Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor

With the incoming Trump-Vance administration, some experts have expressed concerns about the future of America’s climate and energy policy.

During his last presidency, President-elect Donald Trump rolled back around 100 environmental policies. He weakened limits on carbon emissions from power plants as well as cars and trucks, removed protection and pollution control from streams and wetlands and weakened the Endangered Species Act. The Trump administration’s deregulatory actions were estimated to increase greenhouse gas emissions and cause thousands of extra deaths from poor air quality. Given this track record, many feel a renewed concern about America’s environmental future. 

Although Trump’s official platform has no mention of “climate” or “environment,” there is a focus on energy, speaking of lifting restrictions on oil, natural gas and coal production. The Trump administration currently has no clear approach to environmental and energy policy, but broadly aims to reduce regulations and increase fossil fuel extraction. 

“Trump’s climate policies, if enacted, will come at the worst possible time,” said Robert Dubrow, founding faculty director of the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health.

A quote on Trump’s website reads: “We will DRILL, BABY, DRILL and we will become Energy Independent, and even Dominant again. The United States has more liquid gold under our feet than any other Nation, and it’s not even close.”

This ideology of U.S. energy dominance frames acknowledging and preparing for climate change as bad for the U.S. economy, according to Todd Cort, faculty co-director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. Kenneth Gillingham, professor of environmental and energy economics at the School of the Environment, writes that Trump’s stance prioritizes domestic oil and gas development over clean energy alternatives.

This is further illustrated as Trump’s pick for energy secretary, Chris Wright, is expected to end the Biden administration’s pause on new liquefied natural gas exports. Wright downplays fears about climate change, arguing that oil and gas could liberate women in developing countries from having to spend hours gathering fuel, including dung, for stoves.

Another concern is the Trump administration’s potential to undo the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA is a piece of legislation passed by President Joe Biden’s administration that uses subsidies to incentivize clean energy, such as zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure. 

“​​Rolling back EPA’s vehicle greenhouse gas standards is likely to be the action by the Trump Administration that will have the most impact, but everything is highly uncertain right now,” wrote Gillingham. 

According to Cort, clean energy infrastructure requires massive financial investments compared to oil and gas, which have much of their infrastructure already in place. Repealing the IRA could slow clean energy growth at a critical point.  

Based on concerns about these policy changes, Jeffrey Park, professor of earth and planetary sciences, encourages people to “vote for political candidates who believe in science.”

“Donald Trump does not care much about the facts, and he knows that many Americans will support him if he pretends to be certain about whatever he says, whether correct or not,” Park told the News.

Currently, almost half of the world’s population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the new administration’s policies do not aim to address this.

“Those of us who understand the existential threat of climate change can’t throw in the towel,” Dubrow said. “Rather, we need to redouble our efforts to educate the public, to form alliances and to block the Trump climate agenda at every turn.”

According to Yale’s Noah Planavsky, professor in earth and planetary sciences, hope is not lost. As clean energy sources have become more widespread, the need and support for oil and gas production have diminished. Although encouraging the use of oil and gas will negatively impact our climate, Planavsky explained, it is unlikely to be catastrophic because other factors dampen its impact.

Planavsky explained that the amount of damage Trump can cause is limited because climate action is not set by one branch of government. He explained that state policies and new innovations can have a large impact on addressing climate change.

Planavsky encourages a shift in mindset: while many are concerned about the administration, this shouldn’t be our focus. To him, climate change is “something that was a problem in the previous administration, is going to be a problem during this administration and it’s going to be a problem in the next administration.”

“It’s not that I’m optimistic necessarily, but I don’t yet have evidence that supports being hugely pessimistic,” said Juan Lora, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences. “There are forces beyond just the whims of the president. Concern and interest are important, but an existential panic is not warranted.”

The overarching message from Yale’s environment and energy faculty is that these changes in policies shouldn’t lead to fear, but inspire action. Planavsky explained that this is an issue for everyone to take action in, including communities, universities and states.

Planavsky highlighted the importance of focusing on communities vulnerable to climate change regardless of what the administration is doing. For example, regional and local communities will be negatively impacted by oil and gas development as federal lands are opened up to drilling and environmental pollution. 

To mitigate these impacts, Yale faculty the the News spoke to call for greater research and innovation. According to Cort, Yale’s greatest contribution will be to create the “ecosystem” for such innovation and to train current and future environmental and clean energy leaders. In his view, further investment in clean energy resilience and development has the potential to decrease the threat of climate change. 

“Whether it is policy, finance or technology, we need research, convening, innovation and application to achieve a clean energy transition,” Cort wrote to the News. 

According to Gillingham, the impact of state environmental and energy policies will outweigh that of federal policy during Trump’s second term. 

For those still concerned about America’s future, faculty advise to write to policymakers and congressional representatives as concerned constituents, as well as to support environmental advocacy groups. 

Donald Trump is 78 years old.