Trump’s plans for rolling back climate protections signal a fossil-fueled future

With a second term in sight, Donald Trump’s environmental strategy aims to wipe out protections for air, water, and public lands while undercutting climate science and strengthening fossil fuel interests.

Coral Davenport, Christopher Flavelle and Lisa Friedman report for The New York Times.

In short:

Trump’s first term gutted environmental regulations and sidelined scientific voices, paving the way for unchecked fossil fuel expansion.
His potential second term would seek to dismantle federal climate policy, using recent Supreme Court rulings to limit agencies’ power to regulate.
Plans include reducing federal disaster aid and targeting agencies like the EPA and NOAA as part of a broader rollback strategy.

Key quote:

“Trump’s the worst president for the environment in American history. A second term will be brutal.”

— Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian, Rice University

Why this matters:

Leveraging recent Supreme Court rulings that limit federal agency power, Trump and his allies plan to shrink environmental regulations down to state-level decisions, leaving protections patchy and influenced by the whims of local politics. Read more: We mobilized to defend the EPA in Trump's first term. This time the stakes are even higher.

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Trump’s plans for rolling back climate protections signal a fossil-fueled future

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