Donald Trump, now the 45th President of The United States, was sworn into office this past Friday, and with his appointment to the Presidency came waves of celebration, anxiety, and most of all, change.
President Trump had a few things on the agenda for his first day in the Oval Office, including the official appointment of all of his cabinet members, as well as putting a freeze on all pending government actions so that they may be reviewed, something President Obama did as well following his inauguration.
Some of Trump’s actions are going largely unnoticed though, especially after hundreds of thousands of women marched across the country in protest of what many in the movement see as a prejudice towards women from the new administration. While social issues like these are extremely important, there are many who might not realize the impact the Trump presidency may have on our environment as well.
One of the new administration’s first acts was to update the White House website with a message stating that they are “committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies” of former President Obama. Among these policies are numerous environmental initiatives that were considered to be land mark accomplishments upon their creation, including Obama’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) that aimed to cut U.S. carbon emissions as well as put more research into addressing global climate change. The Trump Administration followed this statement up by removing climate change entirely from the White House websites list of top issues.
No matter what side of the political playing field you are on, everyone has to have some level of concern for the wellbeing of our planet. The burning of fossil fuels has had extreme effects on our environment, and the United States is one of the biggest contributors to the problem. Considering the fact that global warming has been proven to be a legitimate problem time and time again by the scientific community, one would think that a plan that aims to cut our carbon emissions in half is actually a good idea, not “harmful”. Aside from this, the CAP also provided assistance to farmers to help maintain agricultural production, “sustainable and resilient” hospitals; the CAP even provided resources to areas effected by Hurricane Sandy to help prepare them for future natural disasters.
Despite all this, the Trump Administration still views the Climate Action Plan as harmful enough to be addressed on the very first day in office. While environmental plans like the Climate Action Plan may have had negative impacts on certain industries in the U.S., it’s end goal was one that few can argue against. What is even more alarming is that our new administration does not seem to consider climate change as a “top issue”, but only time will tell what actions President Trump takes on this front. Until then, staying informed on current politics may be more important now than ever before. While it's understandable that certain policies will be changed when there is a shift in political power, to not see our new administration address the problem of climate change with an alternative solution is a very frightening thought for the future of our planet.
