But let's not kid ourselves about Putin. For Putin, his continued support for Paris is now a bargaining chip with which to secure other favors. The Russian economy is fueled by oil and gas and his political leverage comes in part by supplying large parts of Europe with that gas.
As Mother Jones recently noted, "Trump and Putin share a common priority: A commitment to the primacy of fossil fuels."
Trump is not the only one who will be given a hard time over climate at the summit. Angela Merkel's husband Joachim Sauer is reportedly giving Ivanka Trump and first lady Melania Trump a tour of the German Climate Computing Center, which has been modelling climate data for decades. Sauer is a professor of physical and theoretical chemistry.
And even if Trump makes it through the summit relatively unscathed, his views on climate change are still going to be continually challenged by NGO's, scientists, the media and of course, kids. It will be the issue that haunts his presidency to its bitter end.
Indeed, finally a trial date has been set for a ground-breaking, climate-change lawsuit brought by 21 kids against the U.S. government. It is now scheduled to begin Feb. 5, 2018.
Mark the date on your calendar.
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