Donald Trump’s Stand On Climate Change Remains Controversial

For most of the presidential election campaign, President-elect Donald Trump had been vocal about his belief on the Paris Agreement being "bad for U.S. business" as it allows "foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy [we] use."

However, since winning the seat, the businessman has somewhat moderated his view on the issue. BBC reported that he has now an "open mind" on the involvement of the U.S. in the said agreement. In fact, he has mellowed out well enough for U.K. climate experts to find hope that the climate change agenda led by President Barack Obama could survive under Trump's administration.

Professor Myles Allen of the University of Oxford shared that the administration actually accepts a great deal of the climate change argument more than they let on. The first clue is being that it acknowledges the link between fossil fuels and the rising temperatures.

On the other side of the world, British scientists are currently urging Theresa May to pressure Donald Trump into supporting climate research. An open letter signed by 100 leading researchers in the U.K. stated their concerns regarding the incoming Trump administration. The letter pointed out that there are "worrying media reports that the incoming administration may severely weaken climate change research and data-gathering undertaken by federal organizations in the United States."

Still, the current stance could prove beneficial. As Professor Corinne Le Quere of the University of East Anglia noted, Donald Trump is not as idealistic as other climate deniers. "He has changed his mind on several topics so far."

British researchers now believe that in order for Donald Trump and other deniers to take the matter seriously, climate science will have to appeal to a broader audience. Allen noted that putting things on the perspective of "100 years from now" will not get many to care as predictions have been proven wrong in the past. Allen stated, "Better science is not the crucial thing here. It's this realisation that the people primarily being affected by climate change are the poor and the people benefitting are the extremely wealthy."