Climate and environmental activists warn a possible second presidential term for former President Donald Trump poses an “extreme” threat to animals and must be fought tooth and nail.
Writing for Counterpunch Tuesday, Jon Hochschartner states that in the United States’ two-party system animal activists should “obviously” vote for the Democratic nominee, yet in 2024 this may not be enough.
As the election approaches, he continues, “I wonder if the threat Donald Trump poses to animals and our movement is so extreme we should pause our usual work and temporarily focus on helping to defeat him.”
Hochschartner cites Ronnie Lee, founder of the Animal Liberation Front, who shares Hochschartner’s alarm over the dire prospect of a second Trump term.
“My main concern is the huge harm that another Trump administration would cause to efforts to combat the climate crisis,” Lee declares, “which is already claiming the lives of billions of our fellow animals.”
“Trump wants to increase energy exploitation,” adds activist Vasile Stănescu, who holds a PhD from Stanford University. “He is an open climate change denier and has stated he would try and roll back all the progress President Biden has made in confronting climate change.
“Climate change is not an issue that only affects human animals, other animals would, if anything, be more affected,” Stănescu contends.
Another environmentalist, John Sanbonmatsu, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, warns that Trump’s commitment to U.S. energy independence is a nightmare for the ecological movement.
“A second Trump term will greatly accelerate the destruction of animals across the Earth by eliminating environmental laws and regulations, weakening or ignoring animal welfare laws, expanding oil drilling, accelerating greenhouse gases, and defending cattle ranching,” Sanbonmatsu argues.
A Trump presidency would gravely weaken our democracy, encourage lawlessness on the far-right, and create an even more hostile operating environment for activists trying to gain traction with the public on animal issues, Sanbonmatsu proposes.
“Speaking as someone who has worked in environmental consulting for over 5 years,” states adjunct lecturer Christopher Sebastian, Trump’s “climate policy alone clearly leads to undesirable outcomes for threatened and endangered species.”
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