COP Out: Is Net Zero Dead?
By Tom Clarke, science and technology editor
The boat we’re on is being chucked around in the swell.
We’re 30 miles off the coast of the US state of Rhode Island and above us is a colossal wind turbine.
Its 200-metre-wide blades roaring through the air generate enough electricity in one rotation to power a home for a year.
It is just one of the 65 turbines that make up Revolution Wind, one of America’s largest renewable energy projects.
In August, when the scheme was nearly 80% complete, Donald Trump ordered construction to halt.
Gary Yerman, a lifelong fisherman, was one of dozens to have been offered work and training to support construction, bringing in more than $20m (£15m) to the fishing community.
A Trump supporter, he tells us he can’t understand the president’s decision.
“From a personal standpoint, I’m puzzled why he did what he did at this juncture of a wind farm that is 80% complete,” he says.
The future of the wind farm is tied up in the US courts but the White House has sent a clear signal that the renewable energy industry is not welcome in his America.
As Mr Trump told a bemused UN General Assembly recently, climate change “is the greatest con-job ever perpetrated on the world”.
Trump supporter Gary Yerman is confused by the president’s decision
Trump supporter Gary Yerman is confused by the president’s decision
He says he’s not falling for it.
The White House has cut $25bn (£19bn) in federal climate funding and purged thousands of civil servants and scientists from roles linked to climate and renewable energy.
It has even erased decades of climate records from online datasets.
The administration has also opened millions of acres of land for oil and gas drilling — and removed lucrative tax breaks for renewables and given new ones to coal.
Even if, like Mr Trump, you didn’t believe in man-made climate change, it’s a move that’s coming at a bad time for America.