Somewhere, Bill Nye is disapprovingly shaking his head in disgust. On the heels of reports that the Gulf of Mexico’s waters are “freakishly warm,” and the rare formation of a subtropical storm in March, news has arrived that President Trump is not terribly worried about humans’ influence on the planet. In fact, he’s planning to make it easier to pollute the planet by stripping away regulations that help preserve what is left.
President Trump is scheduled to sign an executive order on Tuesday that will negate Obama-era policies meant to curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, per a statement from EPA head Scott Pruitt. The move — tabbed as a “pro-growth” order — is already receiving backlash out of fears that it will not only impact the future but also the here-and-now. Many feel the reversal of Obama-era environmental policies that Trump has labeled “stupid” in the past threatens to dethrone the United States as the leader in the global efforts to thwart climate change:
“He’s trying to undo more than a decade of progress in fighting climate change and protecting public health,” David Doniger, director of the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an email. “But nobody voted to abandon America’s leadership in climate action and the clean-energy revolution. This radical retreat will meet a great wall of opposition.”
Trump is on record as saying climate change is a “Chinese hoax” and appears to see climate concerns as minor compared to the pursuit of profits. He’s also vowed to put coal workers back in the mines and to push U.S. oil levels up, while vowing to negate all “job-killing restrictions,” as he describes existing climate change policies.
According to Bloomberg, the new order will ask the Interior Department to lift a moratorium on the sale of new coal leases on federal land. It will also put a hold on an Obama-filed court proceeding that sought to limit future carbon dioxide emissions, negate an EPA rule setting requirements for greenhouse gas emissions for construction of new power plants, and reverse an Interior Department regulation setting mandates on hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells on federal lands.
All for the sake of “jobs,” Trump could potentially do a lot of damage.
(Via Bloomberg)