Wohin geht Amerika?
Deutschland ist in Vielem von einem guten Verhältnis zu den USA abhängig. Deshalb ist das Bemühen verständlich, auf politischer und wirtschaftlicher Ebene einen möglichst guten Konsens mit dem Präsidenten zu suchen, den sich die Mehrheit der Amerikaner bei der Wahl im November 2024 geleistet hat.

 

Homo stupidus

Russi, Florian

 

Das aber darf uns nicht daran hindern, viele kritische Blicke auf diesen Mann zu werfen, der ein durch und durch verdrehter Charakter ist. Dabei verhält er sich auch ausgesprochen dumm. Nach seinem großen Wahlerfolg hätte er die Riesenchance gehabt, als Versöhner und Mittler für alle Amerikaner aufzutreten, sein Volk zu einen und zu einem gemeinsamen Erfolg zu führen. Stattdessen rächte er sich an allen seinen Gegnern oder denjenigen, die er dafür hielt und hält. Erstaunlich ist es, wie dieser Mensch, der alles andere als ein christliches Leben führt, von Evangelikalen und Klerikalen unterstützt wird. Ist Rache zu einem christlichen Motiv geworden? Die christlichen Gemeinden in den USA scheinen sich weit vom Ursprung der christlichen Religion entfernt zu haben. Sie sind oberflächlich und selbstgerecht. Religion ist Gruppendynamik und nicht mehr Glaubensinhalt und frohe Botschaft.
Die Trump’sche Politik mag kurzfristig zu einigen Erfolgen führen. Langfristig wird sie einen weltweiten Schaden auslösen. Aus „America first“ wird „America worst“, aus „America friendly“ wird „America ugly“ (hässlich), aus „We want Panama, Grönland etc.“ wird „Ami go home“ und aus „Let’s make America great again“: „Don’t make America Gaga again“. Gaga scheint mir das entscheidendste Wort. Die aktuelle Menschheit hat nicht nur mit Klimakrisen, Vertreibungen, Kriegen, Hungersnöten und Krankheiten wie Corona zu kämpfen, sondern auch mit dem Gaga-Problem. Post-Covid wird begleitet von Post-Psyvid. Hoch befähigte Psychotherapeuten sind gefordert. Meldet euch!

https://www.deutschland-lese.de/streifzuege/essays/homo-stupidus/

 

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 Where is America headed?  Germany is dependent on a good relationship with the USA in many respects. Therefore, the effort to seek the best possible consensus with the president, on a political and economic level, is understandable—a consensus that the majority of Americans supported in the November 2024 election. However, this should not prevent us from taking a critical look at this man, who is a thoroughly distorted character. He also behaves remarkably stupidly. After his resounding election victory, he had a golden opportunity to act as a reconciler and mediator for all Americans, to unite his people and lead them to a common success. Instead, he took revenge on all his opponents, or those he considered and still considers to be such. It is astonishing how this man, who lives anything but a Christian life, is supported by evangelicals and clericals. Has revenge become a Christian motive? The Christian communities in the USA seem to have strayed far from the origins of the Christian religion. They are superficial and self-righteous. Religion is group dynamics, no longer a matter of faith or good news. Trump's policies may lead to some short-term successes. In the long run, they will cause global damage. "America First" will become "America Worst," "America Friendly" will become "America Ugly," "We want Panama, Greenland, etc." will become "Yankee go home," and "Let's make America great again" will become "Don't make America Gaga [mad?] again." "Gaga" seems to me the most crucial word. Humanity today is not only grappling with climate crises, displacement, wars, famines, and diseases like COVID, but also with the "Gaga" problem. Post-COVID will be accompanied by post-Psyvid. Highly skilled psychotherapists are needed. Get in touch! ======================= Trump repeals power to fight climate change, axes vehicle emissions rules 

President Donald Trump's administration has revoked a formal scientific finding that has been the central basis for US action to fight climate change.

The Obama-era "endangerment finding" served as the legal basis for federal climate regulations, setting limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

It determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threatened public health and welfare.

Curbs on vehicle emissions have also been axed.

The moves come after a year of implementing a string of regulatory cuts and other actions intended to unfetter fossil fuel development and stymie the rollout of clean energy.

"Under the process just completed by the EPA, we are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding, a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and drove up prices for American consumers," Mr Trump said.

The president announced the repeal alongside EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and White House budget director Russ Vought, who was a key architect of the conservative policy blueprint Project 2025.

Mr Trump has said he believes climate change is a "con job", and has withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement, leaving the world's largest historic contributor to global warming out of international efforts.

Former president Barack Obama blasted the move on X, saying without the endangerment finding, "we'll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money".

'The holy grail'

Mr Zeldin said the Trump administration pursued the most consequential climate policy of the past 15 years, something the agency had avoided during his first term.

"Referred to by some as the holy grail of federal regulatory overreach, the 2009 Obama EPA endangerment finding is now eliminated," he said.

The endangerment finding was first adopted by the US in 2009, and led the EPA to take action under the Clean Air Act of 1963 to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and four other heat-trapping air pollutants from vehicles.

It followed the Supreme Court's 2007 decision in Massachusetts v EPA, which held that the agency had authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

ts repeal would remove the regulatory requirements to measure, report, certify and comply with federal greenhouse gas emission standards for cars.

The transportation and power sectors are each responsible for about a quarter of US greenhouse gas output, according to EPA figures.

The EPA said the repeal of vehicle emission standards would save US taxpayers $US1.3 trillion ($1.8 trillion), while the prior administration said the rules would have net benefits for consumers through lower fuel costs and other savings.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation did not endorse the action but said "automotive emissions regulations finalised in the previous administration are extremely challenging for automakers to achieve given the current marketplace demand for EVs".

The Environmental Defense Fund said the repeal would end up costing Americans more, despite EPA's statement that climate regulations have driven up costs for consumers.

"Administrator Lee Zeldin has directed EPA to stop protecting the American people from the pollution that's causing worse storms, floods, and skyrocketing insurance costs," EDF president Fred Krupp said.

"This action will only lead to more of this pollution, and that will lead to higher costs and real harms for American families."

Under former president Joe Biden, the EPA aimed to cut passenger-vehicle fleet-wide tailpipe emissions by nearly 50 per cent by 2032.

This compares with 2027 projected levels and forecasts that between 35 per cent and 56 per cent of new vehicles sold between 2030 and 2032 will need to be electric.

The agency estimated that the rules would deliver net annual benefits of $99 billion through 2055.

Consumers were expected to save an average of $6,000 over the lifetime of new vehicles from reduced fuel and maintenance costs.

The coal industry celebrated the announcement, saying it would help stave off retirements of aging coal-fired power plants.

"Utilities have announced plans to retire more than 55,000 megawatts of coal-fired generation over the next five years," America's Power president and CEO Michelle Bloodworth said.

"Reversing these retirement decisions could help offset the need to build new, more expensive electricity sources and prevent the loss of reliability attributes, such as fuel security, that the coal fleet provides."

Uncertainty unbound

Legal experts said the policy reversal could lead to a surge in lawsuits known as "public nuisance" actions.

"This may be another classic case where overreach by the Trump administration comes back to bite it," said Robert Percival, a University of Maryland environmental law professor.

Environmental groups have slammed the proposed repeal as a danger to the climate.

Future US administrations seeking to regulate greenhouse gas emissions likely would need to reinstate the endangerment finding.

Several environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Earthjustice, have said they will challenge the reversal in court.

"There'll be a lawsuit brought almost immediately, and we'll see in them in court. And we will win," said David Doniger, senior attorney at the NRDC.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-13/trump-revokes-basis-of-us-climate-regulation-ends-vehicle-emissi/106339598

 

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