Climate: Donald Trump in power: America First, climate last

America first, the climate (good) later. President Donald Trump, after deleting the page dedicated to global warming on the White House website, announced that he wanted “take advantage of untapped reserves” American territory and lift all restrictions on the exploitation of fossil fuels.

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Climate change, where? Donald Trump, invested only three days ago, has not been idle. Within hours, the administration of the new President of the United States deleted all references to global warming as well as the page dedicated to the subject on the White House website.

On the bottom, the new page, renamed “America First Energy Plan”, “energy plan for america first”evoked “the elimination of harmful and unnecessary policies for the climate and waters of the United States”. In Donald Trump’s sights, the Climate Action Plan initiated by Barack Obama (President’s Climate Action Plan) in 2013. Intended to reduce emissions from highly polluting coal-fired plants, this plan represented the roadmap for the United States. United towards the energy transition.

“The Shale Oil and Gas Revolution”

“We have been held back for too long by heavy regulations weighing on our energy industry,” judges the new president. To remedy this, he will therefore lift all the “restrictions” exploitation of fossil fuels. “We will embrace the shale oil and gas revolution to bring jobs and prosperity to millions of Americans”.

The Trump administration is betting on exploitation “maximum” of American resources, which it estimates at 50 billion dollars, to increase by 30 billion dollars “wages” workers over the next seven years. The rest will be dedicated to the construction of public infrastructure.

Multiple antagonisms

After this accumulation of measures favorable to pollution, fossil fuels, the unlimited exploitation of the territory’s resources, Donald Trump wishes… “responsible stewardship” of the environment. “The protection of clean air and drinking water, the conservation of our natural habitats and our resources will remain a priority”. It remains to be seen how unlimited exploitation of resources can go hand in hand with this ambition.

The same antagonism should be noted regarding the coal factories, which Donald Trump wants to revive while adapting to “clean coal technology”. A much criticized concept that results in the establishment of CO2 capture and storage.

Finally, the role of the EPA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, is “precise“. His role will be “refocused” around the “protection of our air and water”. Remember that the EPA should be headed by climate-skeptic Scott Pruitt. This former attorney general of Oklahoma benefited from the financial support of oil companies and even took the EPA to court.

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