Executive Order on Climate Policy Rolls Back Protections

By Salote Soqo on March 29, 2017

After months of rumors, Trump released his “Energy Independence” Executive Order yesterday, directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to begin rolling back environmental protections and policies, including President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Under the Order, federal agencies are instructed to review “burdensome” regulations that prohibit the development of domestic energy production, particularly oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy; it rescinds and revokes the Obama administration’s actions on energy and climate change; and it requires the head of the EPA to re-write the Clean Power Plan.

Although the order does not mention the Paris Agreement specifically, this intentional weakening of the Clean Power Plan—which provided a roadmap for how the nation would meet its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28%—will directly impact U.S. compliance with the Paris Agreement targets.

Additionally, the order instructs the Secretary of the Interior to take immediate steps to lift all moratoria on federal coal leasing, placing an imminent threat to our public lands.

Along with his earlier order to weaken the Clean Water Rule, his proposal to slash EPA funding and his attempts to roll back clean car standards, Trump’s actions fundamentally violate the rights of U.S. citizens to live in a safe and clean environment and destroys the sanctity between people and their natural surroundings. Our fossil-fuel driven, capitalist system has far reaching effects, it is changing our entire global atmosphere to the extent that it is forcibly displacing people from their lands and from their homes. UUSC strongly opposes any actions that do not work to combat the effects of climate change.

This executive order is shortsighted and irresponsible. UUSC, together with our partners, will take public action by applying political pressure on the White House at every possible turn. Join us at the People’s Climate March in Washington, D.C. on April 29 to demand environmental justice and climate action.