Donald J. Trump is once again sworn in as President of the United States.
The Associated Press called Trump’s campaign early Wednesday, ending one of the costliest and most chaotic election cycles in the country’s history. The results promise a game-changer in U.S. climate change policy. Voters not only put a climate change denier back in the White House, they gave Republicans a Senate majority and laid the groundwork for attacks on everything from electric vehicles to clean energy funding to increased support for fossil fuels. fuel industry.
President Trump: “We have more liquid gold than any other country in the world.” during his victory speechrefers to the domestic oil and gas potential. “There was energy in the vote and it sent a clear signal that voters want choice, not mandate,” the CEO of the American Petroleum Institute said in a statement.
The election results have upset climate policy experts and environmental activists. The president-elect has called climate change a “hoax” and in recent campaign vows to expand fossil fuel production, roll back environmental regulations and eliminate federal support for clean energy. He also said he would repeal the Inflation Control Act, the largest climate investment in U.S. history and a landmark Congressional victory for the Biden administration. Such measures would add billions of additional tons of energy. greenhouse gas It affects the atmosphere and accelerates the effects of impending climate change.
“This is a dark day,” said Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club. in a statement. “Donald Trump was a disaster for progress on climate change during his first term, but everything he has said and done since then suggests he is bent on doing even more damage this time around. I am doing it.”
During his first term in office, President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, the 2016 international climate agreement that guides the actions of more than 195 countries. Over 100 environmental regulations rescinded; and opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. While President Joe Biden has reversed many of these actions and made combating climate change a central focus of his presidency, President Trump has rolled back two of these efforts with potentially far-reaching consequences. He promised to cancel the additional emissions that Carbon Brief’s climate analysts predicted the Trump administration would lead for another four years. 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide than to do so under the opponent. This is equivalent to the annual emissions of the European Union and Japan combined.
One of President-elect Trump’s main goals is to shrink the IRA, which is poised to direct more than $1 trillion to climate-friendly initiatives. Two years into that 10-year effort, money is flowing into a myriad of initiatives, from building the nation’s electric vehicle charging network to helping people generate solar power and weatherize their homes. In 2023 alone, approximately 3.4 million Americans will be self-advocating. Over $8 billion in tax credits The law provides for home energy improvements. But President Trump could block, freeze or repeal much of the law.
In a speech in September, President Trump assured the audience, “We will cancel all unspent funds.” Speech at the New York Economic Club. Last month, he said this would happen.honor” and called for an “immediate end” to the law, which he called the “Green New Scam.”
However, such a move would require support from Congress. Although many House races remain inconclusive, Republicans have taken control of the Senate majority. That said, any attempt to unwind an IRA can be unpopular. $165 billion of the money provided goes to Republican districts..
Still, President Trump could take unilateral steps to rein in spending and use federal regulatory powers to further disrupt the rollout process. as Axios says: “If Mr. Trump wants to turn off the IRA, he’ll probably find a way to do it.”Looking beyond influential climate legislation, President Trump has other negative environmental impacts. I have many ways to do it. That effort would be made easier with a conservative Supreme Court that has already weakened federal efforts to combat climate change.
President Trump also supports expanding fossil fuel production. He has long pushed the country to “drill, baby, drill” and in April offered incentives to industry executives in exchange for tax and regulatory breaks. $1 billion in campaign support. That astronomical amount never materialized, but The New York Times found that oil and gas interests contributed. Estimated $75 million to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, and related committees. Fossil fuels are already booming under the Biden administration, with domestic oil production at an all-time high and Vice President Kamala Harris saying Biden would continue producing fossil fuels if he wins. Ta. But President Trump could give the industry a big boost by, for example: Drilling resumes in more areas of the Arctic.
The climate change caused by President Trump is certain to extend beyond the United States. The next president could try again to tear up the Paris climate accord, undermining global efforts to address the crisis. His threats to use tariffs to protect American companies and restore American manufacturing could upend energy markets. For example, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries are largely manufactured overseas, and the prices of these imports and other clean energy technologies could also rise. U.S. liquefied natural gas producers are concerned about Retaliatory tariffs could hinder their business.
The Trump administration could also take quieter steps to shape climate change policy. Separate the federal research function From rulemaking abilities to guidance on how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigates and responds to health concerns.
President Trump is almost certain to wreak havoc on federal agencies that are central to understanding and combating climate change. During his first term, his administration Eradication of research fundingwas appointed climate skeptic criticized industry officials and abolished several scientific advisory committees. That too censored scientific data I tried it on the government website spoil the findings National Climate Assessment, the government’s scientific report on the risks and impacts of climate change on the country. Project 2025, a sweeping blueprint developed by conservative groups and former Trump administration officials, promotes a similar strategy, deprioritizing climate science and possibly reorganizing or eliminating federal agencies that promote climate science. do.
“The nation and the world can expect the incoming Trump administration to throw a wrecking ball into global climate diplomacy.” Rachel Cleetussaid in a statement, director of policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists and chief economist for the Climate and Energy Program. “The science on climate change is unrelenting, and every year of delay locks in further costs and irreversible changes, with everyday people paying the highest price.”
Supporters of the president-elect appear to be eager to get started.
Mandy Gunasekara, former chief of staff at the Environmental Protection Agency during President Trump’s first term. told CNN Before the election, it was expected that this second government would be far better prepared to enact its agenda and would act quickly. A likely early target will be Biden-era emissions regulations, which President Trump has derided as “mandatory” for electric vehicles.
President Trump similarly sought to weaken Obama-era emissions regulations during his first term. But the auto industry sidestepped the federal government’s claims, making the point moot. concluded direct agreements with each countrya move that hints at the approach environmentalists may take in his second term. Even before the election, climate change advocates had begun preparing for the possibility that Trump would become president for a second term and abandon the nation’s global diplomatic presence on the issue. reported by bloomberg Officials and former diplomats say the Trump administration has convened secret meetings, crisis simulations and “political war games” aimed at maximizing progress on climate change. The effort will certainly begin in time for COP29, which opens next week in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“The outcome of this election will be a major blow to global climate action,” Christiana Figueres, the UN climate chief from 2010 to 2016, said in a statement. “[But] There is an antidote to doom and despair. It is an action on the ground, and it is happening in every corner of the earth. ”
