President Trump has spent much of his second term trying to reshape global politics, first through a series of tariffs and trade deals that began on what he termed “Liberation Day” last April. This year, he’s focused on changing the world through military force: After abducting the leader of Venezuela and blockading Cuba, last month the president launched an attack on Iran that has now spiraled into a regional war involving most of the Middle East.
Among many profound consequences, Trump’s military strikes could have dramatic effects on the world’s energy trajectory and climate change, though what those effects are remains to be seen. But well before Trump’s attention was consumed by deposing foreign leaders, the president devoted much of his foreign policy to much more directly undermining international progress on global warming: Top diplomats in the Trump administration have pressured other countries to sabotage major treaties on plastic production and shipping emissions, and they have fought to drop even the mention of climate change at international institutions like the United Nations and the Intern... Read more
