“I terminated the ridiculous and incredibly wasteful Green New Deal — I call it the “Green New Scam”; withdrew from the one-sided Paris climate accord; and ended the insane and costly electric vehicle mandate. We’re going to let people buy the car they want to buy.” (- Donald Trump, teleconference address to World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland)
The article from Bloomberg’s Green Daily, “Trump’s Climate Whiplash, came with the subtitle, “President Donald Trump’s nonstop stream of executive orders this week and what they mean for US climate progress.” The article follows verbatim given Trump’s immediate unmasking of climate alarm and reset from forced energy transformation. “Trump’s Week One ended with a heap of [seven] climate rollbacks,” Bloomberg Green began.
President Donald Trump wasted no time in laying the groundwork for a sweeping anti-climate agenda, signing a series of executive orders just hours after being sworn into office that seek to unravel former President Joe Biden’s policies and double down on fossil fuel extraction.
Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. That was just the beginning. The rest of the week brought even more executive orders, vows to shrink or dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency and more. “It is all happening very fast,” says Michael Burger, executive director of Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.
The dizzying pace of announcements gives the impression that the nation’s entire climate landscape has changed in less than a week, even when that’s not entirely true, explains Burger. While much has indeed happened, he says, “lots of these things are not actually doing what they sound like they’re doing — they’re telling others to look into things and come back with a plan to pursue a broad policy.”
Ultimately, whether or not most things take effect and then stay in place will likely be determined in the courts. Here’s a quick overview of some of the most notable climate-related actions so far: Paris Agreement exit In one of Trump’s first acts, he signed an order directing the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the deal that nearly 200 countries signed to rein in greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophic warming. Trump did this the last time he was in office too, and no other country followed. It will take at least a year for the move to become official.
Environmental leaders have decried the withdrawal, which could give other blocs and nations, especially China, more leverage in global climate talks. Trump also revoked the US International Climate Finance plan, which had directed billions to help other countries respond to climate impacts.
Paris Agreement Exit
In one of Trump’s first acts, he signed an order directing the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the deal that nearly 200 countries signed to rein in greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophic warming. Trump did this the last time he was in office too, and no other country followed. It will take at least a year for the move to become official. Environmental leaders have decried the withdrawal, which could give other blocs and nations, especially China, more leverage in global climate talks.
Trump also revoked the US International Climate Finance plan, which had directed billions to help other countries respond to climate impacts.
IRA Spending Paused
Via executive order, Trump directed agencies to “immediately pause” and review the spending of money through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, two major Biden-era laws. The next day, the administration clarified that the pause only relates to energy-related programs, including ones tied to renewable energy and electric vehicle charging but not, say, bridges or highways. The pause is expected to last 90 days, after which federal officials have been directed to share their reviews with the White House and provide recommendations on next steps to take.
It’s unclear what will happen after the pause, and climate experts say there are sure to be legal fights over any attempts to claw back spending.
Electric Vehicles Targeted
As part of his broader energy order, Trump ordered his administration to look into the elimination of subsidies and other policies supporting electric vehicles. In particular, he stated his interest in terminating “state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles.” This signals Trump is looking to renew his first-term challenge of California’s ability to limit gas-powered car sales.
Some Wind and Solar Project Approvals Halted
The Interior Department on Monday ordered a 60-day halt in approval of leases, rights of way and other authorizations tied to wind and solar projects on federal lands and waters. In a separate move, Trump signed an executive order, also on Monday, that temporarily halts permitting for new offshore wind projects. Trump has been vocal about his dislike of wind for years, and experts anticipated his targeting of the energy source this time around.
LNG Export Ban Lifted
In sharp contrast to his actions on renewable energy and electric vehicles, Trump immediately moved to lift a Biden-era ban on new liquefied natural gas export licenses. In late December, the Biden administration released a study finding additional exports would raise natural gas prices for US consumers and worsen global warming. Trump similarly revoked offshore oil and gas leasing bans, though it’s unclear how soon new offshore lease sales would occur.
Environmental Justice Dropped
Trump not only overturned Biden-era executive orders directing federal agencies to further consider environmental justice in everything they do, but revoked a 1994 Clinton-era executive order on the issue. The impacts of these rollbacks are tricky to determine: This is partly because agencies may have built environmental justice considerations into their regulations, and undoing that could require new, slow regulatory changes, notes Alice Kaswan, a law professor at the University of San Francisco. One clear immediate impact, though, is the expected shuttering of various environmental justice offices and positions across government.
American Climate Corps Cancelled
Biden created the American Climate Corps, a program designed to get young people working in climate-related starter jobs across the country. This week, Trump dissolved it. It’s unclear if and how this affects people already in jobs they got through the program, which didn’t start from scratch but was built from and embedded within an existing network of job programs run by state and national partners.
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January 25, 2025 at 11:56AM
