The Long Arms of Trumpism
By 
David Malpass catapulted onto the international stage three years ago when he was nominated by President Donald J. Trump to become president of the World Bank. He was charged with improving the economies of poor nations, many of which are being battered by extreme weather fueled by climate change.
Yet Mr. Malpass barely spoke of global warming, careful not to rankle Mr. Trump, who famously called climate change a “hoax” and pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement.
This week, Mr. Malpass’s refusal to acknowledge that the burning of fossil fuels is rapidly warming the planet exposed a debate inside and outside of the institution about whether the bank is doing enough to help nations that are now struggling with devastating floods, heat, drought and other impacts, and whether its financing of new oil and gas projects is exacerbating the problem.
Jochen Flasbarth, a senior economic official in Germany and one of the bank’s directors, said on Twitter “We are concerned about this confusing signals about scientific evidence of #climatechange from the top of @WorldBank.”
Who could have guessed that putting a climate denier at the head of the World Bank would be less the optimal for the continued existence of human life on the planet? Wonder why people are so upset by it…..