Yesterday, March 28, at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cancel the Clean Power Plan of his predecessor, Barack Obama.
With this step, the current US leader has once again demonstrated an unwillingness to recognize the climate change and in any way influence it. This came a week after the prominent modern scientist Stephen Hawking, on one of the ITV1 television shows, said that he no longer felt welcome in the United States because of Trump's policies: "Climate change is one of the greatest dangers that we have encountered, and one of those that we can prevent. It has a bad effect on America as well, so [even from a practical point of view] taking care of it will win [Trump's] votes for a second term."
Obama's Clean Energy Plan called for the shutdown of hundreds of coal-fired power plants around the country and a freeze on the construction of new ones - instead, it was supposed to develop wind and solar farms. The main end goal of the American initiative was to reduce the amount of emissions into the atmosphere from energy production. Trump has other priorities related to the short-term economic benefits of local production: “Go ahead, guys. Do you know what it is? Do you know what is being said here? You are returning to work, ”the US president addressed the miners when signing his decree.
Trump's position on the formal adherence of the United States to the climate agreement has not yet been announced. And the cancellation of the US energy and environmental plans adopted during the Obama era is no longer just a wake-up call, but obvious evidence of dubious prospects. According to Robert Stavins, professor of environmental economics at Harvard, “one of the main concerns is what other countries, including China, India and Brazil, will do when the US withdraws from the Paris agreement”: “The worst-case scenario will be the failure of the Paris climate agreement. It will turn into a real tragedy.”
Many US citizens do not share Trump's position. Yesterday before the decree canceling the Clean Energy Plan, residents of the US West Coast once again expressed their protest, enlisting the support of the local administration. The governors of Washington, Oregon and California, along with the mayors of major cities in the west of the country (including Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and others), issued a letter intent on following the need for urgent action against climate change:
“We are talking about a region with a population of over 50 million people and a total GDP of 2.8 trillion USD. There is no doubt that taking climate action is in our best economic interest. Expanded climate policy has allowed us to create jobs and grow the economy while cleaning the air. [..]
"We are calling on states, cities and businesses across the country to join us in reaffirming and leading their commitment to reduce carbon emissions while preventing detrimental [environmental] impacts on our communities."
See also anekdotig:
- News: " Most Americans disagree with Donald Trump's environmental policies " (February 11, 2017)
- Newsletter: " Leonardo DiCaprio's environmental film 'Before the Flood' is now available for free " (November 3, 2016)
- Newsletter: " Outcomes of the UN Conference (COP21) in Paris on Climate Change " (December 18, 2015)
- Newsletter: " Bill Gates, IT industry leaders and businessmen create Breakthrough Energy Coalition to advance clean energy " (December 11, 2015)
- Newsletter: " US Takes Historic Step in Combating Climate Change with Clean Energy Plan " (August 4, 2015)