The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
In President-elect Donald Trump 100-day plan he has proposed two major policies that will impact the natural resources of the country.
First, according to his website Trump hopes to “lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward.”
Pipelines are categorized as vital because they transport fossil fuel from cheap, domestic sources through the country.
As outlined by the energy plan on his website, Trump wants to make the United States energy independent and protect clean air and clean water. He also has plans to unleash untapped shale, oil and natural gas reserves. With Trump’s plan, energy independence involves domestically fracking, mining and drilling for fossil fuels.
Energy independence has been highlighted in the Trump campaign in order to keep the United States from funding the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also known as OPEC. Trump wishes to stop supporting those countries as he believes they are hostile to our interests.
Trump made no mention of renewable energy infrastructure which is also a domestic energy source.
Brandon Reise, senior water resources major, said, “If he’s looking to revamp the country’s infrastructure, he could please environmentalists or outdoorsmen by making more sustainable renewable infrastructure.”
In his book, “Crippled America,” Trump said, “The whole push for renewable energy is being driven by the wrong motivation, the mistaken belief that global climate change is being caused by carbon emissions.”
Trump has stated that renewable resources are an expensive way of making environmentalists feel good about themselves.
The second policy strategy mentioned in the 100-day plan is to “cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure.”
Photo courtesy of medium.com.
Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreements will send a loud message that the United States doesn’t prioritize climate action.
As a climate denier, the President-elect doesn’t support efforts by the United States to participate in global actions, like the Paris Climate talks, to prevent the negative impacts of climate change.
The United States is one of the top three carbon polluting countries in the world. Removal from the Climate Agreement will place the burden of the United States’ actions on other countries with smaller carbon footprints per capita in order to protect their citizens from the threat of climate change.
Alex Harp, senior natural resources planning major, said, “I’m trying to keep an open mind and stay optimistic but I do think we’re running out of time as far as environmental policy goes.”
Donald Trump outlines an energy policy path, but his personal stances as a climate change denier most likely will not influence him to choose policies which prioritize renewable resources with lower carbon emissions.
Genevieve Adamski
Environment Editor
gadam590@uwsp.edu
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