Ivanka's Tweet About The Environment Has The Internet Seeing Red
Due to a stalled economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the level of greenhouse gases arising from economic activity in the U.S. is expected to plummet 9.2 percent to its lowest level in at least 30 years, per The Washington Post. And also because of the pandemic, the country is on track to meet the promises the Obama administration made during the Paris climate talks in December 2015, even though President Donald Trump had pulled the country out of the pact. Unfortunately, while net emissions are at record lows, they could have been as much as 6.4 percent lower if forest fires hadn't ravaged the West Coast and the Rocky Mountains.
Still, the drop in carbon emissions was enough for presidential daughter Ivanka Trump to celebrate what she saw a win for the Trump administration, by tweeting: "FACT: Greenhouse gases generated by the U.S. will slide 9.2% this year, tumbling to the lowest level in at least three decades. @EPA."
It didn't take long for Twitter to school Ivanka on the reason why the U.S. back on track to meet emissions goals, even if it had been falling behind before 2020, and to point out that it was by accident, not by design.
Twitter called out Ivanka for her comment about greenhouse gas reductions
One critic tweeted: "You're so right, we often forget the silver lining to the inept bungling of the coronavirus response — that along with a quarter million dead and an economy ground to a halt, the reduction in travel was actually good for the environment. So, yay?" Another posted: "FACT .. this is a new concept for you sweetie ..but there is this thing call COVID 19 – has killed lots of people and lots of intelligent people have chosen to work from home & stuff!! I knew it would be a difficult concept for you .. perhaps above your head .." A third reminded Ivanka that her father was behind the rollback of environmental protections, tweeting: "Hm, was it the administration that overturned 100+ environmental protections *OR* was it the fact that your father allowed a pandemic to ravage the country uncontained, shutting down travel and business for most of the year?"
But unlike Twitter, environmentalists like Sarah Ladislaw at the Center for Strategic and International Studies are hoping this is a sign of better days ahead. "Like all major crises, there is a chance to turn this temporary downturn in emissions to a more permanent one by making investments and changing policy, but it won't just happen on its own. Tackling climate change requires a systematic and complete overhaul of our energy system" (via The Washington Post).