Donald Trump is the Face of Environmental Destruction And His Own Tipping Point

The daily litany of President Trump’s executive orders is making the environmental stewards of the planet increasingly anxious. Here is the latest list:

• Trump has directed the Justice Department to challenge states that restrict the development of domestic energy resources and issued several executive orders prioritizing fossil fuel production.
• Trump has removed the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool that the federal government used to track climate and economic vulnerabilities affecting Americans.
• Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time.
• Trump has instructed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)and the Department of Energy not to renew any expiring environmental regulations and has announced plans to eliminate scientific research by biologists, toxicologists and other scientists affecting the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.
• Trump has issued instructions cutting back federal government tracking of climate mitigation and adaptation measures.
• Trump has issued a national energy emergency directive to expand coal mining and burning coal in thermal power plants, to increase offshore oil and gas leases, exploration, and production, and to increase logging, while restricting wind energy builds both on and offshore.
• Trump has issued orders to cut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research budget used to study global weather patterns, climate, the ocean and the atmosphere.
• Trump has issued orders to open up national monuments, parks and other publicly-held government land to prioritize mining and fossil fuel development and instructed the Department of the Interior to expedite permitting and reduce environmental reviews.
• Trump has issued an executive order addressing the mining of the deep seafloor for metal-rich nodules in American-controlled and international waters, ignoring the governing International Seabed Authority and raising concerns by environmentalists about ocean floor ecosystems.

So, who are the biggest winners and losers coming out of all of these executive orders?

The winners include the fossil fuel industry, thermal power plant operators and utilities,  and mining companies. Ironically, the last of these edicts favours a Canadian business, The Metals Company, which already has signed agreements with the Pacific island nations of Tonga, Nauru, and Kiribati to lease and mine the seabeds within their exclusive economic zones and is excited about entering into similar agreements with the U.S.

The biggest losers are the American people, the rest of the human population of the planet, and wildlife. How will these executive orders affect Americans and others? The deregulation in the oversight of air and water quality, the cutting of weather and climate tracking expertise, will leave more people vulnerable to polluters and extreme weather events.  Without oversight on mitigation and adaptation, responding to climate change and global warming will lack an overall strategy.

As for seafloor mining, Douglas McCauley, a Professor of Ocean Science at UC Santa Barbara, told NPR that the planned mining Trump wants to see happen will happen “on some of the least resilient ecosystems on the planet” and “would have catastrophic biological consequences.” McCauley is one of many scientists condemning deep-seabed mining and its environmental consequences.

The sum of all of the above supports the headline I chose for this posting which may appear to be too subjective, but I believe, says it all.

Energy and climate experts see Trump’s actions as undermining international climate cooperation and contributing to increases in greenhouse gas emissions. On the opposite side, Trump supporters argue that his executive actions bring balance to the country’s policies regarding energy, climate, economic growth and the environment.

The truth, however, is that the sum of all of these executive actions plays to the fossil fuel lobby and the industry’s interests at the expense of environmental and climate change action. When you consider who contributed to Trump’s presidential campaign and his inauguration event, should you be surprised?