According to CNN, President Donald Trump signed executive actions Monday and cemented his intent to double down on fossil fuels and reverse America’s progress on climate change and clean energy, including signing orders to pull United States out of the Paris climate agreement.
Trump’s day-one actions come as climate change-fueled fires ravage Southern California, following the globe’s hottest year on record during which two major hurricanes – Helene and Milton – devastated the Southeast.
In his inauguration speech, Trump said he will declare a “national energy emergency,” though United States is producing more oil now than any other country at any other time. He intends to streamline permitting and review regulations that “impose undue burdens on energy production and use, including mining and processing of non-fuel minerals,” according to a list of priorities from Trump’s press office.
Trump views energy prices as central to his mission to address widespread frustrations with the cost of living, and has argued that slashing red tape will help drive down energy prices and fight overall inflation.
“The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices,” Trump said during his inaugural address. “That’s why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill.”
Scientists declared earlier this month the planet for the first time breached 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming last year — a significant benchmark that experts researching Earth’s tipping points have warned humanity to avoid, and the goal world leaders aspired to when they signed the Paris Agreement in 2015.
UN agencies responded on Tuesday to President Trump’s executive order ending US membership of the Paris Climate Agreement.
From the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), spokesperson Clare Nullis reacted to President Trump’s vow to quit the universally adopted 2015 Paris Agreement - marking an immediate return to the policies of his first presidential term, which ended in January 2021.
The need for all countries to respect the accord was “pretty obvious”, she said, given that 2024 “was the hottest year on record”, at about 1.55°C above the pre-industrial era. “It is the defining challenge of our time,” she insisted.
In the wake of the recent devastating and deadly massive wildfires that ripped through Los Angeles, the WMO spokesperson also noted that the US had suffered the bulk of global economic losses from weather, climate and water-related hazards.
“It has sustained 403 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion. The total cost of these 403 events exceeds $2.915 trillion, according to US figures,” Ms. Nullis said.
Her comments echoed those of the UN Spokesperson’s Office late on Monday which responded to journalists’ questions insisting that “the transformation envisaged in the Paris Agreement is already underway”, with a renewable “energy revolution” offering opportunities for jobs and prosperity.
“The Secretary-General remains confident that cities, states and businesses within the United States - along with other countries - will continue to demonstrate vision and leadership by working for the low-carbon, resilient economic growth that will create quality jobs and markets for 21st century prosperity," the statement continued.
“It is crucial that the United States remains a leader on environmental issues,” it concluded.
Photo: Jonah Elkowitz
January 23, 2025 at 16:43