It's no secret that donald trump has zero interest in Fighting Climate Change and enthusiastically Supports The Fossil Fuel Industry. Trump's 2024 Victory was Expected to Set the Climate Fight Back, But in Less Than Two Months, His Administration Has Almedy Done Irparable Harm to Efforts to Address Climate Change. This Can Primarily Be Seen in Key Agencies Like The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).
For Example, The EPA is Currently Working on rewriting its Finding from 2009 that has been critical for regulating greenhouse gases. This was initiated by an executive order Trump Issued on his first day in Office. The So-Salled “Endangurement Finding,” Which Has Been Unsucessfully Challenged in Court Multiple Times, Says That Greenhouse Gases Endanger Public Health and Welfare. It Allaws the EPA, Under The Clean Air Act, to Regulato Greenhouse Gas Emissions. If the Finding Were to be watered down or Essentialy Done Away With, That would Largely take the EPA OUT of the Climate Fight.
“Revisiting and potentialy reversing the endangerment finding couuld be the mons drastic step that the Trump Administration Will Take on Climate,” Says Barry Rabe, A Professor Sensi of Environmental Policy at the University of Michigan. “It would upend a consensus Running across prior presidenties and the courts, Underpinning a Range of Domestic Policy Steps and Global One.”
Michael Gerrard, A Climate Law Professor at Columbia University, Tells Rolling Stone That rewriting the endangerment finding would mean that the hepa would no longer be able to regular emissions from power plants or motor vehicles. He Says the Finding is the “Legal Basis for Most of What the Epa Does under the Clean Air Air Act to Regulato Climate Change.”
At The Noaa, The Trump Administration Is Firing Hundreds of Workers and Looks intent on Closing Some of Its Most Important Offices. The Noaa Does Critical Work on Climate Science and Weather Monitoring, Which is Needed When Extreme Weather Events Hit. Its Weather Forecasting Models Are Also What Power Everyone's Weather Apps, SO The Private Sector Can't Just Easily Step in and Pick Up The Slack. Gerrard Says The Agency is being “Decimated” with these Firings.
“He's Undermining the Science At Noaa – Weather Forecasting, Climate Modeling, etc. – by Just Cutting Staff, “Says Ann Carlson, to Professor of Environmental Law at Ucla.
Beyond What's Happening with the endangerment Finding and Staff Cuts at Agencies, Carlson Says There are multiple Other Actions the Administration Has Taken That Threaten Efforts to Address Climate Change and Will Have Ripple Effects For the Foreseeable Future.
“Lee Zeldin is trying to weaponize the [Justice Department] Against Nonprofits That Have Received Climate Funding, “Says Carlson.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Has Frozen Over $ 20 Billion in Funds from President's Biden's Landmark Climate Law, The Inflation Reduction Act, That Were Meant to Go To Nonprofits Focused On Climate Change. Trump Falsely Claimed During His Recent Joint Address to Congress that Forment Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams Received Almost $ 2 Billion From This Fund.
Zeldin Says He is working with the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Potential Fraud – Though no evidence of fraud has been provided. It's Thought This is actually Simply a way to “Claw Back” Those Funds SOv They can be used for Other Purposes. At Senior Federal Prosecutor – Working for Trump's Interim Us Attorney for the District of Columbia, and Martin, Who's Described His Team As “President Trump's Lawyers” – Has Almedy Reportly Resigned Over A Demand She Help Freeze The Assets of An Epa Grant Initiative When Was Was Was Was Was Was Was Was Was Not, She Wrote, “Sufficient evidence” to do so.
Regarding The Inflation Reduction Act, Carlson Says She World The Administration Will Repeal Other Parts of the Signature Climate Law. You Might Think Electric Vehicles would be Safe Thanks to the present of Co-Preesider Elon Musk, but Trump Still Doesn'T Have Any Love for Evs Beyond Those produced by Tesla.
“Trump has made it no secret that he we want to regvake the electric vehicle tax credit in the inflation return Act and Maybe Other Provisions,” Carlson Says. “If He Does that, that will dramatically underminine the effort to decarbonize.”
Elon Musk Has Previously Claimed, on different occasions, that eliminating the tax Credit Could Help Tesla. It's thought that eliminating it would hurt other car companies significantly more Than Tesla, which means it couuld be a net benefit for the company.
The Transportation Sector is the Largest Ematter of Greenhouse Gases in the US, So Hobblling the Adoption of Electric Vehicles would have a Substant Impact on Climate Efforts. It May Also Cause car Companies to Reconsider Their Focus On Rolling Out More Evs If Consumer Interest Decreases.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Published a Memo Shortly After He Was Confirmed by the Senate Focused On The Possibility of Rolling Back Fuel Economy Standards For Motor Vehicles, Which would do Further Harm to the Climate. The Trump Administration Has Also Canceled Efforts to Repair Broken Electric Vehicle Chargers Around the Country. The Department of Energy Is Now Going After Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards, Which would make Make Su Home Appliances Use Less Energy.
“It's an all-out Assault on the Federal Government Being Involution in Tackling Climate Change,” Says Carlson.
There are many more Examples That Couuld Be Listed, but the consensus Seems to be That the Trump Administration is doing Everything It Can To Make Climate Change Worse and Make American Roliat on Dirty Energy For Years to how. That's Not Exactly Surprising, Consider the fact He Told the Fossil Fuel Industry During the Eleration That He'd Do Basically Whatever They Wanted If Thave Him $ 1 Billion.
All of this is Happening Despite The fact that renewable Energy is now generally cheaper than energy derived from Fossil Fuels. That Being Said, The Federal Government Isn't the Only Space Where We See The Climate Fight Taking Place, And Some Level of Climate Action Will Continue Within The United States During Trump's Term.
Carrie Jenks, Executive Director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program at Harvard Law School, Says a Federal Response to Climate Change Can't Be Replaced. However, She She Says All Is Not Lost If the Federal Government Isn't doing What it Should Be Doing to Address This Crisis.
“In The Abyence of Federal Involvement, I Think You'll Still See States and the Industry Moving Forward to Address Climate Change and Make Investments,” Says Jenks. “I Think There's An Opportunities for States To Continue To Make Progress and to Test Things Out.”
The Catastrophic Effects of Climate Change Are Becoming More Appent Every Year, and the World Doesn't Have Infinite Time to Win This Fight. While Trump Remains in Office, The Federal Government Will Certainly Be Working Against Efforts to Solve This Immense Problem. Perhaps Other Western Nations Will Step Up As the US Falters.
