Starting in January 2017 , Donald Trump will sit in the White House oval office to make all sorts of decisions. One of the biggest concerns after his victory is climate change. How will Trump’s policy affect the already established agreements on climate change?
Despite all the existing data about the effects of climate change, President-elect Donald Trump has questioned it and criticized the steps the Obama administration took to combat it. Trump has vowed to “cancel” the recently approved Paris agreement to curb global warming, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) climate regulations, including the Clean Power Plan to reduce emissions from power plants.
About the Paris agreement
The United States had committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 28% below 2005 levels by 2025. The truth is that it cannot immediately withdraw from the agreement, but it could do so in 2020.
According to journalist Paul Voosen, Trump could go for a more drastic option. It could prompt the United States to immediately send a written notification to the United Nations Secretary-General informing it of its departure from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. His exit would be effective in a year, as indicated in an article published in the journal Science . This measure would not end the Paris agreement, but it would seriously undermine it.
The Clean Energy Plan
According to Jody Freeman, director of the Environmental Law Program at Harvard Law School (USA), the Trump administration could more easily block or reduce the regulations of the Clean Power Plan, including limits on greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse, so it is not surprising that the oil and gas lobbies support the new president who is also betting on the use of coal (what Trump calls “saving the coal industry”).
However, as Trump’s team takes over, it won’t be as easy to change this energy plan and other climate regulations that have already gone through lengthy review and deliberation processes. It is not about issuing a simple executive order. Any change in regulations would face legal challenges from environmental groups and other groups.
Whether or not he can carry out all these initiatives, it is clear that his election represents a huge setback in the involvement of the leading economic power in the fight against climate change.
