US Elections 2016: Trump Win Worries Environmentalists

Donald Trump's victory came as a shock for most Americans across the globe. Since he announced his candidacy in June of 2015, majority of the nation's citizens considered his campaign as nothing more than a publicity stunt. However, despite losing the popular votes, Donald Trump delivered his winning speech mere hours ago as he garnered the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.

Republicans are still in the midst of celebrating the party's return to the White House. On the other hand, environmentalists from all over the world have already voiced out their concern over the appointment of the new president of the free world.

Last year, the United States, together with two hundred other countries, signed the world's first global climate pact - the Paris Agreement. During his campaign, Trump asserted that this deal would be renegotiated once he is elected president. Now that he has the position, scientists and experts attending the recent Marrakech Climate Change Conference, express their worry over the election results.

Sierra Club's executive director, Michael Brune, explains that the worry stems from the fact that Trump is the only head of state that believes climate change is not a pressing issue that needs to be addressed.

"Donald Trump has the unflattering distinction of being the only head of state in the entire world to reject the scientific consensus that humans are driving climate change" quipped Brune as reported by USA today.

In the same conference, Mariana Panuncio-Feldman, senior director of the World Wildlife Fund, recognizes the role of the Obama administration in the Paris agreement. She remains hopeful that the new president would be able to carry out the same legacy:

"Our new president needs to carry that legacy forward and make good on the promise to make America into the world's clean-energy superpower."