Trump signs actions to withdraw US from Paris climate agreement and tries to promote fossil fuels
cnn
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President Donald Trump signed executive actions Monday that solidify his intention to go all-in on fossil fuels and reverse America’s progress on climate change and clean energy, including his promise to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement.
Trump’s first actions come as fires fueled by climate change ravage Southern California, following the hottest year ever recorded on the planet, during which two major hurricanes, Helene and Milton, devastated the Southeast.
In his inaugural address, Trump said he will declare a “national energy emergency,” even though the United States is producing more oil now than any other country at any time. Its intention is to streamline permitting and review regulations that “impose undue burdens on energy production and use, including mining and processing of non-fuel minerals,” according to a list of priorities from Trump’s press office. .
He also intends to take steps to end leasing of land and water for wind energy, and undo the Biden administration’s actions promoting electric vehicles.
Trump sees energy prices as critical to addressing widespread frustration over the cost of living. He has argued that reducing bureaucracy will help lower energy prices and combat general inflation.
“The inflation crisis was caused by excessive spending and escalating energy prices,” Trump said during his inauguration speech. “That is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We’ll drill, baby, we’ll drill.”
Earlier this month, scientists declared that the planet surpassed 1.5°C of global warming for the first time last year, a significant benchmark that experts researching Earth’s tipping points have warned. humanity must avoid, and the goal that world leaders aspired to when they signed the Paris Agreement in 2015.
Beyond the 1.5°C rise, the human-caused climate crisis, fueled by pollution from heat-trapping fossil fuels, begins to exceed the capacity of humanity and the natural world to adapt.
According to David Wirth, a professor at Boston College Law School and an expert in public international law, the roller coaster ride of U.S. participation in international climate talks could be damaging in itself.
“The integrity of the United States’ commitment to this issue would be called into question, as would its reliability as a treaty partner,” Wirth told CNN.
Trump has promised to reverse Biden’s order banning offshore oil drilling in 252 million hectares of ocean, but undoing it could require an act of Congress. He has spoken on several occasions about opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to more drilling, but recent auctions in this pristine region, home to threatened species, have failed due to a lack of interest from the oil industry itself. .
“We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help get us there,” Trump said Monday.
Analysts are skeptical that Trump’s measures – if they survive the inevitable legal challenges – will skyrocket US oil production or cause gasoline prices to plummet below $2 a gallon, as as the president previously promised.
Although Trump is focused on keeping gas prices low, the reality is that even the White House has limited direct power.
“When I worked for President Bush, I looked a lot for the magic wand that would lower oil prices immediately. It doesn’t exist,” said Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group and a former Bush energy official. “A president cannot reduce oil prices.”
The United States already produces more oil than any other country in world history. And unlike OPEC nations, American oil production is set by the free market, not the government. Government policy influences supply decisions, but it is ultimately up to the private sector to decide how much to drill.
So far, oil companies have indicated they are in no rush to dramatically increase production. Many oil company CEOs have learned the lessons of the recent past, when excess drilling led to a supply glut that tanked prices.
According to a survey of 132 companies conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, only 14% of oil and gas managers plan to significantly increase their capital spending this year. In fact, more oil executives indicated they plan to reduce spending than increase it.
In his speech, Trump promised that one of his first actions in office would be to repeal a mandate on electric vehicles.
“Through my action today we will end the Green New Deal and repeal the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and fulfilling my sacred promise to our great American auto workers,” he said. “In other words, you will be able to buy the car of your choice.”
However, there is no such mandate.
The Environmental Protection Agency presented the new standard on exhaust gas emissions in March, whose goal is that between 35% and 56% of all new car sales be electric by 2032.
Americans can buy traditional gasoline vehicles and have continued to do so. Sales of electric vehicles in the US increased by around 7% in 2024, to 1.3 million vehicles, according to figures from Cox Automotive, but they only accounted for 8% of passenger vehicle sales, which rose to 16 million during the year.
Elon Musk, a top Trump supporter and CEO of Tesla, the world’s largest electric vehicle maker, has said on his X social media platform that he supports ending tax credits for electric vehicle buyers.
Auto industry analysts believe that ending the tax break would benefit Tesla, even though it makes Tesla cars more price competitive with gasoline vehicles. But lifting the rebate is likely to reduce the competition Tesla now has with traditional automakers, who are bringing more electric vehicle models to market.
Two Democratic governors who co-chair the bipartisan US Climate Alliance – a group of 24 states and territories – said they would lead a US delegation to the annual UN climate negotiations, scheduled for late 2025 in Brazil.
“It is critical that the international community know that climate action will continue in the United States,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “The alliance will take this message to COP30.”
A United Nations official overseeing climate change negotiations reiterated that “the door remains open to the Paris Agreement” after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the historic climate agreement for the second time.
“We welcome constructive engagement from each and every country,” UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said in a statement.
Stiell highlighted the importance of the clean energy boom around the world, valued at $2 trillion last year and growing, and warned that countries that don’t embrace it will be left behind. Other climate groups echoed his words.
“There is no energy emergency. There is a climate emergency,” Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. “The United States produces more oil and gas than any other country in history. Thanks to the success of climate and energy policy, the country is producing more clean energy than ever.”
