During the first week of President Trump’s second term in office, he signed a slew of executive orders. He signed more executive orders on his first day in office than any other president. A White House press release dubbed it the “Trump Effect” and characterized the executive orders as “Promises Made, Promises Kept.”
Back in September, I wrote about the kick in the ass to the people called Project 2025. The section about the Treasury Department recommends that the “next conservative Administration should withdraw the U.S. from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.”
Trump is indeed making good on his campaign promises. During his first week in office, the President has kept his promises to gut environmental regulation, starting with withdrawal from the Paris Climate Treaty. The executive order declares that the U.S. will “immediately” submit notification for withdrawal from the climate treaty. However, it also states that the U.S. “has simultaneously grown its economy, raised worker wages, increased energy production, reduced air and water pollution, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.” Indeed, it did, and the nation’s commitment to the Climate Treaty helped.
In 2024, the earth’s average surface temperature was the warmest on record, with global temperatures 2.30 degrees Fahrenheit (1.28 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century baseline. It matters little to Trump and his fellow wealthy cabal. They can afford to find the coolest places in the summer and rebuild if Mother Nature strikes. But it’s tough shit for the rest of us.
Not all billionaires are like the Nazi-saluting owner of X and Tesla. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg announced that Bloomberg Philanthropies will supply the funding and reporting obligations of the U.S. for the Paris Climate Treaty. Bloomberg also announced his continued support for America Is All In, a coalition that works to meet the U.S. emissions reduction commitment of 61-66 percent below 2005 levels by 2035.
Without federal help, U.S. cities and states can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54-62 percent below 2005 levels, a study by the University of Maryland’s Center for Global Sustainability discovered. Cities and states can “counteract much of the impacts of federal inactions or rollbacks,” the study stated. They can also encourage “widespread adoption” of state renewable energy targets, building efficiency and electrification standards, and waste diversion efforts.
Drill, Baby, Drill
Project 2025 calls for more drilling. The Republican National Convention Platform 2024 proclaims, “Make America the dominant energy producer in the world, by far.” During the 2024 election, Trump received $951,902 in campaign contributions from oil and gas companies. He must pay his fossil fuel masters.
He paid them back for campaign contributions when he signed specific executive orders into law. One of the executive orders states that the policy of the U.S. is “to encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf.” That same executive order eliminates the electric vehicle (EV) mandate, ends state emissions waivers, and ends appliance and lightbulb standards.
In August, the Biden administration updated standards for around two dozen products. Those updated standards would save a U.S. household $107 annually over the next two decades. Business owners would save a collective average of over $2 billion annually. The standards would have reduced air pollution and water waste. God forbid we save taxpayers and businesses money. Only the one percent can save money. And forget about reducing pollution and waste. That’s just too woke for the Trump and Company administration.
Another of his executive orders declared a “national energy emergency.” That is the code for the fossil fuel companies not raking in enough money. To earn his campaign contributions, Trump opened up federal lands for more drilling by expediting drilling permits. Alaska merited its executive order to open its lands for more drilling via expedited permits. No land in the U.S. is so important that Trump’s cronies can’t screw it up for profit.
All this is bluster and to suck up to his Big Oil cronies. There is no “national energy emergency.” The country is producing more oil and gas than ever before.
What You Can Do
Would-be dictators rely on apathy. For that reason, we can’t give into despair. We “fight the power” to borrow from a Public Enemy song. That starts with informing ourselves. One way to stay informed is through the Global Warming Is Real newsletter. You can also help support the journalism we do with a donation.
