As a European I can't help but think that this is an immediate demonstration of how the leader of the United States can have actual impact on my life.
I was being mocked today by my (also European) peers when I expressed my disappointment in the election's outcome with the argument that I'm overly "Americanized".
I believe many people fail to realize how big of a player America truly is when it comes to global policies (environment, nuclear, wars even).
If your lucky, we'll even give your territory a seat in Congress. Not a voting seat, but a seat. Good luck getting a vote for president though (although Puerto Rico does get to vote in the primaries).
One of the several things that has bothered me about commentators on Trump is that they've concocted this fantasy in which they imagine lazy-never-worked-a-day-in-his-life Trump finding that being president is more work than he realized so he, being Trump, says "fuck this" and is the chillest president ever while the GOP freaks out.
The reality is, of course, Trump is going to have delegates. And these delegates are not laid back about their political ambitions. Voting in Obama twice didn't end war or Guantanamo. If Trump is as dumb and evil as you imagine, the hope that he'll do something dumb enough to learn his lesson is the laziest, most self-destructive kind of thinking.
I think there is still hope that fun-straight-talking-entertainer Trump will surprise us all. Yeah, he can still be that guy, but who he picks can still be destructive. Case in point, this EPA chief. But we haven't yet heard who's going to be Homeland Security.
As an employee as one of the top flight research university I can't help but wonder what is going to happen to research in the states. My employer kicks out tons of research and tons of startups every year. We are the largest employer in the state. I'm wondering what kind of funding cuts we will experience because our research shows that vaccines work and that the globe is warming and our student base is overall pretty liberal. Seems like a perfect target for political extremists who might be appointed. Really it's the perfect institution to support if you want to bring around the next generation to your cause.
Liberal areas are going to lose federal transit funding entirely, and research funding will be heavily curtailed. Don't expect any major public works to be federally funded, historically GWB and his father both eliminated most of this type of funding.
This decision could have a silver lining: inland areas that are conservative strongholds are more likely to suffer as a result of it than coastal states which are predominantly liberal. It could be a move that contributes to Trump lasting only a single term. If you poison the well in a serious enough way it might be enough to make climate change denial or lackadaisical attitudes towards the environment politically untenable in the future.
It's just too bad that the American public has to learn the hard way.
Disappointing but not unexpected. I'm not deep into the science, but it seems as though humanity will survive. If that's the case I can understand skeptics rational, but I can't help but feel sadness for the less fortunate (animals and poor alike).
Trump administration will be a disaster for science and an end to the idea that government can help solve our climate problems. Installing this guy at the EPA will be like having your Great Library sacked by barbarians in Civilization. You don't come back from that.
Didn't Neil deGrasse Tyson say republicans love wealth and every civilization thay took their efforts away from science lost all their wealth, so they will keep funding it?
It's not that they love wealth, it's that they hate the government telling them what to do. They'll like this guy because he'll loosen regulations, scale back enforcement, etc. It's going to be a rough 2 years until midterms.
Did he? Republicans favor policies that increase the wealth of the incumbent wealthy and are indifferent to policies that increase the wealth of the median citizen.
