Will Trump destroy the US clean energy industry?
Donald Trump has won the US Presidential election. The people of the United States of America have spoken. They haven’t spoken very well, but they have done it. And since they will have a guy in charge who never shuts up, they’re not likely to stop now.
They were tired of voting for politicians who help corrupt business men instead of the common people and they have expressed their displeasure by voting in a corrupt businessman. It is really quite efficient when you think about it, as it cuts out all the middlemen.
Although I thought it was unlikely he would win, I did consider betting on a Trump victory. But after I found out I couldn’t take my winnings in tinned food or bottled water there didn’t seem any point.
Of course, that was just because I happen to like tinned food and bottled water. I’m certainly not casting any aspersions upon the likely quality of a Trump Presidency. I would never do that. Upon hearing that Trump had won I certainly did not say, “This is what happens when you feed your Oompa Loompa after midnight.”
I want to assure President Trump that no Australian would ever say anything bad about him. And if he thinks he heard an Australian say something nasty, that wasn’t actually us, it was the Austrians. So please drop your nuclear bombs on them.
He May Not Be So Bad
America has had a President who was profoundly unsuited for the position not that long ago and America wasn’t destroyed. Sure, another country was, but America survived. His name was George W. Bush. The difference between him and Trump is he tried to act like he was Presidential material instead of acting like building material. That is, as thick as two bricks mating. For example, when it came to people of Central American background, Bush tried to court their vote, instead of saying he wants them caught by the throat. Bush even spoke Spanish. (He certainly didn’t speak English.)
The United States survived Bush, and if it can survive that it can probably survive anything, including Trump. Sure, Bush’s Presidency had some major problems. While the numbers are disputed, he may have gotten about a million people killed, but provided he refrains from starting wars, Trump could easily be judged by history to be a less worse President than Bush.
And personally, I don’t think Trump wants to start a war. This is because Putin is always saying he wants peace.
It Is Only 99.9% Likely He’ll Trash The Environment
We don’t know Trump will destroy the environment. All we know is he has said he will do things that definitely will destroy the environment. Admittedly, this is a cause for great concern, because I find if you look at what politicians say they will do before an election, they generally either do it or attempt to do it after.
But Trump has promised to do so many things he may be too busy destroying certain groups of people, such as random bloggers, that he may not have time to really concentrate his energy on destroying the planet. And I find that in general the bigger a blowhard a politician is, the lazier they usually are once they get in office. It took 7 years for one to get around to invading Poland.
At one point there was even an indication that Trump was interested in a carbon tax. But unfortunately his interest waned when he found out a carbon tax didn’t actually involve taxing things that didn’t emit carbon dioxide.
Things look pretty grim for the planet seeing how Trump has said he wants to revive America’s coal industry and that global warming is a hoax started by communist China to weaken the purity of America’s essence.
But, looking on the bright side, I don’t expect to see coal making a comeback because the US coal industry is in such dire financial straits they probably won’t be able to match the bribes America’s fracking industry will offer to shut them down. Chances are they’ll just get some pesky regulations removed. Like the ones that stop them from polluting ground water and impurify America’s precious natural fluids.
Even Trump Can’t Stop The Wind And Sun
Renewable energy has come so far that it will be hard for even Trump to stop it. American made wind turbines are now producing electricity in that country for less than 4 cents a kilowatt-hour and solar power is getting cheaper all the time. Mexico will be building solar power for under 5 cents a kilowatt-hour, so as long as they can sling some power lines over that wall Trump is planning to build, even if all solar development is stopped in the United States, Mexico can still send them some.
But the really optimistic thing about Trump’s statement that global warming is a Chinese hoax is he has said it was a joke. So his statement may just turn out to be what his Presidency is almost certain to become.
Trump Might Not Cause A Global Depression
Many people are concerned about the economy, particularly as the Australian share market fell 2% yesterday after it became clear Trump was likely to win. But a Nobel Prize1 winning economist says we’re not heading for a global depression. He just says we’re just heading for a global recession, and that’s not nearly as bad.
And it may not even come to that. When one deals in real estate, as Donald Trump has from time to time, you come to realize that inflation is your friend. It covers up so many mistakes. So when Trump says he wants things done, whether it is paying for a deportation force or a Great Wall of Mexico, I don’t think he’s going to let things like sound accountancy stand in his way and his decisions are going to have a profound inflationary bias. And that might be a good thing. It could help get the global economy moving.
Sure, there might be a few drawbacks. There could be some weakening of America’s entire future financial stability. But those problems are in the future and might not really emerge for years.
It is true that inflating away American debt would immediately enrage China, but I’m sure that if Trump entered into negotiations with them in a calm, mature, and reasonable manner, befitting of a great statesman, they could come to an amicable arrangement and not nuclear Armageddon After all, they have a lot in common. A fondness for walls for one thing.
Coming Soon – Australia Got Talent
The United States may be about to become a less pleasant place for people working in renewable energy, or people who aren’t involved in the fracking or wall construction industries. Or those who are just opposed to feline grabbing in general. But, this is a great opportunity for Australia. We could attract a lot of talent from America.
We could get Elon Musk.
Will Elon Flee Trumpistan For Australia?
All we would have to do is promise to let him build him electric cars here and allow him to play around with rockets in Woomera, or let him build a space port in North Queensland, and Elon’s your uncle. We might even finally get some solar colorbond out of him.
And even if he intends to move back to his homeland of South Africa, he might make a mistake and end up in South Australia instead. We could put some lions from Monarto Zoo outside his window to keep him confused.
So a Trump Presidency could result in a lot of American talent moving to Australia that would contribute to both our culture and our economy.
Just so long as they don’t, you know, arrive by boat.
Footnotes
- Yes, I know it wasn’t actually a Nobel Prize, but a Nobel Memorial Prize. ↩
About Ronald Brakels
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As always a fun read, Ronald. However, speaking as a devout anarchist ~ politically and by nature ~ and ALSO as a migrant kid who arrived in the (truly!) Lucky Country in 1949, I can say with a straight face that Trump’s election (which I tipped AND backed) is potentially the best thing that’s happened in world politics in my lifetime.
The world of Big Brother, PC, Feminist Dictatorships, the Nanny State AND the Police State, chaotic economic/currency gyrations, any ambition of ‘The New World Order’ along with it’s endless brothel-bred siblings will all (hopefully!) be spirited away in the night and humanely euthanized.
And yes, I actually lived through ‘Failsafe’, ‘Dr. Strangelove’ ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAeqVGP-GPM )AND ‘Catch 22’. (Not to mention The Beatles!!) It was a mad, mad time, yet there was more hope and humanity around than I can see anywhere these days.
Think about a world where a ‘working man’ (I think there’s a picture of one of them in the Antiquities Department at the museum) on the basic wage could put in 40 hours a week of (actually!) economically-productive work and raise a family, pay off the mortgage, own his car and still have time to socialise and help out the neighbours when needed. Think about a top tax-rate of under 20%, and no Centrelink ~ but as much work as you wanted. When there were no bullshit building-regulations to speak of, but every man could build his own house (as millions of post-war migrants did)…and if the roof caved in well, it was YOUR problem. (And the only thing ‘flipped’ was teenaged boys’ doodles.)
In it’s own odd way it was a time when ‘precious bodily fluids’ actually had some meaning!
Won’t continue, since it’s slightly off-topic; but if anyone wants to get into it my address is [email protected].
ps… –> ” Think about a top tax-rate of under 20%, and no Centrelink “….and the difficulty the government had in artificially maintaining an unemployment rate of between 1% -2% as a labour-pool. FairDinkum!
ps. …..”particularly as the Australian share market fell 2% yesterday”. Yep, and ROSE 4.8% today ~ and it’s still 2 hours to end-of-trade.
pps….”American talent ” Please explain!
ppps:- …..”The United States may be about to become a less pleasant place for people working in renewable energy, or people who aren’t involved in the fracking or wall construction industries”
I presume you mean those institutionalised wheelers and dealers who wouldn’t recognise a ‘real job’ or personal ‘achievement’ if it bit them on the arse?
pppps….and although I’d NEVER, under any circumstances vote for a politician of ANY species, I’m yet shuddering at how close the world came to having that other arrogant, plastic old sleazebag running the world. Let’s never forget that she’s part of the establishment which has turned the post-war world to shit.
….and then wanted to elected in order to fix it….with more of the same.
Backed up by Obumma and the husband she couldn’t even keep under control!
But the sun is shining here (for the first time since last easter, so I think I’ll head outside and insolate MYSELF. 😉
pps —> “ps. …..”particularly as the Australian share market fell 2% yesterday”. Yep, and ROSE 4.8% today ~ and it’s still 2 hours to end-of-trade.”
….and today my portfolio is up by about 3% more ~ as are all the banks, give or take.
……er….. half a week later —>
Trump win worth $10bn to budget
DAVID UREN
Soaring iron ore prices since Donald Trump’s surprise election victory would deliver a $10bn boost to the budget.
I dont think you should comment on how wise or not the American people are in selecting their next president– Stick to what you know-Solar power
Hi all,
Balder, I agree with you, this is a forum about solar power, but I also very much agree with Jackson,,,, how can you separate the two? Politics is unfortunately very much part of Solar Power, or for that matter renewable energy. I totally concur with Jackson on the side of politics, being 80 next year God willing, I also can see where those political imbeciles are leading us, pulling the wool in front of our eyes,,,the media, radio, tv, news papers are biased. I don’t know if anyone have noticed the real weapon against bureaucracy gone mad??? It is Face Book,,, that little gadget many people hold in their hands,,, using it to disseminate political bullshit from reality. No, I don’t have a mobile phone, nor am I on FB,, but I am glad that millions are because this means real world change from slavery by pseudo democracies.
John Nielsen, Silkwood.
Goodonyer John….though I don’t entirely agree with you, you DO at least have an individual opinion.
I have my first-ever mobile phone (for an internet connection after my house burned down) and see it as a real ‘drug of dependence’, And I’ve always seen that whole ‘social-pages’ thing as a tool which actually enslaves people, inasmuch it prevents them thinking as individuals. (Remember the flytraps, where no self-respecting fly could refuse a sip of the sugary concoction in the bottom?
Anyway, since this IS a blog about solar-power, I’ll merely make the point that we wouldn’t NEED government subsidies if the free-market supply/demand principles were allowed free play.
Nor would the imposition of a zillion bullshit rules and regulations be required ~ though that would result in a herd of (non-economically-productive) paper-shufflers to be thrown out of (giggle!) ‘work’.
My guess is that a blog like Solarquotes does AT LEAST as much for the propagation of ‘good’ solar components and installers as the CEC could even fantasise about……. and doesn’t cost us a penny. Though, note, I would be willing to accept a small contribution for the (unsolicited) plug. 😉
Take care, old mate; and I’d be delighted to receive a slice of your upcoming birthday cake…..if I can find my teeth in time.
Trump corrupt??? What evidence do you have? I don’t love the guy but I do know there are thousands of emails from Hilary that shows what a lying evil corrupt president she would have been. Thank you Wikileaks.
P.s not one Wikileaks announcement about the other candidates
“Trump corrupt???” What evidence do you have?”
Does a bear shit in the forest?
Is the Pope a catholic??
Is Trump a politician?
QED
“Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t bet, you can’t win.”
– Lazarus Long.