With the inauguration of President Donald Trump having come and gone, the realities of his policy positions have gained substantial legitimacy. As Trump finally assumed the most powerful office in the world, the most immediate and public changes accompanying the incoming administration were reflected on the updated official White House website, where webpages concerning climate change were removed and archived.
In their place, the incoming administration outlined its massive and ambitious “An America First Energy Plan.” The only mentioning of policy even remotely related to climate change is the incoming administration’s commitment “to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule,” with the justification of alternatively creating jobs and increasing wages for American workers in the reinvigorated nonrenewable energy sector. Particularly, the incoming administration intends to pursue expanded energy objectives in the areas of shale, oil, natural gas and coal.
With such a swift turnaround from the previous administration’s aggressive commitment to combating climate change as well as looking toward alternative energy sources, climate scientists and critics of the proposed policy have been alarmed, and rightfully so. It is the small things such as this instance that indicate the larger things to come. These somewhat “cosmetic” changes to the official White House website, it would seem, are just the beginning signs of a new reality. But beyond these so-far superficial changes to the official White House website comes the very real shuffling and filling of the heads of the executive departments of the slowly-forming Trump administration, individuals who will possibly wield considerable influence on the policies and regulations that constitute American governance.
Climate change, however, presents a truly unprecedented existential threat that attacks virtually all levels of human activity. In recognition of this peril, the global community, including the Obama administration, has begun the steps toward counteracting human-induced climate change, a community and commitment that Trump has aggressively questioned in the past.
Now, as an even stronger indication of the policy stances of the incoming administration, Trump’s nomination for the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has been on record as a skeptic about the very real existence of human-influenced climate change. Even during his confirmation hearing this past Wednesday in the United States Capitol building, he reinforced and rearticulated his belief that we must still review and debate the degree of climate change’s impact.
Broadly speaking from a legal and political perspective, Pruitt has a documented relationship of forming political alliances with energy companies in order to lobby against energy sector regulations under the Obama administration. Moreover, he has documented connections with energy sector executives, and their interactions range from campaign contributions to collaborations on state re-election campaigning. This is, interestingly enough, a stark contrast to Trump’s campaign commitments to remove the influence of special interest lobbyists and their surrogates from the Washington political scene.
Such developments give rise to an understandably gloomy outlook. To instate an individual who lacks the record of serious attention to climate science and has a connection to special interest groups in the American energy sector to a powerful position within the Trump cabinet does not bode well. It distances the U.S. government from the rest of the international community. It even begs the question of the continuation of American leadership in the world, which has long been taken for granted. Though we have yet to see the actions that Pruitt will eventually take should he be confirmed, it is precisely the absence of reassuring commitments to climate change that cause sincere concern.
It remains as speculation whether the omission of climate change information from the official White House website is a presently symbolic move or the early sign of a genuine shift toward certain policy positions. What does remain fairly certain is the political, legal and administrative clout that will coalesce as Pruitt is expected to be confirmed as the new head of the EPA. With that likely confirmation comes the placing of a man into power who has provided little confidence toward a commitment to environmental protection, regulation and genuine action against climate change. This sounds all too familiar.
