Climate experts expect a second Trump administration to feature multipronged attacks on recent years’ climate change progress, with battles in the courts, in Congress, and involving the enormous administrative power vested in the presidency.Supporters of efforts to reduce planet-warming fossil-fuel emissions should begin to focus on working to keep gains already made and prepare for a slowdown in progress, according to a panel of specialists gathered at a Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability discussion Nov. 26 on likely changes ahead as a new administration prepares to take over.President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to ramp up oil and gas production, roll back the Inflation Reduction Act, end Biden administration regulations aimed at cutting carbon emissions and moving the nation away from fossil fuels, and withdraw once again from the Paris Agreement on climate change.There may, however, also be some bright spots ahead, the experts said, stemming from some states continuing to push for carbon-free energy, the economic momentum behind ever-cheaper clean technology, and from the desire by American businesses to profit from the sale of green products and technology to the world.“There’s a lot of interest in what lies ahead with the new administration and Congress,” said James Stock, vice provost for climate and sustainability and director of the Salata Institute. “This is pretty complicated, and it’s multifaceted.”The second Trump administration, with a pro-business bent and taste for deregulation, will bear hallmarks of the first, but with control of the White House, Congress, and a friendly majority on the Supreme Court, the action likely will be more aggressive, said several panelists.“This version of the Trump administration is not just prepared to roll back federal regulations, but to target the states and the private sector actors that actually want to replace the gap left by the federal government.”Jody Freeman, Harvard Law SchoolOne prime target for the new administration will be 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, perhaps the nation’s most ambitious efforts ever to fight climate change. That legislation includes billions of dollars in tax credits, subsidies, and other financial incentives that aim to make carbon-free energy more attractive.Although some 80 percent of the funding authorized by the legislation has been spent or is under contract, the Biden administration is pushing to get as much money out the door as possible before Inauguration Day, according to Jody Freeman, the Archibald Cox Professor of Law and faculty director of Harvard Law School’s Environmental and Energy Law Program.That might not be enough, she said, as, with control of Congress as well as the White House, there may be attempts to “claw back” money already awarded and to revise or repeal the law. Among the most endangered targets is the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases, she said.The administration can do
Gio. Dic 26th, 2024
