1 day Ago By David Gelles and Claire Brown
Before President Trump returned to office, it was widely expected that his administration would again reduce support for clean energy, promote fossil fuels and disengage from global efforts to combat climate change. But during his first 100 days, Trump’s efforts to roll back regulations and stop climate action have shocked even those who were raising the alarm in the months before the election. “Full-on fight club” is how one environmental lawyer .
Some of the moves coming out of the White House were well telegraphed. Yet, in several other cases, they have gone far beyond what was expected. For example, we reported on Monday that the Trump administration has who had been compiling the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s flagship report on how global warming is affecting the country.
There are two big reasons for this: First, Congress has not passed a comprehensive environmental law in more than three decades, to the executive branch. And, in his second term, Trump has stretched the limits of presidential power, withholding spending, firing workers and upending years of climate action. “This is worse than any previous administration,” said Gina McCarthy, the E.
P.A. administrator under President Obama.
“He can do a lot of damage to the agency, and when he leaves, he will have left devastation in his wake.” Trump, who has called climate change “a hoax,” took in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests, and campaigned on a pledge to “drill, baby, drill.” And, in the first months of his second term, he has made good on his promise to promote the oil and gas industry.
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