Author: Tula Larsen
Editors: Sonya Doubledee and Clara Conry
From examining three administrations with different political and environmental agendas, one takeaway is clear: your vote matters.
For the upcoming Presidential Election, both presidential nominees, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, are working tirelessly to win the votes of seven crucial swing states. As the world reaches landmark years for climate targets, and with 2025 being just one year away, climate change and a growing demand for harmful energy sources should be a top concern for American leaders, businesses, and voters. Before choosing a political candidate in the election, it’s vital for voting Americans to consider the climate goals of each candidate, as well as their previous environmental track record while serving in office.
2016-2020: The Trump Administration
Upon entering office in 2016, Donald Trump, a real estate businessman and billionaire, has established strong economic priorities. Trump has characterized climate change as an “expensive hoax”, and that position has defined his administration’s willingness to reduce carbon emissions. His 2016 term was characterized by deep environmental deregulation and prioritization of businesses economic prosperity.
In office, Trump withdrew from both the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement, which would keep the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions in check, and former president Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which would regulate carbon pollution from power plants, incentivizing the transition to a clean energy economy. His removal from the Paris Climate Agreement brought the United States out of alignment with the majority of other Western nations, and his removal from the Clean Power Plan limited greenhouse gas regulations in power plant smokestacks. He ordered mass funding cuts on the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which aimed to completely dismantle it, which sweptthe nation with restrictions on life-saving environmental regulation.
2020-2024: The Biden Administration
Compared to a dark period of environmental backlash, the Biden Administration’s current environmental record is a stark contrast. Biden calls climate change “an existential threat” and an “emergency.” While his environmental agenda isn’t perfect, Biden has prioritized boosting a pro-environment economy and prioritized expedited greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
Biden’s main catalyst for environmental change has been his 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which included several major environmental targets and attributed over $4 billion to environmental funding projects. The Inflation Reduction Act has significantly lowered the costs of clean energy production, given tax credits for electric vehicle purchases, allocated $700 million to water conservation in the Colorado River Basin, and was named the largest climate investment in American history.
Due to the Inflation Reduction Act’s success and his support for a clean energy transition, the Biden Administration made America well on track to cutting national greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
Trump’s Plans: “Drill, Baby, Drill” And The Threat of Project 2025
In his speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump pridefully encouraged American oil and gas companies to “drill, baby, drill” to keep the American economy competitive.
Besides ensuring that the United States dominates the energy industry, Trump aims to end restrictions on oil, coal, and natural gas for large businesses to prosper, and he hopes to streamline the permitting process on oil and gas production, incentivizing the use of fossil fuels as America’s dominant energy source. For example, he criticized restriction policies on oil and gas pipelines, arguing that they increased short-term household energy prices for residents. This increase in America’s reliance on oil and gas resources would negatively contribute to increased greenhouse gas emissions, and the usage of depleting non-renewable energy sources will likely be economically unstable in the long run. At a private gathering this Spring, Trump boasted about his plans to reverse the transition to clean energy and decrease regulations upon election.
Meanwhile, a coalition of conservative organizations and think tanks came together as a part of the Heritage Foundation to produce an array of policies aligned with a conservative-focused agenda called Project 2025. In the 2024 Presidential Debate, Trump claims to have “nothing to do with Project 2025”, yet over 140 people part of the plan worked in the Trump Administration. If implemented, Project 2025 will remove appliance efficiency standards, end electric vehicle subsidies, and prevent economic considerations of emissions. Not only will this have detrimental environmental impacts and reverse emissions standards of fossil fuels, this will contribute to removing environmental issues from the political agenda for the next four years.
Harris’s Environmental Promises
For her upcoming election, Harris will prioritize advocating for Americans’ natural rights to clean land, water, and air. While her current presidential plan for climate change is not detailed, she and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), claim to be “committed to continuing and building upon the United States’ international climate leadership”. Overall, however, Harris appears to be a mixed bag on climate policies, mainly in her commitment to fracking.
In 2020, Harris supported a ban on fracking and plastic straws. Yet she has since changed her opinion and no longer commits to banning fracking upon election in 2024.
On the other hand, Harris proudly represented the California Coastal Commission in a lawsuit against fracking along the California Coastline in 2016, which would limit harms to marine life and California’s reliance on fossil fuels. She also aims to build on her and Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Conclusion
From examining three administrations with different political and environmental agendas, one takeaway is clear: your vote matters. For one American among hundreds of millions of American voters, voting doesn’t seem particularly important. Yet, as climate change becomes more of a pressing global concern, it is crucial that environmental issues are placed as top priority in the upcoming American political agenda.
Reaching global climate change targets will result from administrations that are ready to step up to the issue of climate change, and in a country like the United States with large environmental footprints, our executive branch will contribute in setting the record for the future of our global climate. It is time for American Democrats and Republicans to come together for the sake of the planet, cast their votes, and contribute to making the environment bipartisan.
Emory Environmental Report 
Leave a comment