Doubling down after meeting with environmental icon Al Gore, on Wednesday president-elect Donald Trump met with actor Leonardo DiCaprio, no slouch at environmental activism himself, for 90 minutes to discuss boosting environmental jobs.
Terry Tamminen, the CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, who served as secretary of California’s Environmental Protection Agency under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, told AP that he and DiCaprio met Trump, daughter Ivanka, and other members of Trump’s team, informing them that renewable, clean energy could create millions of jobs. Tamminen stated:
Today, we presented the President-elect and his advisors with a framework — which LDF developed in consultation with leading voices in the fields of economics and environmentalism — that details how to unleash a major economic revival across the United States that is centered on investments in sustainable infrastructure. Our conversation focused on how to create millions of secure, American jobs in the construction and operation of commercial and residential clean, renewable energy generation.”
DiCaprio produced the documentary, “Before the Flood,” which argued that the world is endangered because of climate change. At a previous meeting with Ivanka Trump, he gave her a copy of the film; he gave another copy to Donald Trump, who promised he would view it.
Tamminen said Trump wanted to meet again next month, adding, “We look forward to continuing the conversation with the incoming administration as we work to stop the dangerous march of climate change, while putting millions of people to work at the same time.”
Tamminen hates using nuclear power; in 2013, after Southern California Edison decided to decommission its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, he wrote:
We may now see enough data points to reasonably conclude that the nuclear power era is coming to a close … Coal and oil have advanced our economies for decades, but honest cost accounting increasingly shows the need to move beyond both as reliable, affordable sources of energy. It’s time to add nuclear power to that list and embrace alternatives that are less risky and truly more affordable over the long haul…
Yet once one admits solar power and other “green” alternatives are insufficient to address current needs for power, it is important to note nuclear power saves billions of tonnes of CO2, the main cause of climate change, in comparison to using coal. 1kg of coal would power a 60 watt light bulb for four days; using nuclear power the same bulb would last for 685 years.
“We look forward to continuing the conversation with the incoming administration as we work to stop the dangerous march of climate change, while putting millions of people to work at the same time.”
Terry Tamminen, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
Additionally, in 2013, solar power received 27 percent of federal energy subsidies, but produced only 0.4 percent of total US electricity. The only way solar power is economically feasible is through federal subsidies. As strata.org reported:
Federal subsidies increase the unseen costs of solar energy by distorting the energy market and transferring the high cost of solar to taxpayers and electricity consumers. The three most important federal solar power subsidies are the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS), and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Between 2000 and 2013, the ITC resulted in over $4 billion in revenue losses. About $1.7 billion in tax revenue was lost due to the MACRS program.