Donald Trump is probably preparing a change in climate policy

According to a media report, US President-elect Donald Trump is preparing a comprehensive turnaround in the environmental and climate policy of the world’s largest economy. This included not only withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, but also outsourcing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from Washington and reducing nature reserves to make way for oil drilling and mining, writes the New York Times.

Two former cabinet members and well-known oil and coal lobbyists are expected to help Trump: the lawyer David Bernhardt, who was Secretary of the Interior from 2019 to 2021 in Trump’s first term in office, and the lawyer Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the EPA under Trump from 2018 to 2021. The New York Times described both as “Washington insiders” who had years of experience dismantling government environmental protections.

The annual world climate conference begins on Monday, this time taking place in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. The USA is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. During his first term in office (2017-2021), Trump had already canceled the Paris climate protection agreement, which is intended to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times. However, the USA rejoined under his successor Joe Biden.

According to the report, Trump wants to immediately redraw the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, two protected areas in southern Utah. This will reopen thousands of hectares of land sacred to indigenous peoples to mining and other projects. Biden reversed a corresponding measure from Trump’s first term in office.

According to the New York Times, the possible relocation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) goes hand in hand with Trump’s efforts to move federal administration positions from unpopular Washington to places that, according to Trump, are “full of patriots who love America.” The newspaper was referring to a video from Trump’s election campaign dismantling the so-called “deep state”. “Deep state” is a political buzzword that describes actual or alleged invisible power structures within a state.

According to the New York Times, the post of “energy czar” in a future Trump administration could be taken over by Doug Burgum, a Republican governor of North Dakota who briefly threw his hat into the race in the presidential primaries before withdrawing put behind Trump. During the election campaign, he served as a liaison between Trump and the oil billionaires who supported him. Another possible candidate is Trump’s former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette.