Climate Change & The Presidency of Donald Trump

If you’ve been following the headlines over the past few days, it’s likely you’ve seen that Donald Trump has signed executive orders about two different pipelines in the United States. One of these orders calls for TransCanada to resubmit a proposal for the Keystone XL Pipeline. It does not, however, specifically call for the pipeline to be build or even for the proposal to be approved, because that is beyond the scope of power of an executive order.

The second of these orders calls for the review of the environmental impact of the Dakota Access Pipeline to be expedited. Once again, this order makes no claim that the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline will occur, but opens a faster road to this outcome.

These two pipelines have been important symbols for climate action, leading to distress about the Executive Orders by climate activists. However, at the same time, the environmental impact of these pipelines would be relatively small. In fact, the completion of these pipelines would result in a less than 1 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Climate change activists are far more concerned about what these executive orders represent than the damage they will actually do. They show that Donald Trump will be relentless with removing environmental protections in order to create jobs.

Of course, these orders also come as no surprise. The President is the same man who once tweeted:

During his entire candidacy, it was well known he was a climate change denier. Climate activists urged for individuals to consider the environment in their vote and as such vote for Hillary Clinton, but ultimately lost in their battle. Trump ignored science and called to remove previous policies about climate change.

Trump’s first 100 days plan released at the end of October made it clear that he had no tolerance for climate change action that got in the way of American jobs. The plan outlines the following as actions to be completed on his first day of office:

* FIFTH, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.

* SIXTH, lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward

* SEVENTH, cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure,”

These plans have the noble goal of protecting American workers, but represent an extreme threat to current climate change legislation that is responding to a very immediate and real danger. Creating the Keystone XL Pipeline would likely only lead to 35 permanent jobs.

The executive orders on these pipelines are only one of a number of motions by the President that worry individuals concerned about climate change. An EPA media blackout paired with the disallowing of any future grants or contracts has lead to fear about what could come next.

Concern about Donald Trump’s presidency and its effects on climate change have been expressed since his election. Although he has not yet gone through with all his promises on canceling current climate change legislation, it seems like efforts are imminent. Upon becoming president, the Trump Administration removed the climate change page on whitehouse.gov, replacing it with “An America First Energy Plan.”

Speculation on the wide reaching effects of Donald Trump’s proposed policies result in a bleak outcome. It is predicted that a lack of climate action during the next four years could result in dangerous amounts of warming. Due to the dependency of other countries on funding from the United States to follow the protocol under the Paris Agreement, it is likely other countries would back out of the agreement if the United States refused to comply. Cutting regulations made by the EPA on clean energy would also lead to huge amounts of greenhouse gas emission. Donald Trump is currently the only world leader who denies climate change entirely.

In response to the President’s lack of awareness to the detrimental effects of further climate change, some individuals are experience a strong depression at what is being lost. Eric Holthaus, a climate scientist and journalist, tweeted the following earlier in January:

He is not alone in this response, but other individuals still hope a call to action will help.

A movement to host a March for Science in Washington DC has recently emerged, with a goal to bring awareness to the necessity of acknowledging modern science in politics. Among the many issues these scientists will march for, the climate is perhaps the most prolific and important. A date has not yet been proposed, but more information will be announced on Monday.

It is important to know how climate policies or lack thereof may hurt our environment in irreversible ways. According to current science, climate change is not something that can be ignored. Immediate action is needed to take care of the environment. Unfortunately, Trump’s Presidency may contribute to altering our planet beyond repair.

 

Further Reading/Sources:
What President Trump Will Mean for Earth’s Climate
Trump issues EPA media blackout and suspends agency’s grants
Donald Trump and the Order of the Pipelines
Trump Revives Keystone Pipeline Rejected by Obama
In Davos, Bracing for a Shifting U.S. Stance on Climate Change
A Bad Day for the Environment, With Many More To Come
Here Is What Donald Trump Wants To Do In His First 100 Days
An America First Energy Plan
Our Existential Climate Fears
March for Science

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