When people consider the possible outcomes of a second Trump presidential term, a nuclear war or the downfall of American democracy might come to mind.
But in reality, the damage might be far less obvious.
Our lives will continue to go on. News will continue on with their cycle of Trump headlines. Trump will keep fueling his base and individuals will keep protesting.
The climate, on the other hand, will only get hotter—and Trump’s administration will only keep ignoring the issue at hand.
In January, the Trump administration announced its biggest attack on federal environmental regulations.
By thoroughly revising the National Environmental Policy Act, legislation has made it easier to approve major energy and infrastructure projects, including new highways and pipeline transportation, without taking full consideration of their impact on the environment.
Therefore, regardless of the environmental damage, big oil companies and coal mining industries have the full right away to go through with the project. Additionally, Trump replaced the Obama-era “Clean Power Plan,” which would have set strict limits and protective measures on carbon emissions that are released from coal and gas-fired power plants.
The Trump administration has worked to eliminate federal regulations altogether, mainly targeting environmental rules that are burdensome to the fossil fuel industry and other big businesses. It seems like Trump has made a large effort to ignore climate change in order to promote the economic growth that he desperately rants about, yet he fails to recognize the hard reality.
Climate change is real and it is already happening.
“I think Donald Trump should be doing the opposite, putting more money into the environment instead. I don’t think he exactly understands what impact he’s having. He’s rich and up there so if the environment gets worse, he can still live properly.. Poor people don’t necessarily have that same opportunity,” said Deborah Piard, a freshman at Miami Lakes Educational Center.
Human-caused global warming has already proven to increase flood risks and extreme rainfall, along with massive heatwaves and wildfires that hold dangerous implications for both humans and wildlife.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2019 concluded a decade of exceptional global heat, retreating ice and record sea levels driven by greenhouse gases produced by human activities. Yet, the President of the leading global superpower has only worked to further drive this forward.
Since taking office three years ago, Donald Trump has implemented over 100 environmental rollbacks, including weakening rules that limit carbon emissions from coal plants and weakening protections for endangered species.
Fossil fuel projects like the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline, which was proposed in 2008 and met with controversy and conflicting legislative orders from the federal government, has been given free rein to go through completion despite the environmental damages it may cause.
Due to the Trump administration skipping key steps in the rule-making progress (like notifying public and asking for comment), and along with reducing federal regulations, this has been made possible.
In November 2015, President Obama vetoed the XL pipeline after acknowledging its threat to ecosystems and natural water sources; and he started a nationwide commitment to decrease our reliance on non-sustainable energy.
Yet when immediately taking office, Trump repealed Obama’s pledge and wrote an executive order to advance the Keystone Pipeline. During an interview with the Associated Press, President Trump responded to the climate change issue by saying: “what I’m not willing to do is sacrifice the economic well-being of our country for something that nobody really knows.”
He claims these rollbacks are intended to support U.S. priorities like economic development and infrastructure security, yet right now there is nothing more a priority than the climate emergency we are being subjected to.
The new environmental policies Trump is implementing will drastically narrow which infrastructure projects require environmental review, which means they can proceed with the approval process and not be required to disclose initiatives that release waste, cut down trees, or further air pollution.
This new rule would no longer require companies to consider the consequences that these power plants and pipelines might have, which include continuous greenhouse gas emissions and rising sea levels. This requirement was first enacted as law by President Richard Nixon, who introduced the legislation in 1970 after the Cuyahoga River caught fire and released gallons of industrial waste, heavily polluting the river for decades.
Nixon also created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which helped develop the environmental regulations that the Trump administration is trying to fight today.
Nixon is proof that for a period of time, whether you were liberal or conservative didn’t matter when it came down to combating pollution. At one point in American politics, we could all acknowledge that the government had a significant role in protecting our environment.
But this is a new, fearful age of political tribalism and party lines.
President Donald Trump’s Republican party is considerably more conservative than any other presidency that came before it. He leads a political party that fails to acknowledge that climate change exists, and rejects science altogether.
“You can progressively see that the Earth is getting worse and it’s honestly scary. But Donald Trump is a money man, so it’s not surprising that he’s making the economy a top priority over the environment. These rollbacks are only going to increase global warming in the long run and are going to put millions of people in jeopardy,” said Marilyn Fonseca, a sophomore at Miami Lakes Educational Center.
Four years of environmental damage can be undone. Eight years cannot.
If Trump gains four more years in the White House, fossil fuel companies will have full permission to profit from environmental destruction and increase the planetary stakes. Whoever wins the election next will need to put in hard work undoing Trump’s damage and establishing a functioning EPA that can help reverse the effects of climate change.
Until some change happens, the world continues to race to secure a future for the next human generations.
