It’s no secret that Donald Trump there is no interest in it Climate change to fight. It enthusiastically supports the fossil fuel industry. It was expectedthat Trump’s victory would throw back the fight against climate change in 2024. But in less than two months, his government has already caused irreparable damage to the efforts to combat climate change. This is particularly evident in important authorities such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
So Working the EPA, for example, currently in a new version of their deciding factory for the regulation of greenhouse gases. initiated. In the so -called “risk assessment”, which were unsuccessful several times was contestedit is said that greenhouse gases endanger public health and the common good. It allows the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as part of the Clean Air Act. If the result was watered down or essentially lifted, the EPA would largely remove this from the fight against climate change.
“The review and possible cancellation of the endangerment finding could be the most drastic step that the Trump administration will take with regard to climate change,” says Barry Rabe, emeritus professor of environmental policy at the University of Michigan. “It would turn a consensus upside down that extends over earlier presidencies and dishes. And underpinned a number of domestic and global steps. “
The private sector cannot just step in and close the gap
Michael Gerrard, professor of climate law at Columbia University, explains to Rolling Stonethat a new version of the endangerment would mean that the EPA would no longer be able to regulate the emissions of power plants or motor vehicles. He says that the result is the “legal basis for the most of what the EPA does as part of the Clean Air Act to regulate climate change”.
At the NOAA disgusted The Trump government hundreds of employees. Donald Trump seems determined to close some of her most important offices. The NOAA does important work in the areas of climate science and Weather monitoringthat is needed in extreme weather events. Your weather forecast is also the basis for all weather apps. The private sector cannot just step in and close the gap. Gerrard says that the agency is “decimated” by these layoffs.
$ 20 billion frozen
“He undermines science at NOAA – weather forecasts, climate models, etc. – by simply breaking down staff,” says Ann Carlson, professor of environmental law at UCLA.
Apart from the events in connection with the endangerment Finding and the reduction in personnel in the authorities, there are numerous other government measures that endanger the efforts to combat climate change. And will have an impact in the foreseeable future.
“”Lee Zeldin tries that [Justizministerium] To use non -profit organizations that have received climate finance, ”says Carlson.
The head of the US environmental protection authority (EPA), Lee Zeldin, has over $ 20 billion in funds from President Biden’s pioneering climate law, the inflation reduction act, frozen. They were intended for non -profit organizations with a focus on climate change. Trump mistake wrongly During his recent speech to the congress that the former Governor candidate from Georgia, Stacey Abrams, had received almost $ 2 billion from this fund.
No evidence of fraud
Zeldin says he works with the Ministry of Justice and the FBI to examine possible fraud. Although no evidence of fraud was presented. It is believed that this is actually only one way to “reclaim” these funds. So that they can be used for other purposes. A senior public prosecutor who for Trump’s Interim-US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, who is his team as “President Trump’s lawyers” has already been referred to their office laid down. The reason: she was asked to freeze the assets of an EPA funding initiative. Although, as she wrote, there was “not enough evidence” for it.
With regard to the inflation reduction law, Carlson says that the government fears that the government will repeal other parts of the Climate Protection Act. One might think that electric vehicles were safe thanks to the presence of Co-President Elon Musk. But Trump still has no love for electric vehicles that are not made by Tesla.
“Trump has made no secret of the fact that he wants to cancel the tax credit for electric vehicles as part of the inflation reduction act and maybe other provisions,” says Carlson. “If he does this, this will dramatically undermine the efforts for a decarbonization.”
Tesla waves a net profit
Elon Musk already has on different occasions claims that that the abolition of the tax credit could help Tesla. It will Assuming that The abolition of other car manufacturers would damage significantly more than Tesla, which means that it could be a net profit for the company.
The transport sector is that greatest Damaker of greenhouse gases in the USA. A disability of the introduction of electric vehicles would have a significant impact on climate protection efforts. It could also lead to car manufacturers rethink their focus on the introduction of more electric vehicles. If consumers are wins.
Minister of Transport Sean Duffy published shortly after his confirmation by the Senate Memorandum. In it, he deals with the possibility of withdrawing the fuel consumption standards for motor vehicles. What would cause further damage to the climate. The Trump government also has the efforts broken off, Repair defective chargers for electric vehicles across the country. The Ministry of Energy is now striving Standards for the energy efficiency of devices. You should make sure that household appliances use less energy.
Dependence on dirty energy – beyond years
“It is a frontal attack on the Federal Government’s efforts to combat climate change,” says Carlson.
There are many other examples that could be cited. But there seems to be agreement that the Trump government does everything in its power to make climate change worse. And to make the Americans dependent on dirty energy for years. This is not exactly surprising. Alone when you consider that it is the fossil fuel industry during the election campaign promisedthat he would basically do everything they wanted. If you would give him a billion dollars.
Despite the fact that renewable energies are now usually done are cheaper as energy from fossil fuels. Apart from that, the federal government is not the only area in which we see the fight against climate change. And there will also be a certain level of climate protection measures in the United States during Donald Trump’s term.
Now it depends on other nations
Carrie Jenks, managing director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program at the Harvard Law School, says that a reaction from the Federal Government to climate change cannot be replaced. However, she says that not everything is lost. Even if the federal government does not do what it should do to cope with this crisis.
“I think that the states and industry will tackle climate change and make investments even without the Federal Government’s participation,” says Jenks. “I think there is the opportunity for the states to continue to make progress. And try things. “
The catastrophic effects of climate change become clearer from year to year. The world does not have an infinite amount of time to win this fight. As long as Donald Trump is in office, the federal government will surely work against efforts to solve this immense problem. Perhaps other western nations will jump into the breach when the United States weakens.