Trump and the environment

By Leah Dunlevy

While President Donald Trump’s “unpolitical” posturing remains a highly emphasized element of his presidency, he has subtly but effectively dismantled dozens of environmental regulations. Trump’s environmental policies received attention during the well-known Keystone crisis and most recently, in his reduction of Utah’s federally protected land, but has generally received less thorough coverage in comparison to his social and political stances.

Trump immediately began his rollback of Obama-era environmental policies with a top-down replacement of head environmental officials. Trump’s top environmental pick for the White House, Kathleen Harnett White, has long denounced the connection between human activity and climate change. At her confirmation hearing, she claimed that climate scientists had an “incredible difference of opinion.” Her arguments do little in the way of placating her opposition on the left, who cite that 97 percent of publishing climate scientists agree that climate warming trends are likely attributable to human activity. She further refuted the UN and climate activists as promoting an “all powerful government” that would eliminate democracy. Trump further inflamed the climate debate by selecting Andrew Wheeler, previously a coal industry lobbyist, to serve as the deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Trump has also sought the reversal of current or proposed environmental rules and regulations. An analysis by the New York Times in October 2017 revealed that Trump has attempted to reverse more than 52 environmental policies, 19 of which are currently in progress and 25 of which have already been repealed. The elimination of regulations have occurred as a result of petitions by oil, coal and gas companies among other lobbying industries. Included among his repeals are previous laws that included protection of whales and sea turtles and the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews.

While Trump’s environmental policies have been supported by industry officials, a majority of Americans oppose the administration’s environmental deregulation. A Quinnipiac poll found that 61 percent of Americans oppose repealing current climate regulations. On April 29, marking the hundredth day of Trump’s time in office, nearly 200,000 people marched in Washington, D.C. in protest of Trump’s environmental policies. Trump’s actions have international implications as well. Trump is currently working on the withdrawal of U.S. involvement in the Paris climate agreement. Without U.S. leadership, substantive discussions on mitigating climate change will likely be futile in the future.