As a result of the worsening condition of the environment, concerns have grown in the political sphere, causing each incoming administration to create their own policies and solutions.
Upon being elected, former president Donald Trump viewed environmental policy in a “business friendly and deregulatory way,” according to Samantha Gross for Brookings.
The idea that environmental regulations need to be business friendly isn’t necessarily perfect. While it is valuable to keep domestic interests in mind, the primary focus should be on the planet. While under other circumstances or regarding other issues it’s important to put America’s needs first, fixing the damage done to the planet should be top priority.
Along with this, as a result of a regulation from the Obama administration, Trump was able to roll back certain regulations already in place.
“President Trump’s ability to roll back climate rules stems from actions of the Obama administration, which used existing law and executive orders to regulate GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions because Congress was unwilling to act,” Gross wrote.
Trump had promised to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris Climate Agreement is an agreement from 195 different countries around the world who are heavily concerned with the rise of carbon emissions and greenhouse gas.
The fact that the U.S. has left the Paris Climate Agreement raises a few questions. It raises suspicions about how much the U.S. cares about the challenge of climate change. After failing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol under the Clinton administration and now leaving the Paris Agreement, other countries are starting to take notice, and tensions are rising domestically.
Though it’s still early in the Biden administration, President Joe Biden’s website has a section completely dedicated to his plan for the climate. He plans on rejoining the Paris Agreement, and putting major focus on bettering not only the environment, but also the economy.
“He will not only recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change – he will go much further than that. He will lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets,” Biden’s official website reads.
Since his term began, Biden not only has rejoined the Paris Agreement, he also canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline. This is a controversial oil pipeline extending into Canada from the US. This project has been started and stopped multiple times according to the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC).
“Immediately after taking office, President Trump reversed course and signed an executive order to advance Keystone XL (as well as the Dakota Access Pipeline),”the official website said.
The shut down of this pipeline has caused some domestic turmoil as the prices of gas (especially on the East Coast) have gone up significantly.
Between the two most recent presidential administrations, there have been multiple approaches to climate change shown. Though they both have positives and negatives, the most important thing is that the U.S. continues to take strides in reducing carbon emissions and moving toward a “greener” future.