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:
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
Reuters adds:
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:
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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.