Coinciding with cabinet confirmations, today we discussed Scott Pruitt’s fitness to serve
as President Elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has stated that he is not completely sure that climate change is an issue we need to worry about. Climate change and global warming are very touchy subjects when it comes to the Trump administration. Donald Trump has said that these regulations are job killers and hurting businesses. Bob Deans, Director of Strategic Engagement on the Natural Resources Defense Council, brought up some statistics that show otherwise while speaking with us today. For example, we have had an increase of 15.6 million jobs during the Obama administration on top of a 4.6% unemployment rate. Deans also mentioned that 19 of the hottest years recorded were within the last 20 years. We have had a 43% increase in carbon dioxide in the last century, and scientists expect sea levels to rise between 3-9ft over the next century. He openly voiced his concerns about the head of the EPA potentially being someone who doesn’t acknowledge global warming as an issue. Deans feels strongly about the effects of climate change and promoting awareness so that we can take preventative measures and create regulations accordingly.
We also visited the Brazilian Embassy here in D.C. and spoke with the Trade Policy Staff.
The staff went over the different biomes and regions of Brazil and its relationship with the United States. Brazil’s consumer market will be the fifth largest in the world by the year 2020. We learned that Burger King and Budweiser are two large Brazilian investments which could be seen as ironic considering they seem to be such iconic American brands and establishments. A global survey was taken and each country in the world was asked what it wanted most to improve their happiness. Brazil, even the poorest parts, said they wanted access to better education along with more money invested into it as well. Part of being a prosperous country is being able to educate its youth so they can grow to be productive citizens. The fastest way to grow in wealth is to grow in knowledge.
Savannah and I also picked up our inauguration tickets today and we are super excited for Friday! Our congressmen were kind enough to give us each packets with official invitations, tickets and a packet of inaugural information to help us navigate our way around the busy crowds on inauguration day. Areas of the Capitol Building have been fenced off in preparation and security is at an all time high and growing each day! It’s becoming so real that in just a few more days, our 45th president will be sworn into office!