From Refuges to Rigs: Trump’s Environmental Policies Concern Us All
Describing the global climate crisis as ‘a hoax,’ Trump has tried to prevent government scientists from reporting on climate change.
Oil rigs make a sunrise look a little less appealing. Photo by Philippa McKinlay via Flickr
“Anticipate that Trump’s upcoming term will usher in significant shifts in any U.S. natural resource and environmental laws and policies,” says Ulster County legislator and environmental advocate Manna Jo Greene.
Greene has deep concerns about the potential ramifications of Project 2025, a conservative agenda poised to undo decades of progress in environmental protection and the fight against climate change.
Warning about president-elect Donald Trump’s second term, Greene expresses the possible fundamental reshaping of federal agencies' roles, such as the Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of the Interior, by rolling back climate regulations and prioritizing the expansion of fossil fuels.
“Expect actions to slow, pause or cancel spending implemented under the IRA [Inflation Reduction Act] and the BIL [Bipartisan Infrastructure Law],” Greene said.
During Trump’s first term, he pushed for an increase in oil and gas drilling in open areas for extraction, like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while also scaling back renewable energy implementation support.
From polar bears and Porcupine caribou to river deltas and salt marshes that provide waterbird habitats, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to very fragile and unique ecosystems. But its beauty and life cannot compete with the political debate about how beautiful drilling rigs would look mixed with the wildlife.
Disrupting these delicate habitats threatens the species that live in the Arctic and supports using fossil fuels over renewable energy sources, exacerbating climate change.
As the previous Trump administration suggested, there may be more of a shift of resources and support from clean energy to fossil fuels, and his future policies may undermine any work that has been done to transition to a sustainable energy future.
“Describing the global climate crisis as ‘a hoax,’ Trump tried to prevent government scientists from reporting current information on climate change,” Greene said. “He opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling and will continue to vigorously protect and promote the fossil fuel industry, allowing additional drilling on Federal lands and uranium mining on First Nation lands adjacent to the Grand Canyon.”
Greene views Trump’s first presidency as a telling sign of how his second term will go.
“We can also anticipate efforts to open more federal lands to new oil and gas leases and pipelines and potential support for additional nuclear energy development,” she explained.
But why care, then? Isn’t it about polar bears?
The ANWR is more than just a refuge for wildlife; it symbolizes beauty and the planet's fragility. Allowing oil and gas drilling in these specific places — which Trump has wanted to do, so what’s to say he won't again — will destroy delicate ecosystems, harm species and exacerbate the effects of climate change.
The impacts ripple outward: extreme weather, rising sea levels, worsening human health, et cetera. Trump’s future term as president can have everlasting impacts on people worldwide, from rural farmers to urban families.
Meanwhile, the championing of fossil fuels will just push us farther away from the strides made to become less reliant on outdated and polluting energy sources. Every dollar sunk into oil rigs is a dollar stolen from renewable energy sources that we actually need.
For the foreseeable future, the federal government will not be on the side of the Earth and its creatures. The health of our planet is now dependent on us, the people and our decision-making.
“Individuals, businesses and policymakers will need to take personal and political responsibility to implement climate solutions and environmental protection while ensuring justice,” Greene concluded.