The Trump Effect

from cnbc.com

Donald Trump made energy a pillar of his economic policy, and now the president-elect is poised to unwind President Barack Obama's key climate change initiatives and potentially torpedo an international global warming initiative years in the making. 

The change could happen quickly, too, in no small part because of the way the Obama administration advanced much of its own agenda. 

Realizing early on that there was little he could accomplish through legislation while Republicans held both houses of Congress, Obama pieced together a large number of initiatives to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption, largely through regulation. 

That means Trump can order regulators to stop enforcing the rules by using the same executive authority Obama exercised to set them in motion.

What has been, done can be undone. There is hope however. While Trump has made numerous comments questioning the very existence of climate change let alone any relation to human activities, he also said (from LA Times) :

Trump has said he also supports expanding renewable energy. In comments published in September on the website of Science Debate, a nonpartisan science initiative promoting political debate on scientific issues, Trump wrote, “There is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of ‘climate change.’ ” 

After mentioning the importance of clean water and fighting disease, without linking those issues directly to climate concerns, he continued, “Perhaps we should be focused on developing energy sources and power production that alleviates the need for dependence on fossil fuels.”

So. Who knows what the real Donald Trump is thinking or planning to do. He has promised both sides to almost every issue over the past several years so people can choose to hear what they choose. That time is over. Over the next four years, the real Donald Trump will emerge and some people will be severely disappointed. But who? Perhaps he will move to the middle, embrace science rather than fear mongering and that was his plan all along. Or perhaps he will stay with the win now at all costs mentality leaving a scorched Earth policy to not only American environmental policy but also American values and reputation in the world. Time will tell.