Practically after assuming the presidency, Donald Trump confirmed that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Agreement. He did so by signing several executive actions that also consolidate his intention to bet on fossil fuels and reverse the country’s progress on climate change.
Trump’s initial measures come as climate change-fueled fires ravage Southern California.
Moreover, it happens after the hottest year ever recorded on the planet, during which two major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, devastated the Southeast.
Trump confirmed that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Agreement
In his inaugural speech, Trump said he would declare a “national energy emergency,” even though the United States is currently producing more oil than any other country at any other time.
In this vein, he also confirmed that the country will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the most important climate agreement today.
The United States had already left for a period during the magnate’s first presidency and returned with Democrat Joe Biden on the first day of his term in 2021.
The Paris Agreement, signed almost a decade ago, is the development of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted in 1992, which already established that human-emitted greenhouse gases are behind global warming.
To leave, the United States Government must submit a formal letter requesting it to the framework convention secretariat. And within a year, the departure by the historical first responsible for climate change would be consummated for the second time.
“Energy crisis” and a bet on fossil fuels
Trump’s intention is to streamline permits and review regulations that “impose undue burdens on the production and use of energy, including mining and non-combustible mineral processing,” according to a list of priorities from Trump’s press office.
He also intends to take action to end leasing of lands and waters for wind energy and undo Biden’s government actions promoting electric vehicles.
Environmental impact of Trump’s victory. (Photo: EFE).
Trump believes that energy prices are essential to address the widespread frustration over the cost of living. He argued that reducing bureaucracy will help lower energy prices and combat overall inflation.
“The inflation crisis was caused by overspending and escalating energy prices,” Trump said during his inauguration speech. “That is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill,” he added.
Earlier this month, scientists confirmed that the planet exceeded 1.5 °C for the first time last year.
This is a significant milestone that Earth’s tipping point researchers warned humanity must avoid, and the goal world leaders aspired to when they signed the Paris Agreement in 2015.
Beyond the 1.5 °C increase, the climate crisis caused by humans, fueled by fossil fuel pollution trapping heat, is starting to exceed humanity’s and the natural world’s ability to adapt.
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