In his Friday New York Times column, economist Paul Krugman discussed the many ways in which "Donald Trump's personality endangers the entire planet."
He noted that while the "outlook for climate change if current policies continue has never looked worse...the prospects for turning away from the path of destruction have never looked better." Everything depends, Krugman argued, on "who ends up sitting in the White for the next few years."
After noting that "rapid technological progress in renewable energy" is making old arguments about sustainability crippling economic growth obsolete, he discussed the way in which Republican hostility to climate science and the GOP's general ideological (and donor-based) unwillingness to confront the reality of climate change will set the country, if not the world, decades back.
However, he also wrote that he's
always had the sense that there was a third factor, which is basically psychological. There are some men — it’s almost always men — who become enraged at any suggestion that they must give up something they want for the common good. Often, the rage is disproportionate to the sacrifice: for example, prominent conservatives suggesting violence against government officials because they don’t like the performance of phosphate-free detergent. But polluter’s rage isn’t about rational thought...
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