As the political situation in the United States goes from bad to worse and the Paris climate accord hangs in the balance, there is a ray of hope from some of the world's most important cities including Madrid, Paris and Mexico D.F.

Civil society is in the process of changing its mind about the relative merits of diesel versus gasoline cars and the winner in the current debate is likely to be Nissan, Tesla and other companies launching battery electric vehicles in the coming years

Last week the United States Senate approved Scott Pruitt to head the country's Environmental Protection Agency where he will roll back as much of Barack Obama's environmental legacy as the courts will allow.