'Everybody loses': MIT expert blasts Trump for creating a massive new 'mess'

The short-term plan Donald Trump has for Venezuela has been denounced as a "mess" by a climate expert.

While the president has made it clear that oil is a leading factor in the U.S. strike on Venezuela, the administration may have trouble putting together its immediate plans for the country. The U.S. would capture President Nicolás Maduro too, with the Venezuelan leader flown to the United States, where he is now on trial for drugs, weapons and narco-terrorism charges. He pleaded not guilty.

A climate expert has since warned that the short-term plan Trump will enact will cause major damage to the world, in a situation where "everybody loses." John Sterman, an expert in climate and economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke to The Guardian about the administration's doomed plan for change in Venezuela.

He said, "If oil production goes up, climate change will get worse sooner, and everybody loses, including the people of Venezuela. The climate damages suffered by Venezuela, along with other countries, will almost certainly outweigh any short-term economic benefit of selling a bit more oil."

There could be some roadblocks for investors, though, as Sterman went on to suggest there is "political risk" and "project risk" involved in possible benefactors.

While Trump may claim oil executives are keen on the plan for Venezuela, Sterman has suggested those same people may not be "eager to invest what’s needed because it will take a lot longer than the three years of President Trump’s term".

Patrick Galey, head of fossil fuel investigations at the climate and justice NGO Global Witness, also suggested the president's oil executives' backing may be hindered by the limited assurances he can offer.

Galey said, "So long as governments continue to rely on fossil fuels in energy systems, their constituents will be hostage to the whims of autocrats."

"Any meaningful increase in current production would require tens of billions of investment in things like repairs, upgrades and replacing creaking infrastructure. That’s not even taking into account the dire security situation." He added it was "a bad bet generally" for oil executives to involve themselves in the promised Venezuelan takeover.