Climate can change anyone, so what if Donald Trump now became an eco-warrior? (Okay, stay with me here…) There is no denying Trump’s influence on his followers. Just look at the US Capitol riots that he encouraged. His rally cry was “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” If he were an eco-warrior, he could easily adapt this to “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a PLANET anymore!”
Could Donald Trump be the next Al Gore? If the fairways at his golf resorts start to dry up and turn yellow, would that be enough to get him on the environmental bandwagon? When the ocean is flooding his Mar a Lago estate in Miami, will we see him doing An Inconvenient Truth (oh the irony)?
I’m sure Patagonia could design a bespoke ethical suit and tie for him. Season 11 of The Apprentice could be axed to make way for Season 1 of The Activist and Twitter would welcome him back with open wings.
If Donald Trump actually did call on his followers to fight like hell for the planet, would people storm congress? Would the same collective passion be united? Not that the environmental movement needs to be so unnecessarily violent and deadly. But I’m not sure we would see such an outcry from his loyal followers. Why is it people are more concerned about their country than their planet?
Whilst climate can change anyone, no one person can change the climate. It’s going to require a species level of focus and ambition. If we wait for a Donald Trump figure to unite us, we might be too late to make a difference.