The Future of American Environmental Policy: 4 Major Changes Made by the Trump Administration

     After only a few days, President Donald Trump's second term has already brought about a slew of changes, many of which are highlighted in the whopping 26 executive orders he signed on January 20th. Quite a few of the orders will impact the environment, and substantial changes can be expected in energy production, automobile emission regulations, climate change, and more. 

Looking back…

     In addition to the initial actions taken during his second term, Trump’s chaotic first term provides an example of the environmental deregulation that can be expected over the next four years. Between 2017 and 2021, he rolled back over 100 environmental rules, including the Clean Power Plan, Endangered Species Act, and more (Nadja et al.). On top of that, he withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement and decreased the size and authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Gibbens).

     Trump’s disregard for environmental policies during his first term took a significant toll on America’s natural world, and his second term is unlikely to be different. According to a scientific analysis done by Carbon Brief, Trump’s second presidency could result in the production of an extra 4 billion metric tons of US emissions by 2030 when compared to what would have likely been generated during a second Biden presidency (Carbon Brief). For context, this amount of emissions is equivalent to that produced by the entire European Union and Japan every year (Carbon Brief). 

    Unfortunately, it is abundantly clear that the Trump Administration is unlikely to bring many benefits to the environment, if any. So, let's take a look at four prominent environmental changes to brace for in the near future. 

Change 1: Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

     Just like during his first term, Trump opted to immediately withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on January 20th. The Paris Agreement is an international treaty aimed at “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and, more specifically, “limiting the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels” (United Nations). The goals are in place to reduce the negative environmental impacts that surpassing the temperature increase thresholds may cause, such as frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves, and storms (United Nations). The treaty was agreed upon by 196 countries at the 2015 UN Climate Conference in Paris, all of whom concurred to make the necessary changes in their respective countries to help reduce global temperatures (United Nations).

     However, Trump has chosen to—for a second time—have the United States join the three other countries not participating in the agreement. He announced this decision in an executive order titled Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements, where he argued that the Paris Agreement’s negative effect on America’s economy is not justifiable. He also highlighted his main goal, which is to continually “put the interests of the United States and the American people first,” rather than focusing on global environmental issues, no matter how pressing. 

     As one of the world’s leading countries, America’s departure from the agreement does not set a glowing example, especially since there is abundant evidence proving that global temperatures are, in fact, steadily rising. For instance, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shared its finding that “Earth’s average land and ocean surface temperature in 2024 was 2.32 degrees F (1.29 degrees C) above the 20th-century average—the highest global temperature among all years in NOAA’s 1850-2024 climate record.” With global warming reaching an evident peak, Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement could not be more untimely. 

     Other experts are equally concerned about Trump’s choice. In a statement, World Resources Institute President and CEO Ani Dasgupta announced, “Every year, far too many US communities are bombarded with deadly wildfires, floods, and hurricanes that know no borders. At the same time, the transition to a low-carbon economy is already underway. Walking away from the Paris Agreement won’t protect Americans from climate impacts, but it will hand China and the European Union a competitive edge in the booming clean energy economy and lead to fewer opportunities for American workers.” Dasgupta brings up the point that while leaving the agreement will obviously set the United States up to experience more devastating natural disasters in the future, it will also cause the country to miss out on the clean energy industry. This means that withdrawing may not benefit America’s economy as much as Trump presumes. Between this fact and the impending environmental impacts the United States is sure to experience, Trump is ultimately not putting the country first, although he says differently.

Change 2: “National Energy Emergency”

     In an executive order titled Declaring a National Energy Emergency, Trump did just that, claiming that the amount of energy the United States currently produces is “far too inadequate” and needs to be significantly increased. This gives the government the ability to expedite energy generation and bypass certain regulations that would normally be in place to protect the environment (Rapael et al.) Trump's reasons behind this decision are combating the high cost of living and creating an opportunity to sell unrealized energy internationally.

    It should also be noted that, according to the National Law Review, the “National Energy Emergency” EO defines “energy” as: “crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals.” This means that the drastic increase in energy production heavily focuses on environmentally harmful energy sources and not clean energy sources like wind or solar power.

     Despite Trump’s claims, experts are showing that the United States is not, in reality, experiencing an energy crisis. In fact, America is the world's top producer of natural gas and oil, and the price of oil, once adjusted to match inflation, has remained relatively stable for the past 20 years (Sullivan et al.). These findings indicate that Trump arbitrarily declared an “emergency” for the sake of making extra money, not because America is actually in one. This was an irresponsible choice that will unnecessarily hurt the environment, placing America closer to what could be described as an impending “national environmental emergency.”

Change 3: Upping Long-Term Energy Production

     In addition to increasing energy generation in the short term, Trump also plans to grow and expand America’s energy industry more permanently. Again, it should be noted that his plans do not prioritize clean energy production. In his executive order labeled Unleashing American Energy, Trump outlined his intentions to increase the extraction of energy from federal lands and waters, streamline the permit-issuing process for doing so, and reduce environmental regulations.  

     Additionally, in his inaugural address, Trump stated, “America will be a manufacturing nation once again,” adding, “We are going to drill, baby, drill.” From these efforts, Trump hopes to make the United States a top producer of as many types of energy as possible and improve the nation’s economy (The White House).

     As we have established, Trump’s energy extraction goals will not only be detrimental to the natural world but will lead him to miss out on the expanding clean energy economy. While increasing non-clean energy production now will likely lead to a short-term decrease in the cost of living for the United States, Trump’s plans are unlikely to have significant long-term benefits for the country’s economy and environment.

    In terms of the locations where Trump wants to extract energy, he has his eyes on Alaska, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico—which he plans to rename the “Gulf of America” (Savage et al.). Extracting energy from these sites was prohibited under the Biden Administration due to the environmental harm it would cause (Savage et al.). Especially distressing is Trump’s desire to drill for oil and gas in pristine, untouched regions of the Alaskan wilderness, which is detailed in an executive order under the name of Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential. If this venture comes to fruition, it will not only be damaging to the Alaskan wilderness itself and the wildlife—such as bears, wolves, and salmon—that thrives there, but it will also disturb lands that are sacred to the Indigenous Gwich’in tribe (Bohrer).

   Luckily, though, certain laws in place may prevent unnecessary and harmful energy extraction, at least to an extent, such as the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Act. This law regulates oil and gas drilling in Alaska and aims to protect the state's environment. Additionally, Cooper Freedman, the director of the Center for Biological Diversity in Alaska, asserted that Trump “can't just wave a magic wand” and make all his plans happen, implying that there may be legal challenges in response to his actions. He also stated, “We’re ready and looking forward to the fight of our lives to keep Alaska great, wild, and abundant.” So, there is still hope, as potential extraction sites can be protected, and unregulated energy extraction is not necessarily imminent. 

Change 4: Eliminating the Electric Vehicle Mandate

     In the executive order Unleashing American Energy, Trump also announced his plans to end the Electric Vehicle Mandate. The mandate, enacted during the Biden Administration, aims to, through non-binding plans, lower greenhouse gas emissions generated by automobiles and increase the amount of electric vehicles (EVs) sold (John et al.). One of the loose goals outlined in the mandate was for EVs to make up roughly half of new cars sold by the year 2030 (John et al.). 

     In his inaugural address, Trump explained the reasoning behind his decision, stating, “We will revoke the Electric Vehicle Mandate, saving the auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American auto workers. In other words, you'll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago.” Again, Trump's goals are to unnecessarily mass-produce and boost the economy, not improve the environment, or in this case, air quality problems caused by vehicle emissions. Also, his statement, “You'll be able to buy the car of your choice,” is misleading, as it implies that there were previous restrictions. This isn’t accurate since the Electric Vehicle Mandate never forced Americans to buy EVs (John et al.). 

     Additionally, Trump is attempting to repeal a Congress-approved section of the Biden Administration’s 2022 Climate Law, which offers a $7,500 tax credit to EV buyers (Winters et al.). On top of that, he prevented billions of dollars from being allocated to fund EV charging stations, which was a key part of Biden’s plan to create 500,000 charging stations by 2030 (John et al.). House of Energy and Commerce Committee member Frank Pallone and others are questioning the legality of Trump's efforts to block the money from being spent since it was already set aside by Congress to purchase the charging stations (John et al.). So, Trump may not be able to get away with this action.

     As for the Electric Vehicle Mandate, it is unlikely that Trump’s revocation of the policy will completely halt America's transition from gas-powered vehicles to EVs. According to the senior vice president at the Center for Automotive Research, K. Venkatesh Prasad, “This transition cannot stop. We've seen long-term investments in EVs. Those things don't change.” Essentially, because automotive companies have already put an extensive amount of time and funding into producing EVs, these vehicles will continue to be manufactured and sold, even if there are no specific policies mandating it. Although EVs do pose some significant environmental challenges—such as having batteries that are difficult to dispose of—having more of them on the road will improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is ultimately beneficial (Nichols). 

Hope for the future?

The future of our environment may seem a bit bleak at this point; however, our country has not completely surrendered to Trump’s vision for the natural world. For instance, there are groups, such as “We Are Still In,” who are working to help America meet Paris Agreement goals—like reducing our emissions by one-half by 2030—despite its withdrawal. The group consists of U.S. states, cities, tribes, universities, healthcare organizations, and other communities. “We Are Still In” demonstrates that it is possible for independent groups to help protect the environment and meet important emission goals, even if the federal government fails to.

    In fact, virtually anyone can take action to help the environment. One way is by living sustainably, which includes partaking in practices such as composting, recycling, reusing containers and bags, using public transportation, and more. You can also use your voice to advocate for the environment via social media, community organizations, or by writing to your elected officials.

     Although it doesn’t always seem like it, we as individuals have a lot of power over the efforts that are or aren’t pursued to protect our environment. If we work together, each doing what we can to preserve our natural world, positive changes can be made, even in the face of an environmentally destructive administration. And, there are already a lot of private organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club, leading the way. So don’t give up hope just yet!

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