SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Trump vs. The Planet: Climate in Crosshairs of Executive Pen
Trump already promised actions on day one of his presidency including lifting restrictions on fossil fuel production
Jan 20, 2017
Given what is known about his cabinet picks and plans for fossil fuel extraction and executive actions, the former reality TV star who became the 45th President of the United States on Friday appears poised to kick off a "deregulatory agenda" and take actions to fast-track climate catastrophe.
Michael Halpern, deputy director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, predicts the new administration to continue its shock therapy strategy:
A major strategy has been--and will likely continue to be--to institute radical proposals by overwhelming the public with an avalanche of activity and by attempting to distract us with the president's cult of personality.
And given the corporate cabinet, a climate-denying transition team, and a dearth of debate on appointees, Halpern expects "significant industry influence over the role of science in government decisions."
Such decisions could be moments away, as it appears Trump is ready to make swift use of his executive pen. Bloomberg reports Friday that his
advisers have prepared a short list of energy and environmental policy changes he can take within hours of being sworn in Friday, including steps to limit the role that climate change plays in government decisions.
The list includes nullifying President Barack Obama's guidelines that federal agencies weigh climate change when approving pipelines, deciding what areas to open for drilling or taking other major actions, two people familiar with Trump's transition planning say.
Trump also is being counseled to suspend the government's use of a metric known as the social cost of carbon until it can be reviewed and recalculated, and to rescind a 49-year-old executive order that put the State Department in charge of permitting border-crossing oil pipelines.
Reuters adds:
"He is committed to not just Day 1, but Day 2, Day 3 of enacting an agenda of real change, and I think that you're going to see that in the days and weeks to come," Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday, telling reporters to expect activity on Friday, during the weekend and early next week.
Trump himself laid out after Election Day what he'd do on his first day in office, including allowing the Keystone XL pipeline to move forward; lifting restrictions on fossil fuel production; and canceling "billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs."
Echoing those promises, billionaire fracking taycoon Harold Hamm told CNBC Thursday that getting rid of the Obama administration's energy regulations would be a day-one priority, saying, "I think it'll be immediate." He added: "[Overregulation] is hurting everybody."
As the Washington Post wrote, scientists were quick to see the anti-science gauntlet being laid down and quickly mobilized. From its reporting in December:
Petitions and open letters have poured out in the past couple of weeks, including a call by nearly two dozen Nobel laureates that Trump defend "scientific integrity and independence" and a petition by more than 11,000 female scientists demanding that he respect inclusiveness and the scientific process. The efforts underscore how these individuals could be at the front lines of an oncoming political clash.
Also among their efforts was a race to archive government climate data before Jan. 20--a Herculean task Wired delved into on Thursday--and earlier this month outgoing Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced a new "scientific integrity policy" to protect at-risk policies, as Common Dreams wrote.
As Michael Slezak wrote Friday at the Guardian, "regardless of what climate deniers (yes, deniers) like Trump may say about the science, the stark reality is that it is happening now."
"We are no longer fighting to stop climate change, but fighting to stop a runaway catastrophe," he added.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Given what is known about his cabinet picks and plans for fossil fuel extraction and executive actions, the former reality TV star who became the 45th President of the United States on Friday appears poised to kick off a "deregulatory agenda" and take actions to fast-track climate catastrophe.
Michael Halpern, deputy director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, predicts the new administration to continue its shock therapy strategy:
A major strategy has been--and will likely continue to be--to institute radical proposals by overwhelming the public with an avalanche of activity and by attempting to distract us with the president's cult of personality.
And given the corporate cabinet, a climate-denying transition team, and a dearth of debate on appointees, Halpern expects "significant industry influence over the role of science in government decisions."
Such decisions could be moments away, as it appears Trump is ready to make swift use of his executive pen. Bloomberg reports Friday that his
advisers have prepared a short list of energy and environmental policy changes he can take within hours of being sworn in Friday, including steps to limit the role that climate change plays in government decisions.
The list includes nullifying President Barack Obama's guidelines that federal agencies weigh climate change when approving pipelines, deciding what areas to open for drilling or taking other major actions, two people familiar with Trump's transition planning say.
Trump also is being counseled to suspend the government's use of a metric known as the social cost of carbon until it can be reviewed and recalculated, and to rescind a 49-year-old executive order that put the State Department in charge of permitting border-crossing oil pipelines.
Reuters adds:
"He is committed to not just Day 1, but Day 2, Day 3 of enacting an agenda of real change, and I think that you're going to see that in the days and weeks to come," Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday, telling reporters to expect activity on Friday, during the weekend and early next week.
Trump himself laid out after Election Day what he'd do on his first day in office, including allowing the Keystone XL pipeline to move forward; lifting restrictions on fossil fuel production; and canceling "billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs."
Echoing those promises, billionaire fracking taycoon Harold Hamm told CNBC Thursday that getting rid of the Obama administration's energy regulations would be a day-one priority, saying, "I think it'll be immediate." He added: "[Overregulation] is hurting everybody."
As the Washington Post wrote, scientists were quick to see the anti-science gauntlet being laid down and quickly mobilized. From its reporting in December:
Petitions and open letters have poured out in the past couple of weeks, including a call by nearly two dozen Nobel laureates that Trump defend "scientific integrity and independence" and a petition by more than 11,000 female scientists demanding that he respect inclusiveness and the scientific process. The efforts underscore how these individuals could be at the front lines of an oncoming political clash.
Also among their efforts was a race to archive government climate data before Jan. 20--a Herculean task Wired delved into on Thursday--and earlier this month outgoing Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced a new "scientific integrity policy" to protect at-risk policies, as Common Dreams wrote.
As Michael Slezak wrote Friday at the Guardian, "regardless of what climate deniers (yes, deniers) like Trump may say about the science, the stark reality is that it is happening now."
"We are no longer fighting to stop climate change, but fighting to stop a runaway catastrophe," he added.
Given what is known about his cabinet picks and plans for fossil fuel extraction and executive actions, the former reality TV star who became the 45th President of the United States on Friday appears poised to kick off a "deregulatory agenda" and take actions to fast-track climate catastrophe.
Michael Halpern, deputy director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, predicts the new administration to continue its shock therapy strategy:
A major strategy has been--and will likely continue to be--to institute radical proposals by overwhelming the public with an avalanche of activity and by attempting to distract us with the president's cult of personality.
And given the corporate cabinet, a climate-denying transition team, and a dearth of debate on appointees, Halpern expects "significant industry influence over the role of science in government decisions."
Such decisions could be moments away, as it appears Trump is ready to make swift use of his executive pen. Bloomberg reports Friday that his
advisers have prepared a short list of energy and environmental policy changes he can take within hours of being sworn in Friday, including steps to limit the role that climate change plays in government decisions.
The list includes nullifying President Barack Obama's guidelines that federal agencies weigh climate change when approving pipelines, deciding what areas to open for drilling or taking other major actions, two people familiar with Trump's transition planning say.
Trump also is being counseled to suspend the government's use of a metric known as the social cost of carbon until it can be reviewed and recalculated, and to rescind a 49-year-old executive order that put the State Department in charge of permitting border-crossing oil pipelines.
Reuters adds:
"He is committed to not just Day 1, but Day 2, Day 3 of enacting an agenda of real change, and I think that you're going to see that in the days and weeks to come," Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday, telling reporters to expect activity on Friday, during the weekend and early next week.
Trump himself laid out after Election Day what he'd do on his first day in office, including allowing the Keystone XL pipeline to move forward; lifting restrictions on fossil fuel production; and canceling "billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs."
Echoing those promises, billionaire fracking taycoon Harold Hamm told CNBC Thursday that getting rid of the Obama administration's energy regulations would be a day-one priority, saying, "I think it'll be immediate." He added: "[Overregulation] is hurting everybody."
As the Washington Post wrote, scientists were quick to see the anti-science gauntlet being laid down and quickly mobilized. From its reporting in December:
Petitions and open letters have poured out in the past couple of weeks, including a call by nearly two dozen Nobel laureates that Trump defend "scientific integrity and independence" and a petition by more than 11,000 female scientists demanding that he respect inclusiveness and the scientific process. The efforts underscore how these individuals could be at the front lines of an oncoming political clash.
Also among their efforts was a race to archive government climate data before Jan. 20--a Herculean task Wired delved into on Thursday--and earlier this month outgoing Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced a new "scientific integrity policy" to protect at-risk policies, as Common Dreams wrote.
As Michael Slezak wrote Friday at the Guardian, "regardless of what climate deniers (yes, deniers) like Trump may say about the science, the stark reality is that it is happening now."
"We are no longer fighting to stop climate change, but fighting to stop a runaway catastrophe," he added.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.