The Impact of Trump's Executive Orders on Sustainability

On his first day back in office, US President Donald Trump has hit the ground running, issuing several executive orders.
These directives, which hold the impact of law unless overturned by succeeding presidents or judicial decisions, address a range of issues from national emergencies to societal definitions.
They include declaring a national emergency at the southern border with Mexico, alongside a mandate to prevent government censorship.
He has also pardoned 1,600 individuals involved in the 2021 Capitol march.
In a move stoking much debate, President Trump asserts that the US will acknowledge only two genders: male and female.
Andrew Flanagan, CEO RWE Clean Energy, says: “Today marks the beginning of a new term for President Trump. We at RWE Clean Energy look forward to working with the new administration to shape a great future for our country.
“As America looks to the future under a new administration, the need to power our nation with reliable, homegrown energy has never been greater. Our company stands ready to help deploy energy generation across the country to meet our nation’s growing energy demand.”
Some of Trump's most divisive directives pertain to climate policies...
Pulling out of the Paris Agreement... again
Enacting one of the more consequential movements, Trump opts out of the Paris climate agreement for a second time.
This international accord aims to cap global temperature rise. Trump originally withdrew in 2017, later reinstated under President Joe Biden in 2021.
Along with the retraction, a letter is set to be dispatched to the United Nations explaining this decisive move.
Proclaiming a national energy emergency
In what he labels a national energy emergency, the intention surprisingly isn't to champion clean energy but to endorse a fossil-fuel agenda.
Using the phrase "drill, baby, drill," Trump's order emphasises replenishing strategic oil reserves and explores oil and natural gas potential in Alaska, sparking significant debate regarding the continued reliance on conventional energy sources.
Terminating the Green New Deal
Another executive order stops the progress of the Green New Deal — a series of policies from the Biden era aimed at promoting green jobs and curbing pollution.
Trump's order insists on ceasing funds which were sectioned under the Inflation Reduction Act and related infrastructure and jobs legislation.
This even extends to ending renewable energy ventures such as wind farms and the revocation of mandates on electric vehicles.
Community response: Shock and endurance
This suite of orders has inevitably led to a varied array of reactions.
Disappointment and defiance resonate among critics and supporters of stringent climate measures.
Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy, says: “Science is our guidepost. That is why we will continue to honour the Paris Agreement goals and will help the US do its part.
“We have years not decades and the warmer the temperature gets, the more immense the consequences.
“The US is the world's largest historical greenhouse gas emitter and has a critical role to play. The world needs the US to be a leader on climate.”
Andreas Rasche, Professor and Associate Dean at Copenhagen Business School, adds: “Before signing the EO, Trump said: ‘I'm immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris climate accord rip-off’.
“What he forgets: climate change does not care whether he thinks this agreement is a rip-off — climate change is basic physics and it will continue.
“The EO argued that such agreements ‘do not reflect our country’s values’ and that they also do not reflect the ‘pursuit of economic and environmental objectives’.
“Hopefully, Americans will remember these statements when more frequent and intense extreme weather events — hurricanes, wildfires — occur and create enormous economic costs.”
Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, continues: “The global clean energy boom — worth US$2tn last year alone and rising fast — is the economic growth deal of the decade.
“Embracing it will mean massive profits, millions of manufacturing jobs and clean air.
“Ignoring it only sends all that vast wealth to competitor economies, while climate disasters like droughts, wildfires and superstorms keep getting worse, destroying property and businesses, hitting nation-wide food production, and driving economy-wide price inflation.
“The door remains open to the Paris Agreement, and we welcome constructive engagement from any and all countries.”
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