After being elected on Nov. 5, Former President Donald Trump became the nation’s 47 president. While the main focuses of his campaign were on promising a stronger economy and action on immigration, Trump has also vowed to increase American oil and gas output.
Trump has emphasized that he does not believe in climate change, as reported by a PBS News article on Kamala Harris’s and Trump’s positions regarding climate change from Oct. 17. This is despite the fact that many scientists cite rising global temperatures, melting ice sheets, warming ocean water, rising sea levels and increasing extreme weather events as proof that climate change is, in fact, happening, according to NASA Science. During his first term, Trump withdrew America from the Paris Climate Agreement, a global treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a BBC article from Nov. 4 2020. This action shows that the climate is not a major priority for Trump.
As explained by NPR on Nov. 6, Trump hopes to “boost fossil-fuel production” in his second-term. While this may stimulate American oil production and economic growth, this will also have serious consequences on the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions reached an all-time high last year and mainly come from burning fossil fuels, according to NPR. Higher greenhouse gas emissions will raise global temperatures, which can have many profound climate implications.
Trump does not only want to increase oil production. He also has plans to repeal the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act which has put around $390 billion into clean energy technologies, as reported on by the New York Times on Nov. 6. These efforts to eliminate the environmentally friendly work done by the Biden administration come at a bad time, as scientists warn that the effects of climate change will soon be irreversible. A report written by a team of 14 climate scientists details just how perilous the climate crisis is becoming, as cited in a Yale Climate Connections article on Oct. 30.
While Trump’s presidency will not be friendly to the environment, the U.S. can still transition to clean energy technologies. NPR explains how costs for cleaner technologies are dropping and many companies are under pressure from customers and investors to become cleaner.
Photo credit: “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
