The Trump administration’s record on environmental issues is not promising. Trump has not just called climate change a hoax, he’s also acted according to this belief. During his first term, he left the Paris Agreement, relaxed legislation around water and animal protection, drilling, and air pollution and opened the Arctic to the oil and gas industry. What could Trump’s second term mean for the climate?
1. Climate protections & rules
President Trump has said he’ll roll back parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, a major bill signed by Biden that expanded clean energy. (Achieving a repeal will depend on the composition of Congress.) Even more alarming is Trump’s track record of rolling back environmental rules. In his first run in office, he reversed or weakened 112 of them. Examples include removing protections for over half of the country’s wetlands and weakening limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
2. The Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement is a major international treaty that aims to keep global warming below 2°C, signed by 195 countries. It took three years, but he delivered on his promise — Donald Trump managed to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement during his first presidency. Biden rejoined the agreement on his first day as president. Trump’s team has said they would exit the Paris Agreement once again if reelected.
3. Big Oil and Gas
Trump has promised to unlock new lands for drilling, expedite drilling permits, and speed up approval of natural gas pipelines. He also suggested he would restart liquified natural gas exports if elected.
And let’s not forget how much President Trump loves polluting industries:
- Nearly half of Trump’s initial political appointees for positions at the EPA had polluting industry ties.
- Halfway through his first administration, a report found that Trump had nominated 281 lobbyists to serve in appointed positions.
4. Climate denialism
Recently, Donald Trump said that climate change is “one of the great scams of all time” and that the planet “has actually got a bit cooler.” And remember when he put people who don't believe in climate change in charge of protecting the environment during his first presidency? He chose climate denier Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA, and after Pruitt left due to a corruption scandal, Trump picked fossil fuel lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to replace him.
What are climate scientists saying?
“A second Trump presidency is game over for meaningful climate action this decade, and stabilizing warming below 1.5C probably becomes impossible.”
Michael Mann, Climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, The Guardian, October 2024
“There will be a destruction of the Inflation Reduction Action and we will lose pace. It will mean that the signal to the world is, at best, another four years of pause on the action. We don’t have that time.”
Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Financial Times, September 2024
What happens now?
The next few years are make-or-break for climate action. What happens in the US won't just stay in the US — it'll have a ripple effect on climate efforts around the world, potentially shaping our planet's future for generations. The US has to take bold action if we want to avoid climate disaster.
Here are the steps the US should be taking:
- Stop expanding the exploration and exports of oil and natural gas
- Cease funding fossil fuels abroad
- Strengthen its climate targets to be compatible with a 1.5°C trajectory
- Increase international climate finance contributions
- Impose stricter emissions limits in the power and transport sectors
Source: Climate Action Tracker
And what can you do? Continue supporting community initiatives, demand change from your politicians, and donate to environmental orgs. We will continue supporting our partners with tree planting, climate justice, and reforestation: City Plants in Los Angeles, The Bronx is Blooming in New York, American Forests and the Arbor Day Foundation in California and Openlands in Chicago.
