Turning the tide:  A new era of Trump’s climate policies 

With Donald J. Trump set to return to the Oval Office on January 20th 2025, a new era of climate politics is on the horizon. Historically, Trump has made a habit of having a contradictory ‘flip-flop’ approach when making his stance on a political issue clear and his environmentalism is no exception to this. 

Predominantly, Trump is a climate change denialist, having referred to it upon numerous occasions as nothing more than a ‘hoax’, ‘nonexistent’ or a ‘very, very expensive form of tax’. Despite this, in 2009 Trump did sign a political advert appearing in the New York Times which expresses support for legislation combating climate change quoting ‘‘If we fail to act now, it is scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet’. But one quick Look at his twitter / X history realigns one with the reality that any past sympathy Trump may have held for our planet is long gone. 

‘The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese’ Trump’s twitter account 2012 6 Nov

Not to mention his consistent rhetoric of making light of a concerning situation in which he will either jest that any cold weather is evidence enough that climate change is not real or mock those who are taking steps towards change. Take his online outbursts directed at climate activist Greta Thunberg for example, in which he has suggested she has an ‘anger management problem’ and should ‘chill.’ 

During his presidential term of 2017-2021, Trump’s policy only weakened climate action, whilst the majority of the world’s leading countries were setting and meeting their climate targets. One of the most shocking decisions made during this time was Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement after deeming its terms incompatible with his commitment to delivering economic freedom to the American people. A theme which continually halts any hope for climate delivery as ultimately, first and foremost, Trump is defined by his businessman persona and deregulatory agenda; for him climate change policy infringes upon the private lives of Americans. 

Throughout this time, Trump continued to undo much of the progress of his democrat predecessor, Barack Obama, such as cutting his Clean Power Plan which was set to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030 through prohibiting new coal plants. Instead Trump went forward with his Affordable Clean Energy Rule which was used to pacify as in reality it was only reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 1% and allowed him to continue with his ulterior motive, revitalising the coal industry. 

At present, if the evidence is anything to draw from, it would appear that Trump’s 2025-2029 presidential term will be no different than what we have already seen. From what one can gather from his presidential campaign, climate change still remains a non-issue, in fact when asked about it directly in an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump remarked

‘Nobody talks about nuclear…the biggest problem we have in the whole world. It’s not global warming, it’s nuclear warming.’ 

Demonstrating clearly that Trump does not care to discuss climate change at all as he quickly diverted the question in a way which allowed himself to express matters he aligns himself more closely with such as the American military. Additionally, in an almost familiar state of events, it is expected that Trump will yet again withdraw from the Paris Agreement after his democratic predecessor, Joe Biden rejoined it. 

If the allusive project 2025 is anything to go by, we can also expect to see the approval of more oil and gas infrastructure, expected to release billions of tonnes more carbon pollution. Plans are also currently circulating that would suggest Trump will not leave protected areas alone in this pursuit as is made clear in his decision to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to polar bears and caribou, to drilling. 

In the midst of what appears to be a disastrous outcome for America’s climate, it is important to remind oneself that Trump, whilst president, is still just one man. There are climate protections in place which even he cannot penetrate. Undoing significant legislature such as the Inflation Reduction Act which made historic investments in climate action will be impossible to alter without congressional approval. Whatsmore, hope can be found in the federal government and its ability to pass its own climate initiatives beyond Trump’s jurisdiction such as California’s ‘The Great Implementation’ plan, which is set to achieve net zero carbon pollution by 2045.

Words by Libby McGuinness