Trump 2.0 and the consequences

There are clearly two sides to the Trump administration to come. On the one hand there’s the appointment of Scott Bessent a respected Wall St. financier who spent years working with George Soros among others.

Bessent immediately soft peddled Trumps blather about high tariffs to be leveled on all U.S. imports as a negotiating point to be raised with foreign competitors. Instantly came a sigh of relief that Trump would not resurrect the spirit of the disastrous Smoot Hawley depression catastrophe.

Then a few days later Trump proclaimed on Truth Social that on day one he’d impose tariffs on the U.S.’s 3 largest trading partners. It will be for starters 25% on Mexico and Canada and 10% on China. Global stock markets dropped sharply. Economist Ernie Tedeschi of the Budget Lab estimated, that without retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports ,that tariffs will mean an average .75 % hike in consumer prices, an average increase per household of $1,180 in after tax income. You know, the people angry at Biden for global inflation that elected Trump.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum quickly promised retaliatory tariffs if necessary but, preferred negotiation as opposed to putting at risk businesses like integrated auto manufacture by U.S. and Mexico. There is also the U.S. -Mexico – Canada Free Trade Agreement forbidding just imposing tariffs on member countries. That’s a clear opportunity for battalions of lawyers to take action from U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Being not a King (yet), judges given the law might enjoin the tariffs until further litigation.

Sheinbaum is a strong and smart left wing activist, an AOC type figure that Trump despises. He likely will not back down. President Sheinbaum noted “If a percentage of what the United States spends on war were dedicated to peace and development that would address the underlying causes of migration.” Instead Mexico is flooded with guns from the U.S. taking advantage of the U.S. second amendment arming Mexican drug cartels who ship drugs to U.S. customers.

Pay for play

Also announced was that Scott Bessent met with Trump lawyer Borris Epshteyn in February and reportedly paid $30,000 to $40,000 a month to promote Bessent’s virtues around Mara Lago. Trump lawyers are shocked, shocked at the accusation.

And there’s even more startling news that Trump plans on day one to kick 15,000 transgender soldiers out of the military who are serving honorably, as well as banning new transgendered soldiers. The “legal” theory is that trans soldiers are to be found medically unfit and given good conduct discharges. They are of course perfectly fit , and are actively serving in the military. This is another opportunity for swift legal recourse to stop the Trump train.

Of course, there is the clown car of incompetents and Trump ultra loyalists like Matt Gates as attorney general designate for a week. Gates to be followed by Pam Bondi a quite pedestrian Trump friendly former Florida Attorney General.

It so happens years ago that our small investor group was defrauded by a scammer who pocketed the money that was supposed to be invested in building low income housing in Florida. After speaking to encouraging staff lawyers, I spoke to AG Bondi. To to my amazement she had zero interest pursuing the case. This fits with her claim to fame in Trump world as her refusal to file charges against bankrupt Trump University.

What is at stake is much more than a strange balance between the competent and fools. And it’s about more than grabbing money with both hands and Trump’s luring the millions of his marks into investing in cryptocurrency that will make everyone rich. For sure.

Electrification, climate and global power

Now, clearly unleashed Donald Trump wants the United States, already the largest fossil fuel producer and exporter to release even more fossil fuel pollution into the atmosphere, particularly by exporting natural gas around the world to accelerate the pace of climate catastrophe.

But to quote Bob Dylan, “...something is happening here But you don’t know what it is Do you, Mr. Jones?”

What is happening is the global movement for electrification. By electrifying autos, trucks, buses, trains, ships, steel making, industrial process, cogeneration, heating and cooling, the physics of using electricity will reduce green house gas emissions dramatically. An internal combustion engine expends 75-80% of energy through waste heat, friction and exhaust. An EV in contrast, wastes 11% of energy.

EVs are seven times (700%) more efficient and release zero carbon dioxide and particulates. Spending $3.50 dollars per gallon on gas, the EV equivalent is $.50 a gallon, a $3.00 savings a mile.

Electrification leaders

The leading nations in the pursuit of electrification are the members of the EU, New Zealand, and now China. China is the world's largest industrial producer and still the largest carbon emitter. But China is rapidly pursuing electrification. China is by far the largest EV producer, advanced battery producer, solar energy producer, has electrified high speed rail network, largest high voltage DC transmission network now moving renewable energy resources with China Grid as the world’s largest utility. China will be responsible for 60% of new renewable installations globally between 2024 and 2030. This summer China announced that EV sales exceeded gas power cars. China is on a mission.

China is six years ahead of schedule to announce it has reached the point of peak emissions in 2024 not 2030. Emissions will rapidly decline on the basis of electrification of China's enormous industrial base. This means ,as we have seen in cars , a 700% decrease in electrified industrial process emissions sparking an ongoing rapid reduction in emissions.

For example, in New Hampshire, I am working on improving efficiency in a factory and reducing green house emissions through cogeneration, replacing natural gas by synthesizing wood gas to power the gas turbines and using waste heat absorption cooling for process electronics. The U.S. can follow this path. Or not.

The United States under DJT will increasingly find itself as an uncompetitive marketer of 20th century goods in a 21st century world. The legacy of Donald Trump risks the collapse of the dollar as global currency and replaced by a basket of currencies of those taking the lead in electrification and carbon dioxide reduction with the Chinese Yuan perhaps as first among equals. Wake up America. Time to seize the day.

Roy Morrison’s next book is Embracing the Sun’s Gift; An Ecological Civilization