For the past two months, wildfires have ravaged California, blanketing the state with thick veils of black smoke. Despite these grim circumstances, the Trump administration remains unfazed and unresponsive, continuing their trend of blatant ignorance regarding climate change.
On September 14, President Donald Trump P’00 traveled to California for a meeting with state officials and scientists concerning the state’s catastrophic wildfires. During the meeting, California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot discussed the large role that climate change played behind these wildfires.
In response, Trump dismissed climate change’s disastrous impacts by saying, “It will start getting cooler, you just watch.” Crowfoot responded with, “I wish science agreed with you,” to which Trump retorted with a line that has since gone viral: “Well, I don’t think science knows, actually.”
Even when surrounded by experts, Trump continues to deny the truth. The planet’s environmental crisis is escalating at an alarming rate, and its devastating consequences will only intensify, whether Trump believes in it or not.
The president’s negligence toward California’s wildfires is only one example of his dismissive attitude towards climate change. For the past three years, the Trump administration has reversed over 100 pieces of environmental legislation, according to a study by the New York Times — decisions that were clearly influenced by his close ties with the fossil fuel industry.
Important environmental policies that Trump has reversed include regulations on methane leaks and hydrofluorocarbon usage — both major contributors to carbon emissions. The administration’s rollbacks also involve the replacement of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which aimed to monitor the fossil fuel industry and shift to cleaner energy alternatives.
This August, the Trump administration finalized plans to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska for oil and gas drilling. This decision sparked nationwide controversy, with opposition from Alaskan environmental groups as well as lawsuits from 15 states.
Trump’s dismantling of major environmental policies and pushes to install new federal lands for oil and gas development have both been integral to his goal of creating “the greatest economy in the history of the country” and securing American “energy dominance” worldwide. However, not only has Trump failed to consider the devastating environmental consequences of his mission, but he’s also ignored the soaring costs of fossil fuel extraction.
Contrary to his opinion, renewable energy can actually improve the economy by creating millions of new jobs while also eliminating the risk of depletion. On the other hand, if fossil fuels continue to be consumed at the current rate, scientists estimate that they will be depleted by 2060. By then, the U.S. will have to confront a catastrophic environmental and economic crisis.
In the current presidential election, climate change is one of the most important issues for many voters. During the first presidential debate on September 29, Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden presented strikingly different environmental agendas. While Biden acknowledged the seriousness of the nation’s environmental crisis and outlined his plan for clean energy and environmental justice, Trump hammered away at the economic costs of renewable energy and conservation, per usual.
When asked about his environmental rollbacks, the president said, “I believe we have to do everything we can to have immaculate air, immaculate water.” In reality, Trump’s outright support for fossil fuel companies and his reduced regulations against power plant developments, energy usage, and natural habitat protection are predicted to cause an additional 1.8 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas to be released into the atmosphere by 2035.
The president also downplayed the climate crisis once again by saying that “we are doing phenomenally.” Ironically, the nation has suffered through some of the worst consequences of global warming these past three years under Trump’s authority, hit with devastating hurricanes and raging wildfires.
If Trump is re-elected this year, his many regulatory rollbacks will remain in effect, and the state of the planet will unequivocally worsen. Science is not political. Only when the environment is separated from the economy and politics can the U.S. alleviate its ever-worsening climate crisis.
Graphic by Yuko Tanaka/The Choate News
