Global Warming, Trump's Genius, and Flying Environmentalists
March 26, 2026
by William P. Meyers

Site Search

Popular pages:

Collapsing fossil fuel consumption due to Iran War is pure genius

Chaos has become normalized during Donald Trump's second term as President. Trump says he is a genius, as proven by his track record as a real estate baron and playing the savvy executive on The Apprentice. Most people who pay attention to the news, from the political center to the political far left, think Trump is an idiot, not a genius. In this essay, because I am a radical environmentalist, I will show you that Donald Trump really is a genius. He is just too devious for simple-minded leftists to grok.

Focus on the environment, particularly global warming. This last couple of weeks climate scientists have presented proof that the pace of warming is accelerating. My own particular favorite measure, arctic sea ice extent, just had its lowest winter high ice coverage on record. That is hard data, taken daily by satellite, and publicly reported. Hard to argue with, though deniers still do.

But isn't Trump a pawn of the American oil industry? Has he not repeatedly said that global warming is a hoax? Did he not take a half-billion dollars in campaign contributions from Big Oil to help him win the 2024 election.

Sure, but with a genius like Donald, you have to watch what he does, not just listen to what he says. In particular, he killed two birds with one stone, so to speak, with his latest genius move. The Iran War.

American oil and gas producers love the Iran War because it has jacked up prices for their products to very high, very profitable levels. From the oil coming out of the ground, through the refiners, to stations filling the tanks of cars and trucks, profits are shooting up like gushers. Trump has repaid his donors.

At the same time he has done more to save the environment than President Obama, President Biden, and the Sierra Club combined. He has cut off about a fifth of the world's oil and gas, with Iran reacting to his attempt to impose Christianity on the people of Iran. The Straight of Hormuz is closed, and that is like the environment drawing a straight-flush in a poker game at Trump Plaza Casino (before it went bankrupt).

A 20% reduction in fossil fuel use overnight. That is a big victory for the earth. Of course further reduction are necessary. We are already seeing severe adverse effects of the warmed planet. The high price of gas, and its unreliability, should help take care of that. It should encourage energy conservation. It should accelerate the adoption of solar energy, wind energy, and nuclear energy. People in India and Japan, already, are wishing they had more solar and wind energy. Everyone, even the world's stupidest people, American drivers of oversized vehicles, are learning they cannot rely on fossil fuels.

Even people who have the privilege of flying are likely to cut back. The worst thing an individual human can do for the environment is fly somewhere. Well, it is worse to fly overseas than somewhere in the U.S., but all flying is bad for the environment. On a global scale only a small percentage of the population ever flies anywhere. The harm done by those people, so far, has mainly hit people in the third world, in places like Sudan and low-lying islands, who do not fly.

Speaking of Trump deviously saying one thing while doing another, meet my friends the Flying Environmentalists. They tend to be at least college educated or have graduate degrees. They have high paying jobs. They understand about global warming and will tell you all about it. But their parents also had high-paying jobs, and they grew up as if flying is an ordinary thing, not a luxury. They believe they work hard (though they have never been near a coal mine or a factory) and deserve at least one vacation in a distant place every year. You can find them at any given moment in Paris or Venice, Kyoto or Peking, or exploring the jungles of a dying planet.

I've spoken to many of these people as individuals. They don't want to hear it. They make excuses (most common: but I drive a Prius or electric vehicle.) They say they hate the oil and gas industry, but the last thing they want is and end to aviation fuel.

Hypocrisy is a very wide spread human trait. That does not excuse bad behavior. When I meet an environmental group, or political party, that has managed to cut fossil fuel use by one-fifth like the Donald has, I will cease my praise of him and criticism of them.