Pulling back Obama's climate change efforts wont be easy for Trump

Once sworn in Donald Trump will be in a strong position to dismantle his predecessor’s efforts. Going by the chatter coming out of Trump’s transition camp, the first to fall victim will be Obama’s efforts towards cleaner energy, but it wont be an easy task.

During the election campaign Trump claimed he would abolish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and that he would put an end to NASA’s climate research program.

The Republicans have blamed the EPA for the decline in reliance on coal, so Trump’s views are not his alone when he speaks of abolishing the agency. However the US Department of Energy refutes that notion, instead it claims the decline is due to the availability of cheaper fuel sources. Falling prices of green energy options such as solar panels and wind turbines have also played their role, the US Department of Energy adds.

The only way for the Trump administration to scuttle the EPA is by starving the agency of funds. That will likely result in brain-drain with people opting to leave rather than working under the Trump administration.

Even if Trump’s administration stops defending the Clean Power Plan and starves the EPA because of its Clean Water Act and the recently introduced standards for coal-powered plants and oil and gas operations, because they face legal challenges from the fossil fuel industry, EPA’s existing regulations that have been finalized and implemented will stand as the agency has built up a strong record to support its rules.

Another claim was to eliminate NASA’s climate research program that uses an array of satellites orbiting the planet to monitor melting Arctic ice, rising oceans and the over all warming of the planet.

NASA’s study comes under federal law, which means it would require congressional action and will be blocked by the Democrats, as would the elimination of the EPA.

The only possible way for Trump to have his way is to starve the entities by cutting their budget, defunding core efforts – and this wont require any congressional action.

If Trump goes ahead and starves the EPA, it will witness a brain drain with people leaving rather than working under the Trump administration.

Additionally to fight for clean energy efforts, environmental groups have also started preparing to defend Obama’s legacy, fundraising for such groups have spiked since Trump’s election.

Since winning the election, Trump has changed his position on certain matters. During the campaign he was adamant that climate change was a hoax but now he claims there maybe ‘some connectivity’ between human actions and the warming planet. Here’s hoping that in the days and weeks after he is sworn in, he reassesses his position on Obama’s green energy initiatives.