Photo courtesy of Ross Willerth.
Now that President-elect Donald Trump has won the election, there is plenty of speculation on SAU campus regarding the future of environmental policy.
According to the New York Times’ article, “The Trump Administration Rolled Back More Than 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List,” Trump and his administration in his first term rolled back 98 environmental regulations. In the following term President Joe Biden and his administration introduced the Inflation Reduction Act, a 10-year plan and what some call the nation’s biggest movement in fighting man-made climate change in US history.
As Trump prepares to take office once again, he has promised to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, stirring conversation at SAU.
“As an ecologist, I have numerous concerns related to Trump’s environmental policy,” says SAU Professor in Biology and co-chair of the Green Life club Amy Blair. “During his last presidency, his administration rolled back or revoked nearly 100 environmental rules. These rules eased regulations on air pollution/emissions, water pollution, drilling, toxic substances and safety, amongst others.
“Additionally, he made it a priority to withdraw the USA from the Paris climate change agreement, which is currently the planet’s best shot at averting the worst-case scenario with regards to climate change. It is assumed that with Trump back in the oval office in 2024, there will be cuts to investing in green energy, while instead investing heavily in fossil fuels. It seems probable that he will withdraw the USA from the Paris climate change agreement again (Biden rejoined the accord.)”
SAU students also voiced their concerns about Trump’s view on climate change. An SAU senior who wishes to remain anonymous voices her concerns about the future of environmental policy. “Knowing that the president now believes that climate change is a ‘scam’, despite active research proving it is true, is incredibly concerning. Ignorance is scary,” she says.
There is also an argument to be made over whether climate policy should be a responsibility of the federal or state governments. “Environmental policy should be a joint issue, since it affects more than just politics. It affects the next generation of people all over the world. States do have the right to do their own thing, but I think that by making it more of a federal issue, more people could take it seriously,” says the SAU senior.
“I wasn’t surprised by Trump winning the presidency, but I was pleasantly surprised by the margin in which he won over Harris,” says SAU senior MacKenzie Kent, president of the Campus Republicans club. “I personally do not really know what Trump’s top priority will be to address climate policy when he first gets in office. I don’t think it is at the top of his priority list of things to accomplish when he first gets in office compared to the other issues happening domestically and internationally. I think his main policy priorities will be the economy, immigration, foreign policy/wars, etc., and I am unsure of how climate change will play a role in these top priorities.”
When it comes to climate policy being a federal or state issue, Kent doesn’t believe it’s that clear cut. “I think environmental/climate change policy is both a federal and state issue; it depends on the circumstances,” she says. “For international policies/treaties on climate change or the environment from the UN, that requires approval from the federal government.
“However, environmental issues domestically are drastically different depending on what part of the region a state is located. Therefore, it does make more sense that domestic environmental policies should be state issues because an individual state would know how to address the issues they face better than the federal government would.”
The last question we asked students is based on information from The New York Times article, “Clean Energy is Booming in the U.S. The Election Could Change That.” The article states, “It could prove difficult for Mr. Trump to dismantle the law entirely.
Roughly 80 percent of new manufacturing investments has so far flowed to Republican congressional districts, including electric-vehicle plants in Georgia and battery factories in South Carolina, according to Atlas Public Policy. In August, 18 House Republicans wrote a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson asking him to retain key clean-energy tax credits.” Based on this information, students came up with different conclusions to what this might mean for future policy.
“I think the Republican Party will need to find common ground on environmental issues,” says Kent. “Obviously, the world and technology are changing to be more environmentally friendly, thus, policies will need to be created to advance infrastructure opportunities to meet the demands.
“However, I do think a lot of the technology is newer and we do not know the full scope of the outcome of such technology. Therefore, the government should implement environmental policies that have been proven to do more good than harm to the planet and the country.”
Our anonymous senior had similar thoughts. “It’s nice to know that there are some people fighting for the future. I feel like the more people are willing to educate themselves and push against the denial of climate change, the more resistance we will see for policies that could dismantle environmental policies.”
However, if no common ground can be found and the policies are repealed, what could this mean for our planet? “Climate change will impact all of us eventually,” says Dr. Blair. “We can expect to see increased food prices due to longer droughts, heavier storms, and more frequent and damaging fires negatively impacting agriculture.
“We are seeing increased home insurance costs as more frequent intense storms occur with a warmed atmosphere. Some coastal regions of the country will become uninhabitable as sea levels rise and insurance agencies stop insuring homes near the coasts.
“The time to take historic and unprecedented action to mitigate climate change is now, and I hope the administration listens to the science and considers the urgency of the situation.”
Ross Willerth is a staff writer for The Buzz.
