Osius, who abruptly resigned late last year after three years as the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, now warns that the Trump administration’s retreat on climate change is encouraging Vietnam to dig in on coal power. Vietnam is under pressure, attempting to balance rapidly increasing energy demands with growing concerns over climate change ― and it’s finding a generous coal-friendly patron in China. In short, the Trump administration seems unlikely to apply any real pressure on other countries to pursue clean energy or combat climate change. “When we stopped leading on climate change, that made it a heck of a lot easier for people to proceed with business-as-usual policies,” Osius said. When we stopped leading on climate change, that made it a heck of a lot easier for people to proceed with business-as-usual policies.

Source: Huffington Post May 22, 2018 20:48 UTC