plenty of time to find at least one other country to stand with him. But no, he had to make a great big show complete with band, all the media, tantaliz

    58. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Since it's human caused and humans will have to do something to prevent it, how is it NOT per capita? You know, per PERSON. It's not, as you seem to believe, per amount of capital, dumbfuck.

      And why does it care about who is increasing? As you are fond of saying about the increase in solar PV as a percent, that's increasing from a low figure, so it's highly misleading.

      The fact is the CO2 is up there now and per human doing it, the USA is the most up there, so they have had the most benefit from externalising the cost, they must therefore clean up most.

      Or do you demand that your brother clean your room since his room is not as messy so he's got less to do, and must therefore help out with the household mess in your room?

    59. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Ogive17 · · Score: 1

      Compare the "cost" of the Paris Climate Agreement vs the "cost" of munitions that we "dump" on third world countries...

      Which one of those might benefit humanity?

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    60. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      At least their one step above the average leftist cretin

      ... as you so amply demonstrate.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    61. Re: Not "misunderstood" by gnick · · Score: 1

      The war hasn't even started yet.

      If you believe that, I don't think you understand the war. Right now we're just mitigating casualties.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    62. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is the Finland going to do if Russia says, "Well we know we had agreement, but we're not going to honor it." Absolutely fucking nothing, that's what.

      Bad example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuation_War

    63. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to hit Trump where it hurts, you get him in the one thing that he really values: himself.

      Sadly, I don't feel like mocking him on Twitter, because that seems to be what is most important to him.

    64. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It seems reasonable for Trump's team to have taken what MIT said a couple of years ago at face value:

      According to John Reilly, who co-directs the Joint Program on Science and Policy of Global Change at MIT, the Paris agreement would reduce global temperature by two-tenths of one degree Celsius compared with earlier climate treaties.

      The Paris deal was expected to reduce global temperatures by building on the earlier 2009 Copenhagen Accord, imposing deeper carbon emission cuts on signatories and bringing new countries like China into an international climate pact.

      Yet as the Paris Agreement was under negotiation, Reilly co-authored an MIT report that criticized the deal for not making steep enough cuts in emissions to reach the Paris agreement’s ambitious goal of capping this century’s temperature increases at 2 degrees Celsius.

      "Those pledges shave 0.2 C of warming if they’re maintained through 2100, compared with what we assessed would have been the case by extending existing measures (due to expire in 2020) based on earlier international agreements in Copenhagen and Cancun," Reilly said in October 2015, when the MIT study was published. "We are making progress, but if 2 C stabilization is our goal, it’s not nearly enough."

      Just because Reilly now, AFTER the announcement, says that things have changed and it may make a little bit more of a difference than before, doesn't mean anyone misunderstood what his team said 2 years ago. He specifically was on record with the 0.2 C number as what the Paris Agreement would accomplish. It just happens that his number then was in a context where smaller was better for Reilly's political goals around global warming and now he's in a situation where smaller is worse for his political goals.

    65. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you care about the environment or only money?

      Care about the environment by focusing on the total.

      Watch the world burn and sea level rise by playing per-capita statistics games.

    66. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong? Or just that his priorities aren't yours?

    67. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Per capita" numbers are great for diluting the facts to speak towards an agenda. Yeah, there's hundreds of millions of people in India and China with a low standard of living. So, that makes their total aggregate pollution count somehow better?

      Fuck the per capita numbers, let's look at totals:

      China: 1.371B people * 7.73 tons per = 10.6 billion tons of carbon
      India: 1.311B people * 1.87 tons per = 2.45 billion tons of carbon
      US: 0.32B people * 16.07 tons per = 5.14 billion tons of carbon

      Take away the per capita, and China is putting out twice the carbon pollution of the US. So why do they get to do whatever the fuck they want for another 13 years under the agreement?

    68. Re: Not "misunderstood" by tsa · · Score: 1

      Because it suits him.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    69. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What else than a per capita output?

      Output/GDP

    70. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the USA contribution is only 3% of the total figure.

      Where did you get that 3% figure?

      The Paris agreement is an evolved form of the Kyoto protocol. In that, the total cost was cut in half when the US did not ratify. The UN expected the US to cover 50% of the cost then. The Paris agreement goes even further with their minimum goal of 100 Billion USD to be given to developing countries on top of technology transfer and other support based on historical CO2 output. The numbers chosen and the number of modern countries that have "Developing nation" UN status means that nearly all the signatories would be receiving money.

      Unless the EU is going to pump a minimum of 95~ billion per year into the program, guess which country would have to?

      Now watch as that 100 billion expectation dwindles to a tiny fraction because the US wouldn't take the bait again.

    71. Re: Not "misunderstood" by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Except that China, even with their lower 'per capita' number, is putting twice the carbon pollution into the atmosphere that the US is.

      I do demand that my brother cleans up his room and the hallway when his room is so fucking dirty that his shit is spilling into the hallway because he can't close the door.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    72. Re: Not "misunderstood" by tsa · · Score: 1

      Oh yes because so many US relatet targets are attacked by IS, especially on American soil.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    73. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Original thought, or indeed any thought not detected.

    74. Re: Not "misunderstood" by tsa · · Score: 2

      And you know why India and China are increasing their output? To produce all the shit Western countries, including the US have outsourced to them. Most of their exhaust by far is caused by Western countries buying the stuff they produce and hauling it over the whole planet.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    75. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's hope your outrage is proportional to your understanding of the situation. Please tell us all how fast the Earth is warming, the causes and proportional impacts of sources of warming, and what the Paris accord will actually *do* to protect people from global warming. I'd love to hear the answers.

    76. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please. Trump is the sort of guy who wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire.

    77. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We will butcher-out those refugees at-the-border ... and any USA shills pimping their agenda. So nations relate: the strong peoples do as they will - - the weak parasites and unlucky do as they must.

    78. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "If we don't do anything, we might shoot over 5 degrees or more and that would be catastrophic,"

      1. If we back out of Paris Agreement, does that mean that we do nothing? Does the USA require adherence to the Paris Agreement to make continued improvements in energy efficiency and emissions reduction?

      2. We "might" shoot over 5 degrees. We "might" not. What point is there in vague statements like this, which is really all anyone can make? The more bold assertions and predictions have proven false, so what good are these kinds of ultimatums, anyway?

      3. The agreement in question really has no teeth. It allowed countries to set their own goals, reasonable or not, and then fail to live up to them. This is the epitome of junk-politics. All it guaranteed was some unidirectional wealth transfer, and I suspect that was the whole point from the beginning.

    79. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about per-GDP, then? A farmer will have different CO2 footprint than a computer programmer or a welfare recipient. Each may benefit the planet(or not) in different ways, so why assume everyone should get an equal share regardless of any context?

    80. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "3%" is misleading. The only actual % available makes it "30%" (as in 3 billion USA pledged out of 10 billion total pledged). The agreement says something about "100 billion", but there are no facts on who will be paying the extra 90 billion to make 10 get to 100. It seems ridiculous to think that the USA will not pledge any more than the 3 billion it already has pledged.

    81. Re: Not "misunderstood" by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      funneling American wealth to third world countries via a non-binding agreement is enough of a reason to oppose participation

      Why? You're America. Just go into more debt. Or export less democracy to other countries to pay for it.
      I mean I get it you think you're not part of the world, but even that delusion has got to be getting old.

    82. Re: Not "misunderstood" by slew · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Why are you using per-capita output? The atmosphere doesn't care about per-capita output.

      And China and India are INCREASING their emissions and will continue to do so as they develop and each capita demands a higher standard of living. Their options are to increase pollution or kill a bunch of people. (Or, considering their governments and social structures, why not both?)

      What else than a per capita output?

      Would you give Luxembourg the same CO2 allowance as india?

      Kepping less developed countries down by restricting their CO2 output to a fraction of those in the US won't fly this day and age.

      How about per-industrial-GDP? India has about 1/2 the CO2 emissions of the US, but only 1/9 the industrial-GDP** and 1/5 the exports...

      By simply using per capita measures, you ignore that some countries have more export and more industrial GDP per capita. By simply assigning CO2 emission targets per capita for a country, you are essentially transferring the equilibrium industrial and export-related jobs from one country to another country. Depending on your politics this is either the only fair thing to do, not fair at all, inevitable, or unfortunate.

      **the total GDP of the US is about 9x that of India and both India and the US have about 20% of their GDP as industrial GDP, so by extrapolation the industrial-GDP of the US also about 9x that of India...

    83. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Same AC: the USA has been working very hard the last few decades to corrupt and dumb itself down. It is not as worn down as the Roman empire was in the end, and if it is `lucky' it can survive for another century in its current decadent state, but the survival of fittest certainly does not select the current USA automatically.

      Don't believe me? Look at the crumbling infrastructure, the bad corruption in all layers of government, the growing poverty, and the large sections of the population that vote for the loudest shock jock rather than based on the sanity of the candidates.

      The apathy about the Russian meddling is also a bad sign. Even if the allegations turn out to be false, surely a healthy country should at least investigate accusations as grave as these ones?

    84. Re: Not "misunderstood" by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      America is not a charity for the rest of the world.

      But it is, and Trump is signaling that he thinks Americans should continue to live off the rest of the world.

      Take your meds before posting next time.

      --
      We'll make great pets
    85. Re: Not "misunderstood" by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      That perspective might make more sense if the US was self-sufficient in energy and natural resources. As it stands, the US - with less that 5% of the world's population - consumes 25% of the world's annual fossil fuel production, with similar figures for natural resources in general.

      Your information is waaaaaay out of date. The EIA projects that we will be self sufficient for fossil fuels by 2020 due to shale oil fracking. In case you hadn't noticed, OPEC is freaking out because demand is dropping like a hot rock. Do you even read any news at all?!

      --
      We'll make great pets
    86. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is the Finland going to do if Russia says, "Well we know we had agreement, but we're not going to honor it." Absolutely fucking nothing, that's what.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Finnish_Non-Aggression_Pact
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War

      "Absolutely fucking nothing" is a weird way of saying "Kicking some major ass"

    87. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yet he still made the superior economic and scientific decision based on all available information. Amazing how he can be exactly correct and yet somehow misunderstands everyone.

      With your logic, the only possible conclusion is that Trump actually is a god-king.

    88. Re: Not "misunderstood" by GNious · · Score: 1

      It's logically not possible for one country representing a small fraction of the world's population to prop the rest of the world up. It's a nice idea, it just doesn't match reality. To quote one of my favorite songs by RUSH, "You can twist perception but reality won't budge."

      Ignoring the whole, "The US aren't paying anywhere near the repeatedly-quoted amount", it IS possible for those just-under-5%-of-the-world's-population to be directly responsible for 16% of the pollution causing the problems that now require significant funds to address.

    89. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.vox.com/2016/3/2/11148356/donald-trump-short-fingers-small-hands-vulgarian

    90. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Gussington · · Score: 1

      Why are you using per-capita output? The atmosphere doesn't care about per-capita output.

      True, but it gives some perspective to the nature of the issue, and why it will never be resolved.

    91. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, its worse, he does not understand most of anything, and just like the typical rural "biker"-types, he is proud to display his ignorance and xenophobia, which are in those circles a mark of excellence.
      How somebody with no degree, or certification in anything, who never held public office, or were never elected to even the most humble political office, was "elected" to the most powerful position on the planet is beyond expletives.
      He is, which he cannot help, inept for the position for which he was elected. He is a train wreck and will continue to be a train wreck. He makes George W. Bush look intelligent.
      This president makes the political system in The US appear to be extremely flawed and outright dangerous.

       

    92. Re: Not "misunderstood" by jwhyche · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is the big issue. It's not that Trump wants to destroy the planet, like some snowflakes keep yacking about. It's the funneling of a hundred of billion dollars into third world countries where it won't mean a damn.

      What if instead we took that 100 Billion and put it toward domestic improvements in our own carbon emissions. You know, clean up our own crap instead of paying someone to clean up theirs.

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
    93. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a prototype of this concept going for couple of months already - we just happened to get a puppy right after election and his command to do his business naturally became "go Trump" :) Feel free to use it - no copyright or license :)

    94. Re: Not "misunderstood" by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      This is the big issue. It's not that Trump wants to destroy the planet, like some snowflakes keep yacking about. It's the funneling of a hundred of billion dollars into third world countries where it won't mean a damn.

      You make it sound like the two options are mutually exclusive. I expect Trump doesn't want to send money to Third World countries and doesn't care about the environment when it conflicts with big business interests.

    95. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blatantly wrong. Just considering the differences in sewage treatment and the population, the contributions of India, China, and Brazil are vastly underestimated.

    96. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i have read it.
      youre full of shit.

    97. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bullshit

    98. Re:Not "misunderstood" by sir-gold · · Score: 1

      I hate Trump, and everything he stands for, but after reading the full Paris Agreement I think this might be an occurrence "accidentally got it right"

      There is a lot of language about requiring developed nations to give financial support to developing nations, while actual pollution reduction is purely optional. (there is a huge difference in meaning between the words 'should' and 'shall' when it comes to legal documents).

      With no pre-set targets to aim for, and no real penalties for failing to meet self-set targets, this Agreement seems to be more about redistribution of wealth than it is about fighting climate change.

    99. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't get it either. If we Americans were so generous in charity, why is there still poverty in our own country? There is no way we care more about other countries than we do our poor, when we clearly dont care about our poor.

      You really have to adopt a more sophisticated outlook. China gets it, things like this whether they work or not, are currency, literally in money and figuratively in good will.

      You said it yourself, we represent a small fraction of the world. Do you think we can be totally independent of the entire world in all things? Even a cowboy like Bush thought he need a "coalition of the willing." If China takes the mantle (fake or not) of leader in global climate change mitigation, pumping money to resource-rich but cash poor countries, who do you think they will support with lucrative development contracts? The country that says f*ck you, we dont believe in charity cases, or the one that says, "here are some tens of millions of dollars to help climate change, now give us hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and resources"

      Sadly, we used to be better robber barons (truly smart ones at least) who think this way. Wasn't it an American that said "you have to spend money to make money?" You idiots are now too stupid or too shallow thinking to contemplate second order and third order effects and how they could benefit us. You think wearing a red cap, thumping our chest, and yelling "We're #1" will magically make other countries follow us.

      Stupid.

    100. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "funneling American wealth to third world countries"

      It would have been a further $2 billion dollars (we pledged 3, already gave 1). $2b is what we spend in a month in Afghanistan currently.

      Or, to put another way, about half of the Trump and Kushner families will eventually profit from Donald's presidency.

      --

      There is also a $100 billion fund but that's worldwide, and usually how those goes, and often overlooked, is similar to military equipment purchases to allied countries. iow, we "give" the country money, they "buy" our green hardware, and because their economy grows and is based on US tech, they purchase more of that equipment (upkeep and expansion due to compatibility) as well as grow an economy, so thay have more money to buy stuff, like imports from the US.

      People like you, with your views, who don't understand that and think "America First" just screwed us because of your naivety and coarse, selfish nativist greed. You are children playing at the adults table, and China and Russia just persuaded you to kick your own nuts in.

    101. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Almahtar · · Score: 1

      So what happens when the planet irreversibly goes to shit? What good is that precious wealth then? Can we just go to Wal Mart and buy a six pack of planets after that?

      This isn't about future generations having polar bears or not, it's about them having a habitable planet at all.

    102. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What if instead we took that 100 Billion"

      Except it's not $100 billion from the US. The $100 billion is a worldwide figure, of which we've only pledged $3 billion.

      "like some snowflakes keep yacking about."

      Uh, those snowflakes and yaks are correct. Why you can talk with snowflakes and yaks though.

      This is just Trump attacking leftist companies directly, once again. What he doesn't understand is that even established fossil fuel companies have become progressive and understand where the future lies both in technological and economic growth opportunities (see later).

      "It's the funneling of a hundred of billion dollars into third world countries where it won't mean a damn."

      You don't seem to have any appreciation for economics, nor how worldwide conflict has and will continue to foster military conflict, particularly terrorism.

      First, the billions spent are distributed and are for setting up facilities that are already going to be built anyways, and instead of setting up a coal plant, they set up a solar battery array. This is essentially seed money investment, like military equipment spending to an ally or support exchanges (like domestic food stamps but here international)--while the principle reason is to drive down carbon emissions, it's not the sole benefit, since those third-world countries are building power stations to get out of being third-world; they likely buy some of our equipment and that in turns pushes their economic growth and more likely imports to nations that support them. This is called trade, something the Trump administration pretends to like but in secret hates unless it benefits their family.

      Third-world countries don't stay third-world, they advance. This is in small part what people mean when they say Trump ceded US influence; we are no longer at that table, our products aren't going to be up for sale, or directing future talks and expansion of the accords in the future. The EU, Japan, South Korea, and most especially China will.

      Second, third-world countries are the most susceptible to not only global warming symptoms (they are third-world because of geographic and resource reasons) but also their government are more fragile. Most of the future (as well as current) war conflicts have basis in environmental concerns. iow, when global warming damage hits, whether it be drought or loss of farming land or changes in fishing, those areas destabilize, and they are ripe for takeover and military conflict, particularly terrorism. Most current areas of conflict have to do with reduced water supplies and feed grounds, which will only get worse as temperatures rise.

      We currently are spending $2 billion a month, every month, in Afghanistan, and that's now on a reduced force of 8k personnel, and we've been in that that conflict some 16 years; and that's direct expenditure, not accounting for when they get home and all the expenses hogged (while being horridly mismanaged) stemming from supporting veterans. Anyone that understands math can see the root of the problem with Syria, Somalia, South Sudan and see the environmental connection.

      "Snowflakes" rather spend $3 billion for solar arrays and wind farms which may come back to US green energy companies. You-who-speak-with-yaks though would rather spend $2b a month hurting our own troops or the hundreds of millions arming military groups.

      Hell, the destruction of ice in the Arctic Circle is already a boon to Russian expansion to the tune of several billion annually. Maybe that's the point with the likes of you. Remove choice of a democratic nation and against a :socialist liberal agenda so you can be proud traitors because you want to side with fundamentalists of your ilk.

      Anyways, keep supporting foreign military aid but screw environmental aid. Keep supporting giving China more global influence in exchange for a few trademark bribes. The best Russian president America ever had, and a great Friend to Red China.

    103. Re: Not "misunderstood" by quantaman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Try reading it.

      India specifically gets US dollars to fund it's green industry pretty much forever. China gets to keep uping emissions for 13 years and then the US pays them to use green energy that they are already building. Russia just gets to ignore the entire thing.

      Several other 3rd world countries also gets US dollars but not as bad as the above. It was a horrible accord that only an idiot would sign *John Kerry*

      So what part do you disagree with?

      1) The part that global warming is a real and serious problem.

      Or 2) the part where the US helps other countries reduce their emissions, as a result of the US being one of the nations most responsible for the problem, who benefited the most from prior emissions, and who is most capable of dealing with the problem.

      I think #1 is quite true, and once you accept #1 then #2 makes a lot of sense as well. For all the talk of cash transfers to 3rd world countries many on the right seem to think the only "fair" way to deal with global warming is for the West to keep living like kings while the developing world goes pre-industrial.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    104. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a crock of shit. His opinion on environmental protection in our own country isn't a secret.

    105. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      Upton Sinclair was a great Author.

    106. Re:Not "misunderstood" by poity · · Score: 1

      Fact: Paris Agreement was a hard-fought compromise but was largely a symbolic gesture because it had to be such a compromise to get the entire Earth to agree on something.

      On this basis, there are two arguments.
      Pro Paris Agreement: It is a step in the right direction -- a global recognition of the problem -- though real progress would require immensely more than a symbolic gesture such as this.

      Anti Paris Agreement (which seems to be Trump's position AFAIK): The US gave too many concessions, and allowed too many loopholes for other nations, to achieve what is largely a symbolic gesture.

      --
      your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
    107. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, he'd piss on you if you weren't on fire. If you were on fire, he'd pour gasoline on you and tell you that he's making fire great again.

    108. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Russian hacking... witch hunt... yawn.

      If you cared about such things how often have you suggested investigating Hillary for anything?

      My guess is never.

    109. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not making money when my tax dollars get sent as a bribe to third world dictators.

      Let the corporations who will get those contracts pay the bribes.

      As you said, stupid.

    110. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Denialist! Hate monger! Child killer! You want to destroy the planet!

    111. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (I will apologize to anyone who happens to have the Trump last name, though.)

      I won't. But I will start a change.org petition for the waiving of any fees associated with changing your name by deed poll if your surname is trump.

    112. Re:Not "misunderstood" by kenh · · Score: 1

      When people think "Nixon", they think of a crook.

      Who opened up China to the west and ended the Vietnam War, signed the ABM and SALT treaties with Russia, created the EPA, signed Title IX into law (ending discrimination in college athletics against female athletes), oversaw desegregation of southern public schools, lowered the voting age to 18 from 21.

      That's a pretty hefty list of accomplishments, IMHO.

      --
      Ken
    113. Re: Not "misunderstood" by kenh · · Score: 1

      Why openly reject an agreement that just simply not doing it would have sufficed?

      Because environmental groups could have sued the federal government for not living up to it's commitments.

      --
      Ken
    114. Re: Not "misunderstood" by harlequinn · · Score: 1

      I think he covered that eventuation:

      "must resort to punitive measures such as sanctions or military prowess to get what they want, which is what they do ANYWAY."

    115. Re: Not "misunderstood" by kenh · · Score: 1

      immediately after 9/11, we were the biggest recipient of world charity

      Citation please? Where did the money go? Victim's families were compensated by federal government, buildings were rebuilt by insurance money, not quite understanding where all that "world charity" went? I understand there were many in-kind gifts and offers of assistance from many foreign nations, but wouldn't "the biggest (giving) of world charity" include money?

      And, of course, the donations that streamed in made the https://www.trumanlibrary.org/...">Berlin Airlifts seem trivial by comparison, right? ("At the height of the campaign, one plane landed every 45 seconds at Tempelhof Airport." and delivered over 2 million tons of goods in 270,000 flights - the operation lasted almost a year.)

      --
      Ken
    116. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The part where there is no enforcement, no requirement to do what was promised, and the 1.2 trillion dollar cost over 20 years to pay other countries to pretend that they are doing something.

      I didn't vote for Trump. I'm not a Republican. The Paris accord is a fucking scam. This is the best thing Trump has done.

    117. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, you mean besides the every Muslim terror attack in the last 3 years, or were you talking about some other fantasy world that you exist in?

    118. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      Per capita is hohttps://politics.slashdot.org/story/17/06/02/1629221/trump-misunderstood-mit-climate-research-university-officials-say#w you divide the total by the number of people. You can't ignore the number of people participating!

    119. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      How is that except?

      The situation here is that you refuse to clean up your room, where the shit is spilling into the hallway, because you have three brothers who all have cleaner rooms but in aggregate have more work to do.

    120. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      What we're trying to fix is the total pollution caused by 7.4 billion people. So you divide the problem equally by everyone.

      If China decided tomorrow to be 4 countries tomorrow, one would imagine that the ultimate effort that the area known as China should have to expend, should be the same. That fits with a per-capita approach. With a per-country approach, each quarter of China is now half as polluting as the USA.

      It's irrational to look at total country output because country is a mostly-arbitrary boundary. There is absolutely no reason to expect that China and the US and Luxembourg and Russia and the Vatican and Tuvalu should all have the same amount of pollution output as each other.

    121. Re: Not "misunderstood" by quantaman · · Score: 2

      The part where there is no enforcement, no requirement to do what was promised, and the 1.2 trillion dollar cost over 20 years to pay other countries to pretend that they are doing something.

      Well lucky for you there was no enforcement or requirement to do what was promised.

      So if the US felt like the other countries weren't doing anything you could simply not pay them.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    122. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Listen smartaas you know that's not how the US operates and the backlash from the world and USians for not meeting its financial obligations would be about as big as they are now to pulling out.

    123. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Russian hacking... witch hunt... yawn.

      As I said, apathy.

      If you cared about such things how often have you suggested investigating Hillary for anything?

      My guess is never.

      Why bother, since Hillary actually has been investigated many times? And nothing substantial has been found.

    124. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When people think "Nixon", they think of a crook.

      Who opened up China to the west and ended the Vietnam War, signed the ABM and SALT treaties with Russia, created the EPA, signed Title IX into law (ending discrimination in college athletics against female athletes), oversaw desegregation of southern public schools, lowered the voting age to 18 from 21.

      That's a pretty hefty list of accomplishments, IMHO.

      All true, but he was still a crook.

    125. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Recently the movie "Idiocracy" stopped being a satire.
      SAD

    126. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Paris Accord has nothing to do with charity.
      It's about keeping this planet comfortably habitable for humans.

      The "western" nations in general and the US in particular responsible for most of the damage done so far and have profited from early industrialization the most.
      And will profit the most from preventing the worst.

      You think building dams around Manhattan or compensate failing crops in the mid-west will be cheap?

      Climate Change affects everybody everywhere. You can't put your orange head in the sand and ignore it.

      You must really hate your grandkids.

    127. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      do some research first before replying to people comments. as simple bit of arithmetic will tell you how to get the 3% figure.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    128. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sound like being 100% self sufficient in fossils is a good thing.

      And fracking is doing terrible damage to the US.

      But this all has to go. Fracking, OPEC, doesn't matter. We're getting to the end of the line for fossils. That stuff is killing us. It runs out soon enough away - so we have to switch anyway.

      Why destroy us needlessly when we need to get off the stuff anyway?

      Instead of dominating the techs and markets for future energy you'd rather stay addicted to burning long dead and liquified trees?

      Growing up as a teenager I looked up to the US. Now it's an increasingly sad sight. Short-sighted, bombing civilians - making terrorists happy, abdicating leadership and putting a clown in charge. What's next? Theocracy?

    129. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's still better than Hillary who told us during the debates she wanted to start ww3.

      The American people chose wisely between trump and world destruction over a shitty little country like Syria.

    130. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Name me a binding agreement...

      >Waves wand, "You're a binding agreement..." *poof*

    131. Re: Not "misunderstood" by PoopJuggler · · Score: 1

      And offer to sell you some water for $1000

    132. Re: Not "misunderstood" by orlanz · · Score: 1

      First it isn't a treaty. Second the former President is well within his power to agree to it. More so than this President is to get out of it (he still needs to exit within the rules of the agreement).

      But this whole funneling money to other countries thing... the US does this ALL the time. We don't spend the more on military than the next 10 countries combined hiring people to wipe Generals asses. All those shipping lanes, ports, and trade routes we protect aren't used just by US ships. Iraq, Afganistan, and Iran don't self fund their reconstruction. We been giving a lot of corn, medicine, and wheat for many years to Africa. Then there is all the military planes, tanks, rifles, etc that we been giving many countries for decades.

      The Paris Agreement's funding needs in its entirety are a drop in the bucket compared to any of the above's annual expenditure.

    133. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hear! hear! good sir!

    134. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am pretty sure he could misunderstand a bathroom sign...

    135. Re: Not "misunderstood" by SETY · · Score: 1

      Fine, no problem. Where is the alternate plan? I haven't seen recognition yet from the administration that global warming is real and a problem?
      When you withdraw from Paris and don't have a plan for the biggest threat EVER to humanity......well you dropped the ball.

    136. Re: Not "misunderstood" by jwhyche · · Score: 2

      Convert away from coal to natural gas. Which is cleaner and the country as much more of than coal. Coal's day is done. It doesn't matter if Trump wants to save the industry. The market has already decided to kill it off. Trump may get a few more years out of it by mining it and selling it to China, but in the US its dead.

      I would rather see that 100B put to use building more natural gas plants to replace coal. Or even better put into alternative resources like better fission, solar, or even fusion research.

      Plus you people are forgetting the environmental movement itself. Lots of the public may not be convinced that climate change is real but they sure as hell know coal plants are dangerous. Are you going to let one be built in your back yard?

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
    137. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I do not have much spare cash. Therefore I object to sending US dollars overseas. Spend them here in the USA. By all means, spend these dollars on reducing emissions and improving industrial efficiency -just spend the money here.

    138. Re: Not "misunderstood" by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Maybe.

      Looked a lot less civilised in November 1938.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    139. Re: Not "misunderstood" by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      You sound like being 100% self sufficient in fossils is a good thing.

      And fracking is doing terrible damage to the US.

      Did I fucking claim that? No. I debunked the claim "As it stands, the US - with less that 5% of the world's population - consumes 25% of the world's annual fossil fuel production." Fuck you.

      --
      We'll make great pets
    140. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Maritz · · Score: 1

      Doesn't have understanding, doesn't want understanding. Paid by the right people to make the 'right' decision. The USA in a group of nations that it truly suits the company of: Syria and Nicaragua. lol. Keep fighting the future dickheads, it will merely make the EU and Chinese economies stronger at your expense. Enjoy the rest of your orange hero's retarded decisions.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    141. Re:Not "misunderstood" by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Yes, Nixon was a pretty decent President and had a good list of accomplishments. However, those were all overshadowed by Watergate. Had Watergate never happened, the public's view of Nixon would have been considerably improved.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    142. Re: Not "misunderstood" by slack_justyb · · Score: 1

      Because environmental groups could have sued the federal government for not living up to it's commitments.

      At best they could have shamed the government for not doing so. The commitments were non-binding. At no point was the US in any legally obligated point to make good on anything they promised. The Obama administration promised something to the tune of $1B but Trump could have sent all of $0.02 and have felt zero legal challenge on such a move. This is one of the main reasons cited by the Obama administration for using sole-executive agreement power as opposed to a CEA in agreeing to the accords.

      And I tried to make that point earlier. If someone says the President has the sole power to pull out of the Paris Accords, which the President does have that power, then you have to come to terms that the accord is fluff. If you think the terms were binding, which they weren't so you can't use the argument of suing so-and-so for not meeting whatever pledge, then the President cannot act in such a unilateral fashion, as it would require undoing the law to effectively withdraw.
          If you agree that the President can unilaterally pull out of the accords, you have to also give up the argument that the Accords would have costed us dearly.
          It would have costed us exactly as much money as the President intended on sending, which from the outset seemed like zero dollars.

      So again, why was the President acting so foolishly to rush into actively rejecting the Paris Accord? Why not first find **literally anyone else** on the planet to jump ship with us before getting on national TV and opening his mouth? It literally costed him so much, bought him so little, and has done more to damage his longer term goals then any short term gain he might get from this. The US stood to loose $0 from doing nothing, but instead he just had to get all showy and stoke his ego. Guy has issues letting his power trips interfere with his ability to actually have a long term strategy.

    143. Re: Not "misunderstood" by kenh · · Score: 0

      At best they could have shamed the government for not doing so. The commitments were non-binding. At no point was the US in any legally obligated point to make good on anything they promised. The Obama administration promised something to the tune of $1B but Trump could have sent all of $0.02 and have felt zero legal challenge on such a move. This is one of the main reasons cited by the Obama administration for using sole-executive agreement power as opposed to a CEA in agreeing to the accords.

      Supporters actually used the argument that the accord was vitally important while simultaneously saying pulling out made no sense because the Paris accord was non-binding!

      --
      Ken
  2. I'm sure mit really is the one misunderstanding. by fortfive · · Score: 0, Troll

    After all, it's mass inst of *technology*, not mass inst of *science*.

  3. Did he misunderstand the bit about gender equality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It's important to note that the contemporary strategy for pushing through the globalist / corporatist agenda is to attach "pork" to treaties that sound like they provide a greater social benefit.

    The TPP was one such example. It was anything but a "free trade agreement". It was filled with trade legislation which created impediments to free trade and granted historically unprecedented advantages to corporations.

    The Paris Climate Agreement contained language regarding gender equality. Why? What was that language doing in a climate change agreement. The gender equality issue is just one small point of many pieces of pork.

    The point is *not* "but don't you support gender equality"?

    The point *is* "why are our agreements becoming clouded with special interests"?

  4. Given what we've seen of Trump... by evolutionary · · Score: 1

    Is there anything he DOESN'T misunderstand (aside from repaying favors perhaps...)

    --
    "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
    1. Re:Given what we've seen of Trump... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meow?

    2. Re:Given what we've seen of Trump... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You just don't covfefe

    3. Re:Given what we've seen of Trump... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bump the Trump?

  5. Huh? by wbr1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Misunderstood? Or willfully misconstrued to fit an agenda?

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. Unfortunately, the misunderstanding in this matter is on the MIT scientists' part.

      But I wish to have seen their faces when they watched the conference ;)

    2. Re:Huh? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Which is worse, liar or idiot? Or maybe equal parts of both.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Huh? by greythax · · Score: 1

      Does it have to be one or the other? I think he's capable of both.

    4. Re:Huh? by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

      At least he didn't misunderestimate it.

      --
      Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    5. Re:Huh? by lactose99 · · Score: 1

      Capable? He wrote books on both

      --
      Fully licensed blockchain psychiatrist
    6. Re:Huh? by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      That's an ironic reply when talking about Global Warming, er Climate Change.

      --
      -Styopa
    7. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Neither. He & his corrupt sniveling lackeys made no effort to understand it. How can they lie about something they know virtually nothing about? Why does the media (as well as this site) continue to try to pound a square peg into a round hole? Trump is a liar. Everyone lies, but Trump has made lying at once integral to his politics and at the same time so blatant as to astonish anyone who cares about the truth. I don't have a Yuge! problem with him withdrawing from Paris, president's prerogative as far as I'm concerned. At the same time, I have a large problem with his articulated reasoning and statements about the science. He's an ignorant schmuck.

  6. Of course it was Trump by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 1, Troll

    Not to put too fine a point on the issue but...

    Was it Trump who misunderstood the study, or government advisers?

    Was it Trump who misunderstood the study, or did the study not communicate clearly?

    Did the study use a lot of jargon, confusing verbiage, and passive voice?

    Did it make clear and specific projections, or was everything couched in "if this scenario and those people do that then something might change here to cause this effect"?

    Is the news article cited above just completely and totally wrong, or has it been vetted for accuracy?

    Any reason to bash Trump, I suppose.

    1. Re:Of course it was Trump by thebullshitpatrol · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Holding the president accountable for decisions that his brand, and whoever is associated with it, makes?

      Is there any president who we give a pass for making retarded world-scope decisions because of "jargon, confusing verbiage, and passive voice"? Maybe if the president of the united states and his advisors can't reason with jargon, confusing verbiage, and passive voice, they should look into alternate career paths.

      Maybe Obama just misunderstood the TPP.

    2. Re:Of course it was Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was it Trump who misunderstood the study, or government advisers?

      What difference does it make? It is his responsibility at the end of the day. Either he has to understand it himself, or he has to employ people capable of understanding it and then listen to them.

    3. Re:Of course it was Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did the study use a lot of jargon, confusing verbiage, and passive voice?

      "Assuming a climate system response to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions thatâ(TM)s of median strength, the three scenarios reduce the SAT in 2100 between 0.6 and 1.1 C relative to the âoeno climate policyâ case. But because the climate system takes many years to respond to emissions reductions, in 2050 the SAT falls by only about 0.1 C in all three cases."

      Seems pretty clearly worded to me. The misunderstanding is also easily explained by someone who doesn't like reading much and skims only the highlights (which many people have said about Trump) spotting one phrase that supports what he wants to do and using it out of context to support the same views on protecting the environment that he was pushing back in 2012 when he said "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." (and those were his exact words... have fun explaining how everyone is misinterpreting them).

    4. Re:Of course it was Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did the study use a lot of jargon, confusing verbiage, and passive voice?

      The study took a computer models of human behavior (Try not to laugh) then coupled it to a simplified climatic computer model then called it science; so I'd go with willful deception.

    5. Re:Of course it was Trump by nine-times · · Score: 2

      Was it Trump who misunderstood the study, or government advisers?

      Seems kind of irrelevant. I mean, I don't think that anyone imagines Trump is actually reading scientific studies. Obviously someone is telling him these things. It could be advisors, but it seems just as likely it's something someone said on Fox and Friends. Regardless, his statements about the research were inaccurate.

      Was it Trump who misunderstood the study, or did the study not communicate clearly?

      Not sure if English is your second language or something, but in English, if you fail to understand something because it was not communicated properly, it's still proper to say that you misunderstood.

      Did the study use a lot of jargon, confusing verbiage, and passive voice?

      I'm not even sure what point you're trying to make here. There's bound to be some scientific jargon in a scientific paper. And what does "passive voice" have to do with anything?

      Did it make clear and specific projections, or was everything couched in "if this scenario and those people do that then something might change here to cause this effect"?

      Did someone claim that the paper was vague? It seems like Trump was also under the impression that the paper gave specific projections, enough that he claims the environmental impact is negligible. It's just that those claims don't accurately characterize the results of the research.

      Is the news article cited above just completely and totally wrong, or has it been vetted for accuracy?

      Do you have any reason to think that it's totally wrong or inaccurate? Or are you just taking an absurd cynical position? For any statement, you could say, "What if that's just totally wrong?":

      Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth-- or maybe he wasn't! Maybe Lincoln is still alive today. Have those stories been vetted for accuracy?

      Water molecules are made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Or maybe that's just totally wrong! Has anyone researched this?

    6. Re:Of course it was Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Donald Trump has not hired any scientists to advise him.

      That is certainly on him.

      He isn't even trying to understand anything science-related.

    7. Re:Of course it was Trump by Nidi62 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not to put too fine a point on the issue but...

      Was it Trump who misunderstood the study, or government advisers?

      Many Trump advisors such as Musk and Iger, along with the CEOs of massive businesses including Exxon and Chevron (oil companies!), Microsoft, Apple, Goldman Sachs, GE, etc told Trump leaving the Paris Accords was a bad idea. Several, specifically Musk and Iger, have already stepped down from advisory councils. The only advisor Trump trusts is Trump. He has explicitly said so.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    8. Re:Of course it was Trump by sexconker · · Score: 2

      Fuck you. The "passive voice" is the best "voice".
      It is perfect for writing which needs to be neutral, factual, and unencumbered by shitty spin or hyperbole. The fucking Word grammar check always harasses me about using a "passive voice" whenever I have to fire it up to write an evaluation or a technical document. If I knew how the fuck to disable that rule I would, but I'm not about to dig through the ever-changing options menus to find it for how infrequently I use Word.

    9. Re:Of course it was Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One would have thought Trump is after the US all using a passive voice to him.

    10. Re:Of course it was Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fucking Word grammar check always harasses me about using a "passive voice" whenever I have to fire it up to write an evaluation or a technical document. If I knew how the fuck to disable that rule I would, but I'm not about to dig through the ever-changing options menus to find it for how infrequently I use Word.

      I am always harassed about using a "passive voice" whenever I have to fire Word up to write an evaluation or a technical document. That rule would be disabled if I knew how the fuck to do it, but the ever-changing options menus are not about to be dug through to find it for how infrequently Word is used by me.

      Dude, it's not just Word that's out to get you, it's all writers and copy editors everywhere. Be careful or you might get a visit from the dreaded Plain English Campaign! http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/how-to-write-in-plain-english.html

    11. Re:Of course it was Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck you. The "passive voice" is the best "voice".
      It is perfect for writing which needs to be neutral, factual, and unencumbered by shitty spin or hyperbole. The fucking Word grammar check always harasses me about using a "passive voice" whenever I have to fire it up to write an evaluation or a technical document. If I knew how the fuck to disable that rule I would, but I'm not about to dig through the ever-changing options menus to find it for how infrequently I use Word.

      Actually, no my friend...passive voice is not the "best" voice. It's weak, ineffectual, and inverts sentence structure to take action and punch away from verbs.

      In fact, it has no real home in prose or technical writing - there's always a better way to re-tool the sentence to feature the subject and verb at the core.

    12. Re:Of course it was Trump by kenh · · Score: 1

      in English, if you fail to understand something because it was not communicated properly, it's still proper to say that you misunderstood.

      Are you aware of this story, wherein an advisor was asked if an email was legitimate, and instead of saying it wasn't legitimate, as he intended, he instead actually said it WAS legitimate. Was the advisor responsible for the typo, or was Podesta responsible for misunderstanding what the advisor tried to communicate, but failed to?

      --
      Ken
    13. Re:Of course it was Trump by kenh · · Score: 1

      Maybe Obama just misunderstood the TPP.

      Hillary was at times proud of her work on TPP, at other times was dismissive of it, and even occasionally forgot she worked on it...

      --
      Ken
    14. Re:Of course it was Trump by nine-times · · Score: 1

      So what's the argument here? Trump didn't misunderstand, but rather he was misinformed?

      Obviously he misunderstands a lot of things, and is misinformed about a lot more. But it's kind of splitting hairs, when the point was "His explanation of the research was incorrect."

    15. Re: Of course it was Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He doesn't read anything unless his name is in it. And he covfefe all the time. I rofl every time he says or does something more retarded than the previous thing.

      This guys repertoire is limitless. The shit he comes up with is just of the charts. He ruined one of best Netflix shows. There is not a sane person in the world that could come up with the stupidity Trump displays, not even when their life depends on it.

      It has been popcorn time for months and to be honest, I am going to miss the fucktard when he crashes off the world stage.

    16. Re:Of course it was Trump by thebullshitpatrol · · Score: 1

      Yes, which is retarded. I'd argue that this is probably an effort to pander (standard shillary spiel), but you certainly will not find anyone defending Hillary with the most ridiculous arguments like "maybe she misunderstood it", or "maybe she literally has no agency other than taking advice from people".

      Every other politician is held to the standard of knowing how to do their job, and being personally responsible for literally everything that happens in the entire country, regardless of whether they have a conceivable amount of control over it. A goon was voted in, and now it's his turn to be held to the same standard, irrespective of his rookie status.

  7. Consequences? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Will Trump ever be called to account for these lies and distorted half-truths? His behaviour is going to cost many lives, and not just in the US. That amounts to something worse than criminal behaviour to my mind, and I would like to see him ultimately tried by an international court.

    1. Re:Consequences? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "something worse than criminal behavior"

      Behold! An idiot in its natural environment.

    2. Re:Consequences? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I missed you calling out for Obama to be tried in an international court for giving nukes to Iran. When did you do that again?

    3. Re:Consequences? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since he didnt do that, you have to go to the universe where he did and ask them if they complained.

      PS how come when Ted Nugent is shown to have done worse (far worse) than Kathy, you rightwingers were all "Oh, so it's ok for you to do it if we've done it?!?!?", yet here you are going "It's OK for us to do it because you did it!!!!".

    4. Re:Consequences? by kenh · · Score: 1

      I would like to see him ultimately tried by an international court.

      For being wrong? Not quite sure what basis you'd have for putting him in front of an international court...

      --
      Ken
  8. How diplomatic of them by chispito · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is a difference between "misrepresented" and "misunderstood."

    --
    The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
    1. Re:How diplomatic of them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean they misrepresented their research? I agree.

  9. It is too late now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... climate fools.

  10. MIT are capitalistic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump is capitalistic.

    MIT paying lip service to externalities won't actually change the fact that short-termist technocracy, led by institutions such as MIT, are the problem, not the solution.

  11. He Didn't Misunderstand It by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1, Insightful

    That is a ridiculously and uselessly tiny amount of reduction. We'd be better off keeping industrial output the same as it is now and redirect a portion of it to climate engineering efforts like spraying silver dust into Earth orbit. The Paris agreement is equivalent to reducing industrial output by about half for what is likely to be less than 1 degree C of a net result, IF every nation on the planet adheres to it, that's insanity. 1% of our single nation's industrial output redirected toward climate engineering could get into the tens of degrees C within a decade, easily.

  12. The source [Re:Of course it was Trump] by XXongo · · Score: 2

    ...Did the study use a lot of jargon, confusing verbiage, and passive voice? Did it make clear and specific projections, or was everything couched in "if this scenario and those people do that then something might change here to cause this effect"?

    The study summary is here: http://meetingorganizer.copern...
    The MIT press release summarizing results is here: http://energy.mit.edu/news/how...

  13. What *does* he understand? by ilsaloving · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think it would be easier to simply list the things he *does* understand. That should be an incredibly short list.

    I'm assuming "tying my own shoes" probably aren't on that list.

    1. Re:What *does* he understand? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please keep thinking that, it's so much fun watching the left lose their collecting minds over Trump's genius.

    2. Re:What *does* he understand? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      Things Trump understands:

      Angrily posting barely-coherent tweets
      Committing sexual assault (AKA "grabbin' pussy" without consent)
      Screwing over small businesses
      The meaning of "covfefe"
      How to make casinos go bankrupt

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    3. Re:What *does* he understand? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Running for president.
      Winning.

    4. Re:What *does* he understand? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but her emails!

    5. Re:What *does* he understand? by kenh · · Score: 1

      Committing sexual assault (AKA "grabbin' pussy" without consent)

      You're wrong, re-read the quote - he said that women let you grab their pussy, when you're famous.

      How to make casinos go bankrupt

      Has any casino in Atlantic City not gone bankrupt? Trump has had what, a half-dozen bankruptcies? So what? He's not the only businessman to go bankrupt - Obama financed and promoted at least as many alternative energy companies that he bankrolled with taxpayer funds, only to watch them go bankrupt - at least Trumps investors chose to invest in his businesses, I never got a chance to choose to invest in Solyndra, etc...

      --
      Ken
    6. Re:What *does* he understand? by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      You're wrong, re-read the quote - he said that women let you grab their pussy, when you're famous.

      What's the difference? That's committing sexual assault from a position of authority. A position of authority is not consent.

      Obama had no say in the running of Solyndra and never claimed to be a great businessman, so that's a pointless red herring.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  14. Doesn't matter ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... Trump wanted to put one of his campaign promises in the "win" column.

    America has spoken and that's precisely what America wants.

    It is what it is.

    Until America votes otherwise, we will continue to masturbate to thoughts of isolationism.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  15. Trump does not care by matthewcharles2006 · · Score: 1

    And neither do most of his handlers. It was a line they put in to pad out a speech, and they could not care less if it was accurate or meaningful.

  16. He didn't read the research by andydread · · Score: 1

    I think the correct statement would be whoever read the research to told trump that deliberately mislead him. Trump doesn't read anything pass 140 characters.

  17. Let's focus on the trivial by XXongo · · Score: 3, Informative

    Science or not, funneling American wealth to third world countries via a non-binding agreement is enough of a reason to oppose participation in this treaty and to be glad it was never submitted to be potentially ratified.

    The amount of "American wealth" that is "funneled to third world countries" is so small a number that you can't even see it in the pie chart of the government budget expenditures. It is absolutely and completely negligible.

    If that's your objection, you are focussing on the trivial.

    (The one exception here is American aid to Israel, if you want to call Israel a third-world country; totaling $127.4 billion. But most of that it military aid, not energy.)

    1. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Remember, when dealing with pseudo-skeptics, all that counts in their eyes is that they made an objection. The objection may be absurd, it may be outrageous, it may in fact be an outright lie, but so long as they can say they objected, they somehow believe they've falsified an entire field of research.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by penandpaper · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How is disagreeing with the political solution akin to "somehow believe they've falsified an entire field of research"?

      You can think AGW is real and disagree on funneling money to poor nations. In addition, you can disagree with how much foreign aid Isreal receives and disagree on money transfer in the Paris Accord. These things are not mutually exclusive.

    3. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by Baloroth · · Score: 1

      The Paris agreement proposed sending $100 billion per year to developing countries. Now, how much of that would have come from the US is obviously not known, and of course it'd probably never have reached $100 billion, but that's certainly not negligible, but any stretch of the imagination.

      On a side note, the US currently spends ~$40 billion in foreign aid per year, of which ~$3.1 billion goes to Israel. Whether you consider ~$40 billion "negligible" is, of course, a matter of perspective.

      --
      "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
    4. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by peragrin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Republicans love saying things like foreign aid and welfare as they get reported in dollars where as military spending that only gets reported in percentages that make little sense unless you have seen the entire budget breakdown. Letting them argue over pennies when thousands are being wasted elsewhere.

      The whole us budget is online in lots of charts and grafts. I encourage people to take a look at the entire budget what comes in what goes out and what is the total spent on various aspects. Forget any political sound bite that shows just how screwed up Washington is.

      We start the year in a hole because Washington assumes 3-5% growth in taxes to start budgeting. Then you have politicians using GDP when they mean annual revenue. The military is 11% of the GDP but 30% of revenue. GDP doesn't apply to capitalist countries. Using it as a meteric is misleading at best and close to outright lying

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    5. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      I think the figure was about $3B from the US for the Paris agreement.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    6. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since the USA punches 3x its weight by numbers, and there are 200 countries signed up, that would make it about 1.5% of that 100 billion.

      1.5 billion.

      Or 1/400th the spending on the US military.

      Whoo.

    7. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by higuita · · Score: 1

      how much of those $40Billion return to the US because they are managed by US personal to acquire US based companies services and goods?

      It is always so easy to forget the grand picture when you are focus in a detail

      --
      Higuita
    8. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by sexconker · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's MightyMartian. Don't even try.

    9. Re: Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it's that small a dollar amount, then send me a cashiers check.

    10. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      I'm sure it was a typo, but you aren't wrong when you say there is lots of "grafts" in the US Government budget.

      By the way, there is a such thing as a Republican who thinks that military spending is way out of control, and that if you want to do real work towards balancing the budget, you should start there.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    11. Re: Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Return must be an absolute. A very big slice of the world contamination in the planet outside the United States it is produced by the onerous consumption habits from the people living in the United States.

      In particular we have the information industry trash filling mountains and the United States exports this to other countries for not to have so dirty place ... the problem is that the planet it is not separated and whatever is the trash all the habitants and their descendants will suffer. That cost was already paid by everybody and it is just being recollected.

      If USA can guarantee that nothing is done within their borders will impact other people then it is fair to avoid these expenses .. but the only way is if the USA is a separated planet.

    12. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 1

      You can think AGW is real and disagree on funneling money to poor nations.

      Absolutely. I just wish y'all could do a little more. If that solution is so untenable, then waddya got? In the end, GP is right: what's important is saying no, not collaborating to a better end.

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    13. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by balbeir · · Score: 1

      Well wait until the EU and other countries start slapping carbon import taxes on US goods. It's already being discussed in Europe. $3B is going to be peanuts compared to the cost of those.

    14. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      Great point! They say, Hey look at those darn pennies spent on this no good project. At the same time they spend billions on junk.

    15. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by kenh · · Score: 2

      Here, take a look at this chart - it's from the CBO, and all numbers on it are relative to GDP.

      The military is 11% of the GDP but 30% of revenue.

      See above chart - "Defense" is $582BN, which is 3.3% of GDP, but represents 18% of the $3.2T Revenue the government collects - I'd love to see where you came up with "30% of revenue"...

      "Defense" accounts for 15% of the federal budget.

      --
      Ken
    16. Re: Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And then they fall even further into irrelevance as they drain the life from their economy to make a petulant, childish point.

    17. Re: Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry, I hear we're going to Mars. Though a Dutch reality show may beat us there.

    18. Re: Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which Republicans in particular? Not being snarky, genuinely curious.

    19. Re: Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Israel is an ally of America, so by definition it is a first world country.

    20. Re: Let's focus on the trivial by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Well wait until the EU and other countries start slapping carbon import taxes on US goods.

      The U.S. is exporting a "lot" of goods to Europe these days, is it?

    21. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by penandpaper · · Score: 1

      I just wish y'all could do a little more.

      From what I understand, the US is leading all countries in lowering carbon dioxide emissions. What more do you want?

      then waddya got

      Something that isn't virtue signaling that wouldn't even solve the problem to begin with.

    22. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you're ignoring the massive subsidies previously provided by the federal teat that completely distortedthe true cost of 'renewable' energy to some unrealistically low atificial number. bottom line not a single red cent should be wasted on these third world shitholes, further power costs to homes and businesses will skyrocket once the federal teat ran dry.

      not to mention solar and wind are ridiculous power sources for a reliable power grid but the federal teat providing monies makes them attractive.

    23. Re:Let's focus on the trivial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The military is 11% of the GDP but 30% of revenue.

      See above chart - "Defense" is $582BN, which is 3.3% of GDP, but represents 18% of the $3.2T Revenue the government collects - I'd love to see where you came up with "30% of revenue"...

      "Defense" accounts for 15% of the federal budget.

      I would guess because they use Revenue excluding $ from SS taxes. While technically federal revenue, they actually go directly to the SS fund. Not into the general fund for congress to spend on Defense.

  18. What part was "misunderstood"? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    MIT study says accord would yield a benefit of 0.6 degree and 1.1 degrees Celsius change by 2100. President weighs cost of implementing vs. MIT's expected benefit and says "too much work for too little effort."

    So...what part of MIT's work did the prez misunderstand here? (It seems he got his cost info elsewhere, but what part of the benefit did he miss, exactly?)

    1. Re:What part was "misunderstood"? by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      So...what part of MIT's work did the prez misunderstand here?

      The part that said if we do nothing, it's +5 degrees by 2100.

    2. Re: What part was "misunderstood"? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      No, that's implicit. We can either do nothing and warm 5.5 degrees, or sign the agreement + spend a shitload of mkney and warm 3.9 degrees. That's the comparison that leads to the conclusion that there's very little benefit.

      Of course your response ignores a third option; don't sign this turd of an agreement and do something else instead.

    3. Re: What part was "misunderstood"? by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      Of course your response ignores a third option; don't sign this turd of an agreement and do something else instead.

      Do you actually think President "Moar Coal Jobs" Trump, advised by Steve "Who needs the EPA" Bannon, will do something about climate change?

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    4. Re: What part was "misunderstood"? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't call a nearly 30% difference "very little benefit".

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    5. Re: What part was "misunderstood"? by randomlygeneratename · · Score: 1

      I'll hold my breath while Trump "does something else" better.

    6. Re: What part was "misunderstood"? by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      And your response ignores "doing nothing" involves spending 10-100x that shitload of money building sea walls, dealing with flooding, more violent storms, and relocating millions of people when their homes/businesses are consumed by the ocean. +5.5 and Miami is gone. +3.9 and it stands a chance.

      As for "do something else", you are well aware that option is something listed just to make you feel better, right?

    7. Re:What part was "misunderstood"? by TheSync · · Score: 1

      The President said 0.2 C, not 0.6-1.1 C.

    8. Re:What part was "misunderstood"? by Troed · · Score: 1

      The fact-checkers seem to agree with Trump regarding what the MIT study claimed.

      According to John Reilly, who co-directs the Joint Program on Science and Policy of Global Change at MIT, the Paris agreement would reduce global temperature by two-tenths of one degree Celsius compared with earlier climate treaties.

      http://www.politifact.com/trut...

    9. Re: What part was "misunderstood"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The current science is if the rise is less than 2 degrees, we can do something about it. If the change is over 2 degrees, we are permanently and catastrophically doomed as a civilization.

      Taking the science and not being a denialist, 2.1 degrees is the same as doing nothing at all. 3.9 degrees at a cost of 100 billion per year is even worse.

    10. Re: What part was "misunderstood"? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Do you actually think President "Moar Coal Jobs" Trump, advised by Steve "Who needs the EPA" Bannon, will do something about climate change?

      I'm not sure it matters. Sure, it would be nice if the US had a president who would blow away all the obstacles to replacing all fossil fuel power generation with modern nuclear instead, but we knew that would never happen no matter who got elected. Barring that, nothing the government does is going to make a significant difference. The private sector is already on-track to make solar/wind efficient enough to be cheaper than fossil fuels within a decade, and they're on track to replace the majority of ICE vehicles with electric inside of 2 -3 decades tops. So even if Trump does absolutely nothing to help the process, we're going to significantly shift the balance.

    11. Re:What part was "misunderstood"? by TheSync · · Score: 1

      This assumes that the Trump Administration doesn't pull out of the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, where the US promised to reduce emissions by 17% compared to 2005 (which I actually think the US has achieved thanks to natural gas replacing coal burning).

  19. Re:Did he misunderstand the bit about gender equal by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

    CO2 has the properties it has regardless of your views on international agreements or your favorite international conspiracy. The universe well and truly doesn't fucking care about your fantasies. CO2 absorbs and re-emits solar radiation as it does, irrespective of whether you think some evil conspiracy is involved.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  20. Time to learn the truth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://youtu.be/TJNJ_k8SUkA

    Open your eyes.

    1. Re:Time to learn the truth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://youtu.be/TJNJ_k8SUkA

      Open your eyes.

      Interesting video. Up until now, I never knew that 0.3 = 86/1000.

  21. Comments from MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Lindzen by dcbrianw · · Score: 1, Informative

    MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen: Believing CO2 controls the climate ‘is pretty close to believing in magic’ http://www.climatedepot.com/20...

    1. Re:Comments from MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Lindzen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "Lindzen clearly relishes the role of naysayer. He'll even expound on how weakly lung cancer is linked to cigarette smoking."

      http://www.newsweek.com/truth-about-global-warming-154937

    2. Re:Comments from MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Lindzen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I read that paper. It reminds me of the Chewbacca Defence.

    3. Re:Comments from MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Lindzen by TheSync · · Score: 1

      Regardless of how you feel about CO2 concentrations affecting the climate, CO2 concentrations do drive ocean acidity.

    4. Re:Comments from MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Lindzen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ad hominem.

      You didn't address his argument.

    5. Re:Comments from MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Lindzen by hey! · · Score: 4, Informative

      I looked into Lindzen's arguments ten years ago when he was the darling of the denialist movement. I stopped bothering when he made a statistical argument that was completely invalid for any data sample that has serial correlation. Any MIT student who'd passed 18.05 would be able to spot that.

      He's a crackpot, like Andrew Wakefield is on vaccinations. Wakefield too had impressive academic associations; he got his medical degree from the Imperial College School of Medicine, which is harder to get into than Harvard Medical School, and was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was also a crackpot.

      The only difference between Wakefield and Lindzen is that science is a lot more tolerant of crackpots than medicine is.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    6. Re:Comments from MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Lindzen by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'd say that Dr. Lindzen should put more effort into demonstrating the validity of his claims in the scientific literature, but frankly he's just not that good at it.

      We've been trying for about 120 years to disprove the idea that CO2 can cause changes in climate, or longer if you want to start counting from Tyndall. And it was indeed considered to be proven false through much of the 20th Century. But the things that we thought would prevent this from happening turned out to be untrue, and the consensus gradually changed over the period 1950-1980 or so.

      At this point speculating about some phenomenon that would make AGW not a problem is like speculating about the properties of the luminiferous ether: it would have to be both very large to cancel out the H2O feedbacks, and very small to have not been noticed to date, and not only would this have to be compatible with all prior temperature records, but it must also account for observations of extraterrestrial atmospheres. Yes, our radiative transfer equations explain temperature profiles in the atmosphere of Venus and the atmosphere of the Sun, so if we're missing something big about atmospheric physics you need to say why we haven't seen it on Earth and elsewhere, because otherwise the numbers all add up.

      Lindzen actually deserves recognition as having put forth the most plausible alternative theory concerning AGW. Unfortunately, to date he has not been able to provide convincing evidence for his theories. His belief that there is some negative feedback is far closer to believing in magic at this point, at least until someone figures out more than one way to transfer energy to space.

      --
      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    7. Re:Comments from MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Lindzen by dywolf · · Score: 1

      he didnt have an argument of substance to address

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  22. Here's The Problem by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

    I think the problem is that the issue was not reduced to 9 bullet points or less on a single sided sheet using only one and two sylable words.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:Here's The Problem by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      It also didn't use 6 of those bullet points to discuss how Trump is a winner.

  23. Re:Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh noes! The world is going to end if the US doesn't transfer a bunch of money to other countries.

    LOL! So true!

    https://youtu.be/TJNJ_k8SUkA

  24. Youtube by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Let me be perfectly clear. The killing of the ambassador in Libya was the result of a backlash against a Youtube video"

    So we shouldn't care if a president lies and Americans die, but we should care if Trump misquotes an MIT study? Perhaps you could tell me why one is ok and the other is not.

    When you shit on people on the country for 8 years calling them racist every time they bring up something like the above, why would any of them care when you bring anything up ever again? I think you are reaping what you asked for.

  25. Credibility by Train0987 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It might be different if every single prediction made by the "climate scientists" over the past 50 years hadn't been completely wrong.

    1. Re:Credibility by aicrules · · Score: 1

      Eventually they may be right though. And if they're right this time we're all doomed. Do you want us all to be doomed? Why do you hate us so much? And there's the counterargument in a nutshell...which I was trotting out for comedic effect only.

    2. Re:Credibility by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of the predictions have been too conservative on how screwed we are, so I'm not sure how thrilled you should be that they're wrong?

  26. That's Not News by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    It would be only news if Trump understood it. Or anything more complex than how to con people with simple tricks, really.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  27. Tell me about the science he got right. by gurps_npc · · Score: 1

    Because if you list the science he gets wrong, you will be here long after he is dead and buried.

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
  28. I think he understands how funding works by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and has a working bullshit detector

    why do the DNC prioritize transgender toilet rights over global warming? both are bullshit pseudoscience, but they think the threat posed by the first is greater

  29. Re:Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump offered to participate in new negotiations. I believe he said that in good faith. Naturally the eurocrats lost their shit and rejected that out of hand.

    Trump has left no doubt about US perogatives; future work will not involve massive wealth transfers or exemptions for large 'developing' emitters while the US dons the hair shirt. If your preferred deal has the US taking it up the ass while everyone else skates then it is DOA, just like the 'Paris' deal.

    That's how it has to be.

  30. Format Issue by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 0

    The problem is that the briefing paper was not rendered in Comic Sans 14 point as a bullet point list with no more than two syllable words. Diagrams are important to, but must distill the concept as much as possible, Mr. Trump gets confused easily. A golf analogy is always helpful.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  31. Trump has his own experts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Trump knows talk show hosts are the real experts on climate science: https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2017/06/01/withdrawing-paris-climate-agreement-trump-called-fox-news-host-advice/216748

  32. He misrepresented by ventsyv · · Score: 1

    He didn't misunderstand, he misrepresented the facts to fit his narrative. I don't know if he knew what he was saying was not true or if he was simply regurgitating what his staff fed him, but the end result is the same.

  33. Re:Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The world will be fine. It's been through these fluctuations before. It's not alive, so it doesn't care.

    Humanity will survive, even at the worst case.

    It's likely that many countries will vanish (at least one is basically underwater now), and others will be thrown into chaos as refugees flood across borders.

    And many humans (and other creatures) will die unnecessarily and prematurely.

    This has already started. We are in the middle of a Mass Exinction now. Go look it up, it's not hard to find and has been reported about in science articles for a while now.

    Oh, and much economic damage will also be done (and has already been done). If you don't give a crap about people and animals, maybe massive money loss will jar you out of your sad state of apathy. Ask the Insurance companies how they feel about global warming (hint: they've just stopped insuring houses that are going to be wiped out as the sea levels rise and the hurricanes get more violent and plentiful).

  34. Agreed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The saying goes "never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence". But they forgot the important second part: "except when it comes to government".

  35. Re:Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I believe he said that in good faith."

    What, are you fucking stupid? "Good faith" statements do not get ended with “And if we can’t, that’s fine.”

  36. Re:Yawn by gtall · · Score: 1

    Well, you can a little bit now, or pay a whole lot later. Near as I can make out, we've only promised about $4 Billion, and $3 Billion was previously committed outside of Paris. You are aware that the U.S. total budget for 2017 is about $4 Trillion. Nice mathematical straw man you have there....you could work in the Trump administration, they have no mathematical literacy either.

  37. He didn't misunderstand it - he didn't care by Weaselmancer · · Score: 1

    Did you hear the people applauding him as he made the announcement? The smarmy waves of satisfaction coming off the man? That's what this whole thing is about. The science doesn't matter at all. Him understanding it or not doesn't matter at all.

    This whole thing was about looking good in front of his base and gathering their applause. Nothing else. If he did understand the science or not, it would have been irrelevant to him. That wasn't the point at all.

    This whole exercise was about standing on a stage and having people applaud him.

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
    1. Re:He didn't misunderstand it - he didn't care by blindseer · · Score: 1

      This whole exercise was about standing on a stage and having people applaud him.

      Democrats (with a big "D") keep talking about how we need democracy (with a little "d") in the USA. We hold a vote and the government acts according to that vote, that is how society should work. Which is how Democrats keep talking so long as the vote agrees with their agenda. Obama signed this agreement and people cheered. Democracy (with a big "D" and little "d" in this case) won.

      People, or at least those that voted, weren't too happy with the Democrat view of the world. They voted for Republicans. The Republican at the top decided that this agreement signed by the top Democrat before him was not fitting with (little "d") democracy. And the people cheered.

      Now the (big "D") Democrats are upset. Democracy won. What do the (big "D") Democrats want now? What they want is less (little "d") democracy. If they truly believed that how the people vote is how the government should act then they can certainly their concerns and disagreements, just not talking about impeachment. I recall Obama said something along the lines of how he won so he gets to do as he pleases.

      If you think that Trump did away with this agreement for the applause then would it not follow that Obama signed it into place also for the applause?

      I believe that both men were doing what they thought was best for their nation, they just had differing views on how to achieve that. Calling Obama "good" for getting accolades from his voting base while calling Trump "bad" for doing the same thing is just being partisan.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    2. Re: He didn't misunderstand it - he didn't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Democrats (with a big "D") keep talking about how we need democracy (with a little "d") in the USA. We hold a vote and the government acts according to that vote, that is how society should work.

      I don't recall a vote on this Accord. I believe Trump even insisted it was his sole decision.

      People, or at least those that voted, weren't too happy with the Democrat view of the world. They voted for Republicans. The Republican at the top decided that this agreement signed by the top Democrat before him was not fitting with (little "d") democracy. And the people cheered.
      Now the (big "D") Democrats are upset. Democracy won. What do the (big "D") Democrats want now? What they want is less (little "d") democracy.

      By my count, in the last major election, Republicans got -12 million votes. Sorry, but the actual election was not conducted under democratic terms but a flawed system that should be abolished as abomination. This includes the process of selection, and the determination of a winner.

      If they truly believed that how the people vote is how the government should act then they can certainly their concerns and disagreements, just not talking about impeachment.

      Sorry, but this country protects free speech. We can talk about impeaching Trump. That you are even suggesting otherwise speaks poorly of you.

      But no, the people'sâ vote was not the deciding factor in the last major election, so no, you don't get to claim it was.

      I recall Obama said something along the lines of how he won so he gets to do as he pleases.

      Even if you did recall correctly, which you don't, no such thing happened, so no, that does not happen.

      If you think that Trump did away with this agreement for the applause then would it not follow that Obama signed it into place also for the applause?

      No, that not necessarily follow.

      I believe that both men were doing what they thought was best for their nation, they just had differing views on how to achieve that. Calling Obama "good" for getting accolades from his voting base while calling Trump "bad" for doing the same thing is just being partisan.

      Your meandering thoughts ignore how you are mistaken, Trump, even if by chance, believes in the manner you ascribe, was still wrong in his reasons, so adding in the cheers only heightens the error.

      PS, Al Gore is still giving speeches, if you want a list, visit his website.

    3. Re:He didn't misunderstand it - he didn't care by kenh · · Score: 1

      You do understand that Trump, for a year, said he would get us out of the Paris Climate Treaty, and then he did - agree with him or not, it is far from a surprising move.

      Maybe Democrats could have brought their A Game to the last election and actually put up a reasonable opponent to Trump? Running the loser of the 2008 Presidential primary was a bad idea, letting her run her own campaign was a worse idea ("MI, WI, PA? What, me worry? I'm going to CA to fundraise!"), and conspiring against Bernie was the fatal final blow that ultimately cost them the election.

      --
      Ken
    4. Re: He didn't misunderstand it - he didn't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The flaw in democracy is that stupid people get to vote. And there are a lot of stupid people!

    5. Re:He didn't misunderstand it - he didn't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. This MIT study was just an opportunity to claim "MIT supports my position!" and keep talking.

      It's never about facts or truth with Trump. It's about Trump being able to hear his own voice and communing with his supporters. The adoring acolytes of Trump only want to hear from and be close to the 'Great Man', regardless of what he says.

      Trump could have his words supplied to him by an algorithmic sentence generator. Even nonsense words will do as long as they sound truthy. 'Meebly bogs fritzin on the Blitzen! Clinton no feelin augbinder steamin! Podunk trashtalkin steamroller.'

      The MIT study is just a way for Trump to pad out a speech or statement.

  38. Re:Yawn by FeelGood314 · · Score: 1

    You just sited someone saying 100 million years ago the earth was warmer than today so over the coarse of millions of years we aren't statistically out of the norm. The climate today is rather nice for humans. There were no humans a million years ago and there won't be any a million years from now. On geological scales the earth will be fine. I'm a bit more concerned about the lives of my children and grand children though. You know the next 100 years.

  39. Trump Chose to "Understand" Something Else by WheezyJoe · · Score: 2

    Trump chooses to believe what and who he wants to believe. In this case, it was Kimberly Guilfoyle of "The Five" on Fox News. This is no joke. When it comes to big decisions, Boss-T, the President of the United States, is picking up the phone to TV celebrities on deliberately-biased cable news shows, rather than the leading tech executives in the country, international diplomats, and god knows who else, including, apparently, MIT Scientists.

    If Putin invades Poland, I wonder who he'll call to ask whether he should push the button on Russia?

    Big win for Kimberly, though... she's got her eye on replacing Sean Spicer in his thankless job as Trump's mouthpiece, this making her the ONLY winner from this announcement.

    --
    Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
    1. Re:Trump Chose to "Understand" Something Else by Gussington · · Score: 1

      When it comes to big decisions, Boss-T, the President of the United States, is picking up the phone to TV celebrities on deliberately-biased cable news shows, rather than the leading tech executives in the country, international diplomats, and god knows who else, including, apparently, MIT Scientists.

      To be fair, this is actually a tactic that works politically. It doesn't work at making the world a better place, but it does work at staying popular because you are simply tapping into already popular opinion and re-enforcing it. It is the great flaw with democracy, you end up with the leadership you deserve rather than what you need.

    2. Re:Trump Chose to "Understand" Something Else by WheezyJoe · · Score: 2

      To be fair, this is actually a tactic that works politically. It doesn't work at making the world a better place, but it does work at staying popular because you are simply tapping into already popular opinion and re-enforcing it. It is the great flaw with democracy, you end up with the leadership you deserve rather than what you need.

      I'm not convinced that this is a "tactic" that T or a crony actually thought through before he did it. I'm still of the barely-informed opinion that T's just winging-it up there, and these tweets and phone calls are childish and/or desperate attempts to get some positive feedback for doing something he's already decided to do.

      OTOH, I completely agree that, for whatever reasons he does what he does, it works, for now at least, tapping into an already popular opinion and re-enforcing it. The great flaw with democracy? Well, this sure is one of them.

      --
      Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
    3. Re:Trump Chose to "Understand" Something Else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In what sense would replacing Sean Spicer be a win for Kimberly Guilfoyle?

      People had better start understanding that the Trump administration is a pit of vipers. Anyone connecting themselves with this administration will wind up with one or more of the following:

      1). Black eyes;
      2). Damaged reputations;
      3). Laughingstock;
      4). Stupid and/or gullible;
      5). Prison;
      6). Unemployable elsewhere;
      7). Remember the former Iraqi communications minister? The one who kept insisting that Iraq would triumph under Saddam, even as the bombs started falling? His fate will be your fate.

      The only possible exceptions are Trump and Trump's family, and even that is uncertain. Trump cannot be "managed" nor even contained. You are not smart enough to escape doom under Trump.

  40. trump by bobf0648 · · Score: 1

    Since Mr. Trump seems to "UNDERSTAND" almost nothing, no big surprise! I would guess he would have to read a lot longer than his attention span will allow, to even come close to even a superficial understanding.

  41. Re:Off-Topic by penandpaper · · Score: 1

    At the end of the day it is what it is.

  42. Re:Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What, are you fucking stupid?

    No, but you go on thinking that since it's working so well for you.

    do not get ended with “And if we can’t, that’s fine.”

    Why not? A good negotiator doesn't enter the room committed to leaving with an agreement at any cost. That's how bad deals like the 'Paris' crap get written.

  43. The treaty was bad to begin with by DirkDaring · · Score: 0, Troll

    It was never ratified through congress because Obama knew even democrats wouldn't vote for it. So bravo Trump! Keep up the good work of ripping up Obamas failed agenda!

  44. Re:Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    False dichotomy.

  45. A couple of months ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I read on slashdot that this treaty would have no affect on climate, that i was far too weak. This is now the cause of the death of all life on Earth. What happened?

  46. Which would be which one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't tell us what this Jabberwokky looks like, show us one of them.

    1. Re: Which would be which one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It looks just like what a covfefe looks like, duh.

    2. Re: Which would be which one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nafta?

  47. "Trump misunderstood..." by jpellino · · Score: 1

    Is the beginning of an infinite sequence.

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  48. Re:Did he misunderstand the bit about gender equal by meta-monkey · · Score: 2

    Then if it's so important, why not do without the gender bullshit?

    And if we're all going to die now, well, Trump offered to renegotiate the accord in a way that's more fair to the US. And who knows, would maybe even get approved by Congress, and therefore be binding! And the Europeans told him to pound sand.

    Why do the Europeans hate the world and want us all to die?

    --
    We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  49. Scientists write boring. SAD! by doug141 · · Score: 1

    Maybe the scientists should have included more colorful charts, and mentioned Trump more:
    National security officials put Trump's name in their briefings as much as possible so he will keep reading

  50. MIT? Don't you mean RUSSIA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What did Putin tell Trump to do?!? Isn't that the real question from the Democrats? RUSSIA! TRUMP BAD! STOLE ELECTION! He can't pull us out of the treaty because he's illegitimate!

  51. Re:MIT official are just trying to hide by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    Just because you know that stepping on the brake won't stop your car in time to prevent you from going over the cliff doesn't mean you should stop and press on the accelerator instead.

    The Paris Treaty wasn't very good, especially since countries were only going to make half-hearted attempts to make the goals that weren't going to prevent us from going over 2 degrees C. But trying to reach mediocre goals is a heck of a lot better than the status quo which is a hell of a lot better than what is going on in the US where Trump and the Republicans are trying to resurrect the fossil fuels industry while at the same time kill off anything that competes with it with the exception of nuclear.

  52. Ah, you just shot your credibility wad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sorry.

    http://skepticalscience.com/comparing-global-temperature-predictions.html

    Turns out your claim is a load of crap.

    Unless you were talking about denier predictions and models....

  53. Re: Did he misunderstand the bit about gender equa by c6gunner · · Score: 1

    It's not a question of conspiracies; just read the damn thing.

    Here's the part he was referencing:

    Parties acknowledge that adaptation action should follow a âoecountry-driven, gender-responsive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems, and should be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, with a view to integrating adaptation into relevant socioeconomic and environmental policies and actions.â

    That paragraph alone should be enough to make any sane human being laugh in disgust and refuse to sign. And the rest of the agreement is full of similar nonsense.

  54. Re:Off-Topic by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    At the end of the day, it is what it is.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  55. Re:Off-Topic by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    You win. lol

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  56. Can we have a +1 fucking stupid moderation? by bussdriver · · Score: 2

    Paris is about as strong as they could get without being a real treaty. It's all legal games to avoid having to really fight huge multi-national industries and their unprecedented power to corrupt and sucker millions around the globe.

    Like the other lame "agreements" preceding it, Paris was just a step forward as the next agreements will gradually get stronger as the consequences motivate more and more people. Likely ending in global geoengineering efforts and a historic MESS which will be sold as "it could have been worse" and history condemning all our collective stupidity and selfishness.

    Every denier needs to put their names on record so we can shame them for all of history; because they will be completely proven wrong and should go down badly in history. I don't think most have the courage; it's easy for them to not think beyond their lifespan, they lack the maturity.

  57. Re:Yawn by Orgasmatron · · Score: 1

    You need look no further than the Iran deal.

    Obama needed a deal with Iran. He would not take no for an answer. The Iranians noticed this and held him upside down by the ankles and shook a billion dollars out of his (our) pockets.

    --
    See that "Preview" button?
  58. Re:Did he misunderstand the bit about gender equal by heck · · Score: 5, Informative
    So I went and looked it up. They have specific reasons cited, namely:

    Women commonly face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change in situations of poverty, and the majority of the world’s poor are women.

    and

    Parties to the UNFCCC have recognized the importance of involving women and men equally in UNFCCC processes and in the development and implementation of national climate policies that are gender-responsive by establishing a dedicated agenda item under the Convention addressing issues of gender and climate change and by including overarching text in the Paris Agreement

    So...my interpretation of the above is: don't just focus on the issues of a specific group but make sure this is for the common good, because lord knows the history of modern (or past) civilizations doesn't have a bad tendency to focus on certain groups which may be in power and not work for the common good.

    yeah, I don't have a problem with what they are saying now that I understand it. They have an effing valid point.

  59. Re:Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That really isn't the point of things like the Paris Agreement. The idea is to place a dollar value on a cost (pollution) that individuals, companies and nations are currently avoiding paying by spreading it all over other people's property. Polluters then have to pay for that cost ($$$) or reduce the amount of pollution they are doing ($$), and that $$$ goes to help developing countries avoid becoming part of the problem, and jump-starting their economies.

    Look at it this way: if my factory made it rain poison over your house, and killed your dog, you'd be pissed, right? You'd want me to stop raining poison, or at least compensate the people who I was impacting for their trouble. Well, the US is one of the factories. They aren't the biggest or most productive, but they spray the most poison, and today it's foreman announced that they were going back on the promise his predecessor made to all the home-owners and other factory owners to stop spraying as much poison and pay fair compensation. Everyone is pissed off, but some of the factory workers are somehow happy their foreman stuck it to everyone else, despite the fact that their homes are nearest the factory...

  60. Re:Yawn by Orgasmatron · · Score: 1

    You sorta hit the mark. Just the wrong target.

    1 - climate changes
    2 - we are causing it
    3 - the changes will be bad (for us)

    The image I posted is about #2. Your post is about #3. An argument regarding #3, even one much better than the one you made, even the best argument ever heard by human ears, says nothing about #2.

    --
    See that "Preview" button?
  61. Note: FROM ALL NATIONS by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    Only the U.S. has withdrawn. All others remain,

    The U.S. has already been reducing carbon emissions over time, and that will accelerate with a large uptake in solar power over the next decade or so.

    Thus even if MIT's assertion that "ALL" nations complying would reduce waring by 1.1f is true, the U.S. alone withdrawing is perhaps 1% of that amount, because the real polluters (India and China and other smaller nations) are all still in the "agreement".

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Note: FROM ALL NATIONS by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      The U.S. is the second largest carbon emitter in the world. And if you account for the global manufacturing that sells primarily in U.S. markets we are the largest. We are also the largest carbon emitters per capita, the American life style wouldn't scale to the world's population. We're not even sure if the American lifestyle will scale to the U.S.'s population in the near future.

      Something is going to have to change and adapt, but by definition a Conservative is unwilling to make concessions that would alter our lifestyles or society.

      This is why I propose that hard line Conservatives be loaded into protein vats and converted to food stock. Because eventually we'll be out of options and we'll have to eat the rich.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    2. Re:Note: FROM ALL NATIONS by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

      The U.S. is the second largest carbon emitter in the world.

      Yes, but as I said we are already in steady reduction, which withdrawing changes not at all - our contribution to the overall decline the agreement yields is still very small.

      Something is going to have to change and adapt,

      Hey guess what, we already are.

      It's other countries that have a LOT more change and adaptation to go through than the U.S. does, which widely accepts solar power as and clean natural gas as the future now.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  62. It's what plants crave! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    But pollution has CO2. CO2 is what plants crave! Crap, or maybe it's Brawndo? Brawdo has electrolytes. It's what plants crave! Environmental science is so confusing. Go away now, I'm 'batin'!

  63. Re:MIT official are just trying to hide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's okay, the rich folks like Musk will just move to Mars

  64. Re:Yawn by Orgasmatron · · Score: 0

    In the other panic thread, someone said that coastal condos in Florida were losing value, another "fact" that appears to be of rectal origin.

    --
    See that "Preview" button?
  65. The U.S. is still stepping on the brakes by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    The U.S. is still reducing carbon emissions, greatly due to the increased use of natural gas from fracking, but also a large uptake in solar power.

    What the U.S. did is prevent OTHERS from dragging us off the other cliff to the side labeled "economic ruin", the one the EU is busy jumping off of.

    At least there will be one nation able to maintain civilization during the upcoming 500 year decline.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:The U.S. is still stepping on the brakes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fracking doesn't decrease CO2 emissions... http://www.bbc.com/news/scienc...

    2. Re:The U.S. is still stepping on the brakes by sir-gold · · Score: 1

      Economies can be repaired, Ecosystems can't.

  66. Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Scream'N Cheeto didn't misunderstand anything, the Scream'n Cheeto doesn't fucking care.

  67. Re:MIT official are just trying to hide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just because you know that stepping on the brake won't stop your car in time to prevent you from going over the cliff doesn't mean you should stop and press on the accelerator instead.

    The Paris Treaty wasn't very good, especially since countries were only going to make half-hearted attempts to make the goals that weren't going to prevent us from going over 2 degrees C. But trying to reach mediocre goals is a heck of a lot better than the status quo which is a hell of a lot better than what is going on in the US where Trump and the Republicans are trying to resurrect the fossil fuels industry while at the same time kill off anything that competes with it with the exception of nuclear.

    "James Hansen, father of climate change awareness, calls Paris talks 'a fraud'"
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/12/james-hansen-climate-change-paris-talks-fraud

    You are buying into the fraud as "better than nothing". I say a fraud is worse than nothing. It allows people to get away with pretending they are making a difference all the while knowing they are not.

    The real difference will come not from frauds like this but from technology. The developments in renewables, fracking, battery technology, etc, will happen because there is lots of money to be made.

  68. No he didn't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Follow the links, read what it says. It matches what Trump said in his speech announcing the withdrawal, watch it on YouTube. Besides, he said clearly that he is willing to re-join the agreement if other bad polluters (China, India) agree to participate on equal terms. Makes sense to me.

  69. Follow the money by AF_Cheddar_Head · · Score: 1

    So let me get this straight: it's the scientists that are super-greedy liars, and it's the Corporate Execs (i.e. Billionaires and millionaires) that are on the side of reason and are looking out for humanity and the planet?

    Are these are the same billionaires that told us lead in gas was safe and tobacco didn't cause cancer.

  70. Not "didn't understand." Trump just lied. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What the subject says.

  71. He also says AGW is a real and credible threat. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you'll be accepting him the same way you did here, by citing his status in the scientific community on the subject, right?

  72. Re:Off-Topic by butchersong · · Score: 1

    C'est la vie

  73. Re:I'm sure mit really is the one misunderstanding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clearly someone who cannot spell "Massachusetts" or "Institute" and just gives up halfway through is a certified expert on this subject.

  74. Re: Did he misunderstand the bit about gender equa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It gets worse than that actually. But yeah...it's full of social justice pork.

    They overreached and in typical sociopathic form, they refuse to acknowledge their own mistakes.

  75. 1/5 of a degree C is not a "tiny amount". by hey! · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sure, it makes no difference to whether you want to put a sweater on, but that's not the point. The troposphere is vast, and 0.2 C represents an immense amount of kinetic energy, which in turn drives dramatic changes in circulation and precipitation patterns. You can get a sense for this by calculating how much energy an average of 0.2 C represents.

    Start with this: how much does a cubic meter of air weigh? Have you ever thought about that? A cubic meter of dry air at sea level weighs about 2.7 pounds. How much energy does it take to raise 2.7 pounds of dry air by 0.2 degrees? It turns out you can look that kind of thing up. It takes about 245 joules.

    Now take that 245 joules/m^3 and multiply it by the volume of the troposphere. As you recall from calculus, you can approximate this by taking the surface area of a sphere 6,371,000 meters in radius and multiplying by the troposphere's roughly 11 km height. You should end up with a figure on the order of magnitude of 10^18 joules.

    Or you can think of that as being roughly the same as 20,000 Hiroshima sized bombs. Granted the density of air 10 km up is somewhat less, but we haven't factored in the gigatons of water vapor in the atmosphere. Or interactions with the oceans; most of the excess energy goes into the oceans, and that in turn affects climate in countless ways. That's how palm trees grow in Southern Britain, even though Cornwall's further north than Maine.

    And yet... You just can't feel a 0.2C change. Then again you can't feel the Coriolis force either, but that can bend a subtle pressure gradient hundreds of miles long into a cyclone, a feat no human agency can resist, much less match.

    Scale matters. If there's anything scientific and mathematical literacy should teach, it's that. That's why the future of the planet can't be trusted to a semi-literate ignoramus.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:1/5 of a degree C is not a "tiny amount". by LienRag · · Score: 1

      Interesting, but you miss the irony here: Trump just called other world leaders on their hypocrisy, that's where the outrage comes from...

  76. Re:Yawn by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

    Trump offered to participate in new negotiations. I believe he said that in good faith. Naturally the eurocrats lost their shit and rejected that out of hand.

    There are 191 signatories to the Agreement. The only ones not on the agreement were Syria, Nicaragua, and the Vatican (because they aren't a full member state). When 1 state out of 191 changes their mind and wants to renegotiate an agreement that 190 other states agreed to, you tell them to either stick to their agreement or pound sand. Trump's offer to renegotiate was either a token gesture that he knew they wouldn't go for or he is so delusional as to his power as a businessman and "terrific negotiator" that he thought they would actually go for it.

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  77. The actual paper's words don't, though. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So who do I believe? My lying eyes or the words of someone else who clearly didn't read the words?

    1. Re:The actual paper's words don't, though. by Troed · · Score: 1

      I don't understand your comment. Politifact have done their homework and fact checked the statements.

  78. Re:Did he misunderstand the bit about gender equal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do the Europeans hate the world and want us all to die?

    The idea of the Paris accord is to help the world and stop us dying. CO2 has the properties that it does regardless of how Europe or anybody else feels about it.

    It's unlikely that humanity will die out from climate change but some people have already died from it. The US pulling out of the Paris accord will mean more people die from it but does not mean that everyone will die from it.

  79. MIT misunderstood glow ball wamming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MIT misunderstood glow ball wamming all along.

    As a result, climate change now accelerated to 1 degree per HOUR!!!!

    As the sun cums up, the earth's temperature goes up
    average 1 degree per hour. And when then sun goes
    down, the globe cools 1 degree per hour.

    Climate is changing every hour!

    Awe noooo!

  80. Looks like MIT got "spoken to" by the clerisy. by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    Environmentalists can't tolerate anything that dares breach their narrative, even science.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  81. Spare me the "men are evil" routine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't believe that statement about climate change affecting females disproportionately for one second. Men the world over give their lives to help women and children. The oppressive patriarchy is generally a false narrative. Note the following:
    Males are more likely to be homeless than females
    Male life expectancy is lower than female life expectancy
    More men die at work than women
    More men die in war than women
    More men are injured/maimed/paralyzed than women
    More men commit suicide than women
    The list goes on. Men aren't the evil victimizers the media and government wants us to believe they are, and women are often living in better conditions than men.

    1. Re:Spare me the "men are evil" routine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here, have some actual facts that disagree with your hand-waving:
      http://www.unwomen.org/en/news...
      https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/fa...

    2. Re:Spare me the "men are evil" routine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Virtue signal received, we're reading you loud and clear.

    3. Re:Spare me the "men are evil" routine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Attempt to wave away facts that don't fit your narrative received.

    4. Re:Spare me the "men are evil" routine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So more men die at an early age than women but fewer women have access to farming tools? More men are homeless but more women are "poor?" I don't think you refuted a single thing. Women and men face different challenges, but it still sounds like women are in general safer, healthier, and less likely to die unexpectedly to me. To you this means women are victims of oppressive patriarchy?

  82. No one sane would want the last name Trump anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    (I will apologize to anyone who happens to have the Trump last name, though.)

    Well, they have the same option everyone in Germany with the last name 'Hitler' had: change it.

    Not that Trump is Hitler ... he's more Mussolini to Putin's Hitler. Trump is, always has been, and always will be nothing more than a sidekick to Putin at most. Really, even calling him Mussolini overstates his stature ... he's more like the Vichy regime in France: a puppet put in place by a hostile power to destroy a country from within.

    Either way though, you don't see people embracing the last name Hitler, Mussolini, or Vichy, and I suspect Trump will soon fall into the same category. Even his toxic children may one day grow weary of the title.

  83. Yeah, try $3 TRILLION from the U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    The total US contribution comes to 3 Trillion (with a "T") dollars. Given the fact our savings are currently *negative* I highly advise against printing trillions of dollars and giving them to poor countries.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/28/paris-climate-agreement-should-be-nixed/

  84. Re:MIT official are just trying to hide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    >Just because you know that stepping on the brake won't stop your car in time to prevent you from going over the cliff doesn't mean you should stop and press on the accelerator instead.

    And WHY not?
    If your "climate scientists", per their mix of be-very-afraid "predictions", talked themselves into the position of "we're all doomed anyway" - then they, and anyone else, can keep being doomed *without* pocketing a $100,000,000,000 of americans' money per year.

  85. Re:Did he misunderstand the bit about gender equal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Women commonly face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change in situations of poverty, and the majority of the world’s poor are women.

    I find both of those points very hard to believe, why would something as universal as climate impact women more? Women being the majority of the poor would be weird, almost all the homeless I see are men.

  86. MIT Claim Is Wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here is the report:
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.12295/full

  87. You misunderstood Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He'll join Paris back in a bit when there's a lot of pressure on him. This way, when shit's coming, it'll all be blamed on Paris and Trump will be the visionary America needs.

  88. FillInTheBlank by sdinfoserv · · Score: 1

    "Trump Misunderstood___________________________________"....
    A wide range of answers can be used. Something scientific that is opposed by the owned GOP pawns is obvious to the casual observer.

  89. Comedy by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

    Do you want us all to be doomed? Why do you hate us so much? And there's the counterargument in a nutshell...which I was trotting out for comedic effect only.

    I've rarely seen a more cogent and witty analysis. What an apt refutation! This is clearly the pinnacle of your distinguished career as an internet commentator.

    --
    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
  90. Re:Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That does not even count as spin any more, despite the low standards of veracity that are applied to spin nowadays. This is just a plain old pack of lies.

  91. um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When you asked "Why would the other country care if it's been ratified by a congress that isn't theirs?" you were missing a critical point: The United States Consitiution is a publicly available document whose treaty text has been unchanged for 200+ years. Anybody on planet Earth who cared enough to spend the necessary 2 minutes would have seen that because the USA is NOT a dictatorship, the American president has no authority to make treaties without the Senate. The US Constitution clearly states that an American treaty signature is only valid if 2/3 of the US Senate votes affirmatively to ratify it. Any foreign leader or diplomat who pretends this is a surprise is supremely ignorant and lazy, or dishonest, or cares very little about the subject at hand.

    All those Euro leaders in full freakout mode knew full-well that Obama's signature on their treaty was meaningless without a Senate ratification - the whole damn treaty was really just composed of two things: meaningless symbolic pledges, and demands that the US hand over billions of dollars to other countries and export its induastries to China which was free to go on polluting. They did not really care that it was symbolic, they wanted the symbolism - the thing is devoid of any fixed anything which is why Jim Hansen attacked it back when Obama was president. What these Eurocrats wanted was the symbolism, the framework for future actions, an American president willing to further cripple American manufacturing, and Billions of American dollars flowing into every feel-good cause on Earth.

    Globalist politicians are classic examples of treasonous traitors - they sell-out their own people while advancing their own personal financial states and posturing as morally superior. Every single one of them who denounces nationalism is a traitor (you cannot be faithful to your nation and be opposed to the existence of nations).

    1. Re: um... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the treaty doesnt stop anyone from anything so withdrawal from it was also unnecassary and stupid. better just ignore it like un payments

  92. He seems to have understood quite well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    He got the point that there MIGHT be a fraction of a degree in temperaturre change a century from now in exchange for more and more economic damage to the American middle class and an acceleration of American budgetary nightmares from horrible economic growth rates and increased dependence on government in place of middle class manufacturing jobs.

    These MIT jerks are just upset that the "social science" professors in the faculty lounge will be mad at them for providing Trump ammunition to abandon an Obamessaih policy. Time to put on the big boy pants at MIT and admit that the Paris accord was a crap sandwich for anybody in America not living in a college town either directly or indirectly on nearly unlimited college loans SOMEBODY will need to repay someday.

    Just WHAT, substantively, did Trump supposedly get wrong? Let's face it, 0.6 degrees and 0.2 degrees are not far apart when predicting the future a hundred years out, particularly in a field where predicting temperatures within a full degree only three weeks out is nearly impossible.

  93. Re: Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump also need a deal with Iran. And on healthcare. And on Syria. And on Mexico.

    At the rate he's going, his only accomplishment will be plucking a name out of the hat to sit on the Supreme Court.

  94. No point "pussyfooting" around by dbIII · · Score: 1

    No point "pussyfooting" around by suggesting he misunderstood, Trump will just grab you by that.
    Say it how it is.
    He lied.

  95. Cross reference - it's telling by Almahtar · · Score: 1

    Trump repeatedly emphasized that we would build "clean coal". He said the phrase over and over, emphasizing the word "clean" most.

    Then he withdrew from the Paris agreement to (I quote) "benefit the coal industry".

    Why would he need to withdraw from the agreement if the coal is "clean"? This is a political stunt to make him look like he's got the average American workers' backs.

    In May 2015, there were 69,460 jobs in coal mining itself — only 15,900 of which were extraction workers or helpers, mining machine operators or earth drillers. Meanwhile the U.S. Department of Energy said in 2016 that solar power employed 43 percent of the Electric Power Generation sector's workforce.

    It's really all just PR gestures - taking as blatant a mainline Republican position as he can to keep his voting base behind him 100%.

  96. Re:Yawn by Tailhook · · Score: 1

    That ratio wasn't very different back when India called the Paris accord "carbon imperialism" and got their terms renegotiated. They fought for a far more lenient CO2 ceiling such that they aren't obligated to do anything real about their emissions for years.

    It was a bad deal. Trump axed it. That's exactly what we elected him to do.

    Next up; NAFTA. Whatever doubt Canada and Mexico might have had about Trump's temerity should have evaporated yesterday. He'll stuff that one right down the shitter behind "Paris accord" and TPP if they fail to appear at the table.

    --
    Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  97. Your name says gold but your words are leaden by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Economies can be repaired, Ecosystems can't.

    You are a serious retard if you do not know ecosystems DO IN FACT heal themselves, they don't even need repairing. Have you ever seen an area decades after a bad fire? You don't need to repair ecosystems, fixing and adapting them is what nature does you blithering baboon!

    Learn about nature man! Get outside! Holy crap you are being stupid.

    Also if you think it is so easy to repair an economy once broken, why don't you go fix Venezuela... But fuck millions of people suffering and dying right? I can see you cackling with glee as society descends into the long night. Go move to Germany or France and watch it happen up close and personal, you'll derive maximum enjoyment.

    In 50 years when planet is thriving, as it tends to do when warmers instead of cooler, and Europe is in deep decay and war and strife roil the land, I hope you think back to this very moment and feel the appropriate amount of raw shame at your words today.

    I'll let you have the last response because there's no way I'm reading anything further from someone who knows as little as you about, well, anything. Time will issue the rebuttal to whatever nonsense you respond with, and that too shall remain etched in your brain to haunt you later.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  98. Disagreement from an unexpected source by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    The Sierra Club disagrees with you.

    But even the article you linked to admits natural gas lowers CO2 emissions vs. coal (which is obvious to anyone who has the most basic understanding of chemistry and science - which I guess does not include Warming Alarmists). It just thinks the majority of reduction is from drop is overall usage - which still is not saying that natural gas does not lower CO2 emissions. Learn to read what you link to.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  99. get to the source of the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    American's need to stop buying useless shit from walmart and amazon. Stop buying shit! Factories in china would close down. Problem solved.

  100. Let's break it down... by kenh · · Score: 1

    Trump never questioned the science of global warming, he withdrew the United States from a treaty that was never properly approved by the Senate and, in his opinion, was a "bad deal" for America.

    Now, let's look at this:

    The Cambridge, Massaschusetts-based research university published a study in April 2016 titled "How much of a difference will the Paris Agreement make?" showing that if countries abided by their pledges in the deal, global warming would slow by between 0.6 degree and 1.1 degrees Celsius by 2100. "We certainly do not support the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris agreement," said Erwan Monier, a lead researcher at the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, and one of the study's authors. "If we don't do anything, we might shoot over 5 degrees or more and that would be catastrophic," said John Reilly, the co-director of the program, adding that MIT's scientists had had no contact with the White House and were not offered a chance to explain their work.

    In order:

    if countries abided by their pledges in the deal, global warming would slow by between 0.6 degree and 1.1 degrees Celsius by 2100

    Let's call this the "best-case scenario"

    "If we don't do anything, we might shoot over 5 degrees or more and that would be catastrophic,"

    Let's call this the "worst-case scenario"

    Let's also note that if we all follow "the pledges in the deal" the outcome will be the "worst-case scenario" less the "best-case scenario", or a 5 degree increase, reduced by between 0.6 and 1.1 degrees by 2100, in other words, the best outcome we can predict is a temperature increase of 3.9 degrees.

    MIT's scientists had had no contact with the White House and were not offered a chance to explain their work.

    No, MIT scientists were offered a chance to explain their work - their opportunity was in their written report that the White House staff cited.

    --
    Ken
  101. Mr Miss understandalot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems to be becoming a pattern - got a funny feeling we'll be hearing a lot more of:

    "Trump misunderstood X, say [people who clearly know what they're talking about]"

  102. Simple way to cut through the nonsense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not "in every way up for debate". Only our response to the clear and evident problem is up for debate.

    So here's a way to cut through the crap: If it's said by the right, it's garbage. If it's said by the left, it has a chance of being correct or hyperbole. If it's said by a climate scientist, then pay attention, because it's the planet at stake and these people know their stuff.

    The real problem here is that if a climate scientist says "Business as usual will cost us uncountable trillions of dollars, destroy people's lives, and risk civilisation itself" you'll have some dumbarse right winger saying "well, that's just your opinion". Well, it's not just an opinion, it's the best evidence based information we have.

    Trump, in his infinite ignorance, may have gone past the point where the world will give him the benefit of the doubt now. From here on, expect anti-USA sanctions and tariffs against products based on their CO2 intensity during manufacture.

    1. Re:Simple way to cut through the nonsense by aicrules · · Score: 0

      not that you'll get this reply as an AC, but your post is exactly what I mean. If someone disagrees, what they say is garbage. Climate scientists are human. They are both fallible and subject to their own bias. From the swinging pendulum of historical claims of global cooling to global warming, the "best evidence based information we have" is exactly what I said. It is up for debate. But the blowhards on both sides don't debate. They make flashy statements which I have to believe are specifically designed just to rile people up. Statements like If it's said by the right, it's garbage.

      Why not make an agreement that doesn't include funneling money? Because it isn't about climate. It's about money.

  103. Misunderstand how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The MIT research he cites literally says the Paris agreement will not meet its goals. MIT is butthurt that he used their research to pull out of this meaningless agreement

  104. "Officials". So, not the researchers themselves? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about the people who actually carried out the study? What did -they- have to say?

  105. WHAT?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NO! Impossible! He has a very good brain, and knows all the best words! How could he possibly not understand... any thing at all? He's like a smart person! We're going to Make America Grate Again... (grate on people's nerves! LOL)

    Any words after "Trump doesn't understand" are superfluous. Here're a few of the things I believe he does know.

    His daughter is red-hawt.
    If you keep tricking morons into working for you and not paying them, word does eventually get around.
    If you keep tricking morons into lending you money and never paying it back, they eventually learn and you have to borrow from Russian-Government-Connected loan sharks.

    Trump heard that you can fool all of the people some of the time, and you can fool ALL of the people some of the time, and stopped listening there, realizing that if he can fool enough of the people enough of the time, you can manage to be "president."

  106. He didn't Badly Mistunderstand by Stubbyfingers · · Score: 1

    He BIGLY Doesn't Care.

    It is virtually impossible for Trump to LIE, because he actually has NO grounding in Reality, and LIKES IT THAT WAY.