Does climate "go both ways?"

In his meeting with Prince Charles, Trump is reported to have claimed that climate changes in both ways, but that it is safe to say it is getting more extreme. Further, he said that the US is polluting less than Asian economies where more industrial pollution is occurring.

Presumably he is ignoring rising CO2 levels as a problem, despite the fact that they are at elevated levels that don't seem to be dropping.

So Trump seems to be challenging the US to take responsibility for its consumerism and produce instead of importing what it buys, and to prove that domestic producers can pollute less than off-shore producers.

Is that even possible? Are US consumption and transportation habits ever going to be compatible with sustainable resource use? Not without reforms, but will the general public and business communities ever be up to the huge challenges of reform voluntarily, i.e. without being forced to by government or economic necessity? Probably not.

So Trump may be right, but it probably won't get solved during or after his term. What's worse is that a Green New Deal could actually make things worse by further expanding the automotive-consumer economy as it resists change.

So the solution is for the people to take the liberty of changing on their own, without government, but when if ever will that happen?