his first On his first day in office, President Trump signed a number of executive orders that put the United States on a path to a radically different environment than the Biden administration. The executive order and memorandum implement many of President Trump’s campaign promises, including withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement, increasing oil and gas drilling, and abolishing several Biden-era environmental directives and the Department of the Environment. This is the first step towards achieving this goal.
Trump’s first-day executive order is far-reaching, but it’s not yet clear how it will be implemented or how quickly it will be disseminated. Executive orders direct government agencies on how to enforce the law, but they can be used in court if they appear to violate the U.S. Constitution or other laws, such as President Trump’s January 2017 travel ban executive order. may be challenged.
But President Trump’s executive orders send a clear signal about his administration’s environmental priorities, including extracting more fossil fuels, weakening support for green energy, and withdrawing from global climate leadership. I’m sending it.
Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement
The executive order directs the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations to provide formal notification that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Paris Agreement, signed in 2016, commits countries to submit five-year updates of their climate plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet agreed targets on emissions reductions. I am doing it.
President Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement during his first term, but the terms of the agreement meant that withdrawal would not take place until November 2020. In one of his first acts as president, Joe Biden rejoined the United States to the Paris Agreement. Paris Agreement. It will take at least a year for the US to withdraw from the agreement.
“This short-sighted move shows a disregard for science and the well-being of people around the world, including Americans, who are already losing their homes, livelihoods, and loved ones as a result of climate change.” says executive Jonathan Foley. Director of climate charity Project Drawdown.
The executive order also cancels the United States’ international climate finance plan, which the Biden administration plans to increase by more than $11 billion annually by 2024. It’s the people who are suffering the most,” says Bob Ward, director of policy on climate change and the environment at the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics.
Encouraging fossil fuel extraction
President Trump dedicated three executive orders to make it easier to exploit America’s vast fossil fuel reserves. Trump consistently promised to “drill, baby, drill” during his campaign, emphasizing this slogan on his first day in office with an order to repeal Biden-era regulations restricting fossil fuel exploration and environmental regulations. did.
One executive order specifically focuses on Alaska, which has vast fossil fuel reserves and was the site of the construction of Willow, a controversial oil and gas project. Biden administration in 2023. President Trump’s executive order opens the door broadly to other projects, requiring the U.S. to “expedite permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects” in Alaska, and Biden’s potential to hinder this objective. They are calling for the reversal of all regulations passed by the administration. It also specifically cancels lease cancellations within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and rescinds the Secretary of the Interior’s order suspending oil and gas leases within the Refuge.
