WE have by now, unfortunately, become accustomed to receiving news about destructive and inhumane edicts being issued by the tinpot dictator currently ruling the United States, but the latest executive order issued by US President Donald Trump is appalling in the extreme. In fact, it is not unreasonable or inaccurate to describe it as a crime against humanity.

Late last week, Trump signed an order repealing the 2009 “Endangerment Finding” by the Environmental Protection Agency, which declared that there is irrefutable scientikc evidence that a range of greenhouse gases (GHG) are a threat to public health. The ruling was the legal basis for a wide range of federal regulations to curb GHG emissions, particularly from vehicles.

The move was not unexpected, as it had been telegraphed by Trump since last year, but it is still a mocking blow to global efforts to address climate change, and all the more infuriating because the rollback is fundamentally based on the puerile ignorance and petty misanthropy of a single malcontented individual. In triumphantly announcing the decision, Trump said the 2009 ruling was “a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry and massively drove up prices for American consumers. This radical rule became the legal foundation for the Green New Scam, one of the greatest scams in history.”

In a follow-up statement, the White House claimed that the repeal, which it described as “the largest deregulation in American history,” would reduce the price of automobiles by an average of $2,400 per unit and lead to $1 trillion in overall savings to the US economy through reducing the cost of energy and transport.

Numerous economists have, of course, since offered analyzes that suggest that the effect on the US economy will be precisely the opposite. As one example, the export market for US automobiles is likely to shrink, as the American cars will no longer meet overseas emissions standards. One analysis from the Environmental Defense Fund found that the repeal of the 2009 finding and the subsequent lowering of US emissions standards could cost American consumers up to $1.4 trillion in additional fuel costs, as well as causing 58,000 more premature deaths due to respiratory ailments. All of the above conclusions are probably debatable to some extent, but the real point is that no one — save for the US government that does not provide any empirical basis for its claims — can present a strong argument that declaring GHG emissions non-harmful will have any benefits whatsoever.

If the impacts of the Trump order only affected the US, the world could shake its head in wonder at how such a rich and capable country could be so stupid and self-destructive, and leave it to its fate. Of course, that is not how climate impact works. The choices of the world’s second-largest source of GHG emissions affect the entire planet, and a deliberate decision to dismiss scientikcally proven reality in favor of an arcane and fanatic ideology will cause destruction and cost lives far beyond US borders.

Calling that a crime against humanity is not extreme, and in fact, there is already a legal basis for making that argument. As we discussed in an editorial earlier this week, the International Court of Justice ruled last July that countries must meet their climate commitments, and that failure to do so may constitute “an internationally wrongful act.” To be sure, that was not a binding opinion, but it further cements the scientifically backed reality that climate change is an existing harm that must be addressed as an international norm. Countries may use this precept to take action against the US for current or future harm they suffer from its hostile climate policies — or, perhaps more accurately, lack of policies. Of course, the US under the Trump regime does not respect international law or norms, and is thus unlikely to be fazed by the threat of such action, but the tune may change should enough countries react to cause the US real economic harm from its destructive choices.

As one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, the Philippines will inevitably suffer harm from the policy change in the US. Our current government is tolerant to a fault of US excesses, and is likely to dismiss the recent end of official US recognition of the dangers of GHG emissions as “an internal matter” for the US. That position would not only be wrong, it would be a position that directly harms the well-being of the Filipino people.