Sustainability in Our New Political Climate
One
of the most controversial and terrifying things about
president-elect Donald Trump is that he has openly admitted to not believing
global warming exists.
A
president who rejects scientific proof about a significant
threat to our country and our lives can be very dangerous.
As
a result, the future of our environment is in question. Sustainability is
arguably not a very high priority in Trump’s mind.
What
will the next few years look like in terms of this important issue? Trump has
not made clear his exact plans, but he has expressed promises to make certain
moves once in the White House that will very much affect the
sustainability efforts set in motion by President Obama.
Fossil fuels vs. clean
energy
Trump
has promised to increase production of oil and gas in the US through digging,
mining and fracking — all environmental dangers that can potentially be phased out and replaced with clean energy, like
wind and solar. President Obama made many strides in switching to clean and
renewable energy that president-elect Trump will likely not continue.
President-elect
Trump also wants to heavily cut federal regulations on greenhouse gas
emissions, wildlife protection, pollution and other regulations meant to
protect the people and the planet.
His hope is to do a complete overhaul of the
federal regulations and reduce the power of the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA).
The deeply controversial Dakota Access pipeline to
transport oil will probably see victory under Trump’s administration, as will
other fossil fuel infrastructure projects.
Overall,
a Trump administration will focus mostly on supporting fossil fuel expansion and
refusing to acknowledge the burden these products are placing on the
environment.
Paris climate agreement
One
of President Obama’s signature accomplishments was being a part of the Paris agreement,
the landmark agreement between more than 190 nations to decrease greenhouse gas
emissions in an effort to stop global warming. Trump will likely pull
out of this agreement when he is president, which will have major repercussions
for the environment.
The
US pulling out of the Paris agreement will hurt the efforts of
nations that are trying to do something about global warming, as well as sending
a very negative message to the rest of the world.
Doing so fully will take four years,
however, which means a change in leadership in 2020 could undo Trump’s damage.
Mass transportation
Trump
very much likes the idea of investing money into our public transportation
systems — especially trains. He has repeatedly compared the US to China in
terms of their mass transportation and commented that the US is like a
third-world country when compared to China’s mass transportation abilities.
Infrastructure
was a huge platform for Trump throughout his campaign — he promised to rebuild
roads and bridges and invest in public transportation. Interestingly, the
Republican Party does not exactly line up with Trump in this way.
The party
wants most of the funds to go towards fixing roads, not towards mass transit
initiatives, and they want the private sector to take care of public
transportation.
Commuting
to and from work is a large part of many
Americans lives, so the decision about where to send money for
transportation is an important one.
Also, mass transit affects the environment
in many ways. The more people we have on trains and buses, the fewer people
will need to drive — and in turn add to environmental pollution, especially in
major cities. Public transportation is also important for those who can’t
afford cars, and many people rely on mass transit to get where they need to go.
What can we do?
Overall,
it doesn’t seem like it will be a very good four years for the environment and
sustainability. Much of the progress made by President Obama could be partially
or totally reversed. For those of us who are concerned about the future of our
environment and even our own health, there are some ways we can help make
sustainability a priority.
Probably
the most effective thing you can do is join a local organization committed to
protecting the environment and sustainability efforts. Becoming involved with
the actual political process will have the most obvious effect, and may
influence real change.
You
can also contact your state senators by phone or email to express your thoughts
and concerns about the environment. Get a bunch of friends and family to call
within a short period of time to send a stronger message.
Some
smaller things that you can do to help the environment in small but meaningful ways is
buying locally grown food, eating less meat, engaging in ridesharing or public
transportation, recycling and using clean energy in your home. If everybody
took these small steps, the world would become a much more sustainable
environment.
Sustainability
is no doubt a very important issue, whether Donald Trump thinks so or not.
Become informed about what’s happening in Washington and take steps to protect
the environment that your children and grandchildren will grow up in.
Bobbi
Peterson loves writing and regularly posts on her blog Living
Life Green. She’s also a freelance writer, green living advocate and
environmentalist. You can find more from Bobbi on Twitter.
