As he has said countless times before, President Trump does not believe in climate change. Many times has he tweeted that “we need more global warming” during our winter storms (while ignoring the mass flooding and heatwaves in Australia). Since he sees no threat from greenhouse gases, he sees no need not to use fossil fuels as a backbone for our economy.

One of the biggest goals of the GOP, and Trump, is for the United States to be a global powerhouse in terms of energy exports. Trump mentioned this in his State of the Union Address last week, which didn’t mention climate change or any other environmental problems, and he constantly mentioned the “war on coal” during his campaign season. I do agree that energy is important, the United States shouldn’t have to kowtow to the Middle East for every drop of oil but there are alternatives to raping the United States land of all fossil fuels.

Of course Trump has seen some of the advancements being done in the renewable sector, specifically offshore wind and has left them alone, but is setting up offshore drilling all along the east coast in the same areas. So far there hasn’t been any conflicts but there is still time. Trump lifted almost all of the regulations that were implemented for offshore drilling after the Gulf Oil Spill, saving oil companies almost a billion dollars in offshore drilling expenses. The potential for another offshore oil spill hasn’t been this high in decades. Within the first few months of his presidency, Trump allowed for the reconstruction of the Keystone Pipeline, dropping a massive amount of regulations and within several weeks there was an oil spill, destroying the native ecosystems and Native American lands. 

Conservationists have been arguing that all of this infrastructure in the oceans will disrupt wildlife, especially for the North Atlantic right whale. This species of whale is critically endangered, with less than 500 whales alive today, and calls the United States eastern seaboard home. All whales use echolocation to communicate, eat, and mate. The SONAR systems used to detect sources of oil are extremely disruptive to echolocation systems of whales and can destroy the populations of North Atlantic right whales that are finally beginning to increase after centuries of whaling. Of course when this problem was brought to former Secretary of State Zinke, he prioritized fossil fuels over wildlife.

In order to increase the United States energy output, Trump has added tarifs to many international sources of energy including a 30% tariff on solar panels, which has impacted the solar industry severely. Two solar projects were both cancelled or stalled and worth over 2.5 billion dollars!

Everyone knows about Trump’s controversial decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, but Trump has also rolled back Obama-era restrictions on industrial and transportational greenhouse gas inputs, lowered methane regulations and given most regulatory power back to the states, which allows oil producing states to practically have no restrictions. Trump has also declawed the Clean Power Plan, with his reason being the “war on coal”.

Although Trump promises increases on infrastructure he has also removed an Obama executive order that required construction to accommodate new buildings for rising sea levels. Trump’s infamous wall will also cut through several national land preserves, fracturing the already fractured habitats of dozens of endangered species. 

One of the things that the United States prides itself in is its national parks. As a developed nation, we have the luxury of having the funds to spend on land conservation and the creation and upkeep of national parks. Most countries don’t have the funds available to allocate for protecting bundles of biodiversity within the nation. Our national parks are something that the United States should be protecting. One of the first decisions Trump passed as an executive order as president was to strip Bears Ears National Monument to 16% of its original size and Grand Staircase-Escalante to less than half its original size. These lands will soon be infested with mining companies to strip all the resources from this unprotected land and then hunters will decimate the once protected populations and afterwords construction companies will build buildings, factories or homes. These lands were also important for native American history, archaeological sites and paleontological sites. Secretary Zinke has also placed over two dozen other national parks and protected lands under review for potentially reducing in size. In his tax plan, drilling was also opened up in Yukon National Park in Alaska, one of the last patches of wilderness untouched by man. Trump has also passed legislation to increase logging in protected areas, and has dropped climate change as a national security threat. Although this might seem like a title, climate change research funding will drop exponentially now if it isn’t considered a national security threat.

Endangered species are facing major threats from humans and their one defense is the Endangered Species Act. The ESA has helped stabilize many populations of plants and animals that are facing extinction by restricting industry, construction and human interventions. These limitations are extremely irritating for many conservatives and businesses, in response Trump and Zinke have been trying to weaken the ESA significantly so that if this endangered species interferes with economy or business, they are prioritized over the species. The Obama administration strengthened the ESA and passed laws so that if an American hunter went abroad and hunted and killed an endangered species, they wouldn’t be allowed to enter the country with their trophy. Zinke overturned most of these regulations claiming that hunting increases conservation knowledge and can be used as a tool for illegal poaching prevention.

There is a council known as the International Wildlife Conservation Council that is responsible for the conservation of wildlife across the planet and limiting Americans poaching abroad. This council, filled by Zinke and Trump, is a majority hunters and people who have donated to the Trump Organization or Campaign. Of the 33 lion permits given by this council, more than half of the recipients donated to the Trump organization or to the council directly. The Trump Administration promised to drain the swamp but yet almost everyone that Trump has appointed to the EPA or Department of the Interior or other environmental government branches don’t believe in climate change and are willing to grow our economy by sacrificing our planet and its inhabitants.

In my previous blog, I posted about the forms of renewable energy that are available today. I didn’t talk about forms of energy that are still experimental such as nuclear fusion or several prominent biofuel research fields since they are still not effective enough to make a difference in the environment at the moment.

Not only is renewable energy better for the environment, but it is also better for the economy. During the last 2 years of the Obama Administration, jobs in the renewable energy sector have increased over 35%. Plummeting prices in renewable energy technologies are causing energy prices to drop substantially. As a result, many  companies are jumping on board. Biomass, hydropower, geothermal, and onshore wind are all competitive with or cheaper than coal, oil and gas-fired power stations, even without financial support and despite falling oil prices. Renewable energy is less mechanized than fossil fuels as it requires more installation. Solar cell installation employs the highest number of workers compared to other forms of renewable energy. The entire coal industry employed 160,000 people in 2016. The solar industry employed 260,000 people and hydroelectric industry another 66,000 people. Renewable energy development creates thousands of long-term, high-paying jobs in fields such as turbine component manufacturing, construction and installation, maintenance and operations, legal and marketing services, transportation and logistical services, and more. Not only do these jobs encourage higher education, they are significantly less harmful for your health compared to working in most fossil fuel jobs. Wind and solar energy also give farmers a second income as they have access to large open swaths of land that are perfect for photovoltaic cells and windmills, also decreasing the need for government subsidies. To harness wind, solar, tidal or biomass energy, there’s no need for mining or fracking, the materials are infinite and at our disposal whenever we need them. Although most of these forms of renewable energy have high initial start up costs, many companies receive government subsidies, donations or large loans they can pay off quickly due to the high energy yield. Residents who own solar panels will break even on their investment after 5-10 years, afterward they receive free electricity and sometimes make a profit. Indirectly, businesses and individuals will prosper financially as prices for renewable energy are cheaper than conventional methods. Houses are more marketable when they have solar panels installed. Renewable energy prices are more stable than fossil fuels that are manipulated by Middle Eastern monopolies and are finite, and estimated to run out in 50 years.

Before the Trump Administration, the renewable energy sector was growing rapidly. Since 2010, dozens of coal and petroleum generators in have been retired while dozens of wind farms are being built and proposed in upstate New York. In many states, rebates and tax credits are being granted to residential buildings that install solar panels. Many towns, are encouraging local, private farms, especially sod farmers, to construct solar farms on their property. The town will then buy the renewable energy and it will distributed by the local electric companies to their residents.

We should always attempt to conserve energy, not only is it good for the environment but for our wallets as well. Planting trees, installing ceiling and attic fans, fixing leaky faucets, running dishwashers and washing machines only on full loads, switching to fluorescent bulbs, microwaving meals, and installing solar panels (after getting through the initial cost) all save people money through saving electricity.

One of the biggest projects now is the construction of offshore wind farms on the eastern seaboard. I lived on Long Island my entire life so I know a lot about this project. The Long Island Power Authority recently approved the South Fork Wind Farm, the largest offshore wind farm in the country. The 15, 600-foot tall windmills plan to provide power to over 50,000 homes in Long Island. The 256 acre property on the Long Island Sound has the potential for 200 windmills for future expansion. South Fork Wind Farm is projected to be operational by 2022, and will triple the size of the Rhode Island wind farm which is currently the largest operational offshore wind farm in the nation. The coastal winds, if fully harnessed, could produce 4 times the total energy produced by the country to date. To meet his REV projections of 50% renewable energy by 2030, Governor Cuomo is expecting this wind farm to generate as much energy as the Niagara Falls generating station. Seven other parcels of ocean territory have been granted to construct these wind farms in other states on the eastern seaboard from South Carolina to Massachusetts, including another parcel off of the coast of Jones Beach in Long Island. Another new renewable energy project being tested in New York is the RITE Project. The Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Program, located in the East Channel of the East River in New York City. It is the first official tidal power project in the United States. Although a prototype, the 6 underwater tidal turbines successfully generated energy during the highest and lowest periods of the tide in the East River. In the 9,000 hours of operation, the project produced 70 megawatt hours of energy (the equivalent of powering 10,000 people) and the company is hoping to expand and use this as a practical way to power sectors of New York City.

As you can see, renewable energy is a wealth of untapped energy that has the potential of decimating the globe’s massive carbon footprint. The biggest problem the renewable energy sector faces is the fossil fuel industry and the Trump Administration. The fossil fuel industry is so powerful that it severely hinders the growth of renewable energy by influencing politicians to encourage fossil fuels and regulate renewables. My next blog post will cover the Trump Administration and how they have directly affected our environment and their views on climate change.