On his first day in office, President Trump signed a slew of environment-related executive orders, changing the United States’ trajectory in energy, climate, and foreign relations. Chief among them is the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, abandoning the nation’s pledge to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 50-52% below the 2005 level by 2030. The president also signed orders to “prioritize the development of Alaska’s liquified natural gas,” end Biden’s EV mandate, and declare an “energy emergency.” According to the orders, international goals to address climate change and transition to green energy “do not reflect our country’s values.”
The decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, though widely anticipated, has made headline news and been met with global criticism. Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva called the decision “the opposite of policies guided by evidence brought by science and common sense imposed by the reality of extreme weather events,” according to Reuters. Trump’s executive orders prioritize growing the American economy and putting “the interests of the United States and the American people first.” Yet, critics also characterized the decision as an economic blunder. According to Reuters, Simon Stiell, the U.N. Climate Change Executive Secretary, has argued that green energy will result in “massive profits, millions of manufacturing jobs and clean air,” and that “ignoring it only sends all that vast wealth to competitor economies.”
According to the Carbon Brief, the U.S. “has contributed more to human-caused climate change than any other nation.” Given the United States’ massive carbon footprint, these decisions are devastating for the future of the environment and those who are most impacted by climate change. 2024 was the first year to surpass the 1.5℃ limit outlined in the Paris Agreement, a goal implemented to avoid the most “severe climate change impacts,” according to the UN. This does not mean that the Paris Agreement is completely dead; according to Climate Analytics, this year’s rise is considered a “temperature overshoot”, and does not necessarily constitute a failure of the agreement. Still, Trump’s decisions give out concerning signals of the direction the U.S. would go in during his second term. This would have massive consequences globally, if significant changes isn’t made.
The United States is setting a poor example when it comes to addressing the climate crisis. Communities worldwide are already suffering the effects of climate change, including devastating floods and fires. A further rise in global temperatures will have massive negative effects on the United States, regardless of whether it chooses to step up or step away from its climate responsibility.
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