With the entrance of president-elect Donald Trump into the Oval Office in Jan. 2025, Americans can expect sweeping changes, and especially so for climate policies.
In his campaign, Trump stated that he intends to eliminate all Biden administration regulations to cut carbon emissions and reduce fossil fuel use. He further plans to repeal the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, a hallmark climate law of the Biden administration.
This does not come as a surprise, as he made significant rollbacks during his first term. For one, he withdrew from the Paris climate agreement and replaced the Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule.
Upon withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, Trump stated that the country must “reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse.”
While Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, it could have astronomical impacts on climate change if implemented. Project 2025 aims to overhaul the federal government, especially agencies related to environmental and energy policies.
Given his strong stance that climate change is a hoax, Trump intends to fill his staff with individuals with a similar mindset.
Trump recently announced that former United States representative Lee Zeldin will be nominated to head the Environmental Protection Agency, though he has been widely criticized for his negative views towards climate laws.
Sherwood High School junior Katie Angulo worries about the impacts Trump and his administration will have on policies. “Climate change will worsen due to their actions and activities,” she said.
Members on both sides of the aisle have gained some common ground, as a 2019 Pew Research study reported that 52% of young Republicans believe the government was doing too little to lessen the impacts of climate change, and more Republicans increasingly believe in climate change.
Likely due to shifts such as this, Trump pivoted slightly on his approach in 2020, stating that he is “an environmentalist… I want the cleanest water on the planet. I want the cleanest air everywhere.”
Nevertheless, he still continues to make false claims, even stating that the Earth was cooling on multiple occasions.
In addition to this, Trump’s administration will mark a serious change from President Joe Biden’s administration, as their priorities and agenda differ vastly.
One of Trump’s main priorities includes boosting the economy, and one of his policies is to drill for more oil and gas. In early September, Trump said that on “Day 1, I will approve new drilling, new pipelines, new refiners, new power plants, [and] new reactors.” Trump’s administration plans to lessen restrictions along with this.
Trump has previously stated that their administration will only cut “totally unnecessary regulation.”
Given Trump’s emphasis on the economy, it is important to note that U.S. adults are divided equally on the economic impacts of climate policies, with 34% each stating that the policies help and hurt the economy in a recent Pew Research study. Others are more worried about impacts on the Earth, with 73% in that study saying that climate change news has saddened them.
Written by Nisha Khatri
Graphic by Yara Barony