When we talk about the government working to combat climate change, it’s often assumed that big business will be against any kind of regulation. The conservative Republican viewpoint is usually that any policy that is good for the climate is bad for business.
Donald Trump, our President-elect, has called climate change a hoax, blaming it on the Chinese. He has called for a reduction of regulations that are designed to combat global warming. He has said that he will take the United States out of the Paris Climate Pact.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
Trump will try to quickly exit Paris climate accord. https://t.co/GyGfIaO01G #NOVAnext
— PBS (@PBS) November 17, 2016
Business leaders, however, are not on board with the future President. A letter was sent to Trump, current President Obama, members of Congress, and international leaders asking that the government focus on creating a carbon safe economy.
The letter read, in part:
“We, the undersigned members in the business and investor community of the United States, re-affirm our deep commitment to addressing climate change through the implementation of the historic Paris Climate Agreement. We want the US economy to be energy efficient and powered by low-carbon energy. Cost-effective and innovative solutions can help us achieve these objectives.”
The companies who signed the letter include many of the nation’s top business ventures. They included Nike, eBay, North Face, Starbucks, General Mills, DuPont and Hewlett Packard. In all there were around 350 major international companies that signed on.
"#Kellogg and #Starbucks among groups asking president-elect not to rip up accord" https://t.co/j4O8REHTod
— motive (@motivethinks) November 17, 2016
These companies are not run by a bunch of bleeding heart liberals. They are capitalist enterprises. They understand that science is not an opinion. They realize that in order to be competitive, they have to invest in a low carbon, low emission future.
The CEO of one California company said that the idea of rolling back efforts to reverse climate change is ridiculous. He said:
“That train has left the station, and to stand in its way is folly.”
He went on to add that:
“…now is the time to remind the incoming administration that virtually every company in the Fortune 500 and over $100 trillion in investor assets has acknowledged the reality of climate change and the need to address it head on.”
The next time one of my Republican friends tells me that all this tree-hugging environmental stuff is getting in the way of good solid capitalist profits, I plan to refer him to this article.
Featured image by Thomas Cizauskas via Flickr. Available through the Public Domain.
