Trump Lays Plans to Reverse Obama’s Climate Change Legacy
The moves are intended to send an unmistakable signal to the nation and the world that Mr. Trump intends to follow through on his campaign vows to rip apart every element of what the president has called Mr. Obamas stupid policies to address climate change. The timing and exact form of the announcement remain unsettled, however. The executive actions will follow the White Houses release last week of a proposed budget that would eliminate climate change research and prevention programs across the federal government and by 31 percent, . Mr. Trump also that he had ordered Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A. administrator, to revise the agencys stringent standards on planet-warming tailpipe pollution from vehicles, another of Mr. Obamas key climate change policies. While the White House is not expected to explicitly say the United States is withdrawing from the on climate change, and people familiar with the White House deliberations say Mr. Trump has not decided whether to do so, the policy reversals would make it virtually impossible to meet the emissions reduction goals set by the Obama administration under the international agreement. In an announcement that could come as soon as Thursday or as late as next month, according to people familiar with the White Houses planning, Mr. Trump will order Mr. Pruitt to withdraw and rewrite a set of Obama-era regulations known as the , according to a draft document obtained by The New York Times. The Obama rule was devised to shut down hundreds of heavily polluting coal-fired power plants and freeze construction of new coal plants, while replacing them with vast wind and solar farms. The draft also lays out options for legally blocking or weakening about a half-dozen additional Obama-era executive orders and policies on climate change. At a in the coal-mining state of Kentucky, Mr. Trump told a cheering audience that he is preparing an executive action that would save our wonderful coal miners from continuing to be put out of work. Americans overwhelmingly believe that global warming is happening, and that carbon emissions should be scaled back. But fewer are sure that it will harm them personally. Experts in environmental law say it will not be possible for Mr. Trump to quickly or simply roll back the most substantive elements of Mr. Obamas climate change regulations, noting that the process presents a steep legal challenge that could take many years and is likely to end up before the Supreme Court. Economists are skeptical that a rollback of the rules would restore lost coal jobs because the demand for coal has been steadily shrinking for years. Scientists and climate policy advocates around the world say they are watching the administrations global warming actions and statements with deep worry. Many reacted with deep concern to that he did not believe carbon dioxide was a primary driver of climate change, a statement at odds with the global scientific consensus. They also noted the remarks last week by Mick Mulvaney, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, in . As to climate change, I think the president was fairly straightforward: Were not spending money on that anymore, Mr. Mulvaney said at a White House briefing. The message they are sending to the rest of the world is that they dont believe climate change is serious. Its shocking to see such a degree of ignorance from the United States, said , a Nobel Prize-winning scientist from Mexico who advises nations on climate change policy. The policy reversals also signal that Mr. Trump has no intention of following through on Mr. Obamas formal pledges under the Paris accord, under which nearly every country in the world submitted plans detailing actions to limit global warming over the coming decade. Under the accord as it stands, the United States has pledged to reduce its greenhouse pollution about 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. That can be achieved only if the United States not only implements the Clean Power Plan and tailpipe-pollution rules, but also tightens them or adds more policies in future years. The message clearly is, We wont do what the United States has promised to do, Mr. Molina said. In addition to directing Mr. Pruitt to withdraw the Clean Power Plan, the draft order instructs Attorney General Jeff Sessions to request that a federal court halt consideration of . The case was argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in September, and the court is expected to release a decision in the coming months on whether to uphold or strike down the rule. According to the draft, Mr. Trump is also expected to announce that he will lift a moratorium on new coal mining leases on public lands that had been announced last year by the Obama administration. Donald Trump and his cabinet have sent mixed signals on some big environmental decisions they face. Take this quiz and see where the different possible choices lead. He is also expected to order White House economists to revisit an Obama-era budgeting metric known as the social cost of carbon. Economists and policy makers used the metric to place a dollar cost on the economic impact of planet-warming carbon dioxide pollution: about $36 per ton. That measure formed the Obama administrations economic justification for issuing climate change regulations that would harm some industries, such as coal mining, noting that those costs would be outweighed by the economic benefits of preventing billions of tons of planet-warming pollution. Eliminating or lowering the social cost of carbon could provide the Trump administration the economic justification for putting forth less-stringent regulations. The draft order would also rescind an executive order by Mr. Obama that all federal agencies take climate change into account when considering any form of environmental permitting. Unlike the rollback of the power plant and vehicle regulations, which could take years and will be subject to legal challenges, Mr. Trump can make the changes to the coal mining ban and undo Mr. Obamas executive orders with the stroke of a pen. White House staff members and energy lobbyists who work closely with them say they have been expecting Mr. Trump to make the climate change announcements for weeks, ever since Mr. Pruitt was , but the announcement has been repeatedly rescheduled. The delays of the one-page announcement have largely been a result of disorganization and a chaotic policy and planning process, said people familiar with that process who asked to speak anonymously to avoid angering Mr. Trump. One reason for the confusion, these people said, is internal disputes about the challenging legal process required to dismantle the Clean Power Plan. While Mr. Trump may announce with great fanfare his intent to roll back the regulations, the legal steps required to fulfill that announcement are lengthy and the outcome uncertain. Trumps announcements have zero impact, said , a professor of environmental law at Harvard. They dont change existing law at all. Much of that task will now fall to Mr. Pruitt. To undo the rule, the E.P.A. will now have to follow the same procedure that was followed to put the regulations in place, said Mr. Lazarus, pointing to a multiyear process of proposing draft rules, gathering public comment and forming a legal defense against an expected barrage of lawsuits almost certain to end up before the Supreme Court.