The Election’s Effect on the Clean Future
As the dust settles and Trump takes over, CO2 emissions will make a comeback like a drunken picture from college you hoped you’d never see again.
Public policy helped give sustainability a fighting chance. It incubated new industries, guided people’s buying choices, and spurred or deterred business activities. Awesome clean technologies developed because of the government’s support.
That’s all going to change. Trump believes that climate change is a hoax, and unfortunately, he stated that long before he ever said “Make America Great Again”, so he actually believes it. Let’s talk about the effect this will have on the clean future we envision…
The Dirty
Trump will unleash oil drilling on previously restricted federal lands and offshore sites. Woohoo for extra energy; bummer for ecosystem destruction, air pollution, oil spills, and climate change to come. He’ll also give the green light to the massive Keystone XL pipeline, which Obama blocked with authority like LeBron in game 7.
Pump Up the CO2
Just when we were getting our CO2 under control and lowering it to a non-harmful level, here’s what’s projected for the future:
Trump will also curb regulations that protect waterways and wetlands with intent to revive coal production.
Newsflash: Unless it’s for Christmas stockings, coal isn’t coming back!
Jobless coal miners voted for Trump because he promised their jobs back, but sadly, that won’t happen. Natural gas is cheaper. Fracking put them out of their jobs. Not politics or policies.
This Bloomberg chart shows the general costs, including capital, fuel, financing, maintenance, and carbon, capture, and storage for coal, for various electricity generation methods entering service in 2022:
Wind and solar already undercut coal’s price point. And wind power with tax credits is cost competitive with natural gas. But those tax credits may soon be a thing of the past.
Clean Power Plan and COP21 Paris Agreement — You’re Fired
The Clean Power Plan (CPP) enacted by Obama requires the power sector to reduce emissions by 32% by 2032. It also gives each state an emissions reduction target based on its electricity production. Trump says the CPP will be out faster than you can say “Mexico will pay for it”. Without it, U.S. utilities will have little incentive to transform their old fossil fuel facilities to produce clean energy.
Also, put a pause on nearly 200 countries singing kumbaya after unanimously signing the historic Paris Agreement last year in which they committed to keeping total warming to a maximum of 2°C [3.6°F] by lowering their carbon emissions; the new president wants out.
Without the participation of the U.S., the world’s second-largest economy, the 2°C goal is probably unattainable. Temperature rising above 2°C will have catastrophic global consequences for decades to come. John Sterman, a professor at MIT, wrote, “other key emitter nations — especially India — now have little reason to follow through on their Paris pledges: If the U.S. won’t, why should developing nations cut their emissions?”
Myron Ebell
To lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) transition team, Trump appointed Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a think-tank funded by ExxonMobil and the Koch foundation. Putting someone funded by an oil company in charge of protecting the environment is like making Yoda responsible for the rules of grammar. Inherent conflict, there exists.
Ebell doesn’t believe in climate change. He thinks it’s arrogant to believe humans can change the climate of the Earth. Tell that to people in Miami where flooding has increased 400% in the last 10 years.
Enric Sala, a Nat Geo Society Explorer-in-Residence, summed up the situation and wrote, “Reversing our current energy policies and regulations just to appease a few special interests would be an environmental disaster, it would kill many more people because of pollution, and it would be the greatest gift to China — who would leave the U.S. in the dust for decades to come.”
Staying Clean
Don’t pack your whole life up into this personal office, zero-emission van and cross the border just yet.
Sun Keeps Shining, Wind Keeps Blowing
Solar and wind power technologies, as well as electric vehicles, have reached tipping points. They’ll continue to thrive regardless of public policy. Much of cleantech innovation may revolve around these industries henceforth.
Congress also voted last year to extend the tax credits that helped prop up these industries into the early 2020s. We may even see a boost in solar and wind production as companies try to take advantage of the tax credits while they can.
Also, “according to a Trump insider, renewable energy will not be in the new president’s sights”.
We All Want Clean Energy!
Regardless of the political differences on fossil fuels, it appears we all agree that more clean energy is all good:
We’ve had three straight years of flat emissions worldwide. The U.S. reduced its emissions by 2.6% in 2015 and a projected 1.7% in 2016. China reduced its emissions by 0.7% in 2015 and a projected 0.5% in 2016.
States can continue to enact cleantech efforts despite the federal government’s plans. California, the world’s 6th largest economy, will continue to flourish as a market for renewable energy, electric vehicles, and sustainable products.
We’re the Heroes of This Story
You know how epic movies always have a character who gets plunged into the fray without being fully ready for the journey ahead? But ends up prevailing by pursuing high-minded ideals with endless fortitude? Well, we all need to be that hero now.
It’s pivotal that we affect change with our dollars. Moving markets and industries towards sustainability with our demand. We need to buy EVs, solar panels, batteries for electricity storage, etc. We need to have Elon’s back.
To help provide you with resources and guidance to take action, we’re adding an “Act on Climate” section at the bottom of our newsletters.
Act on Climate
As mentioned in Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Before the Flood”, the politicians aren’t really our elected leaders. It’s the other way around. They are our elected followers. They’ll do what the public wants to remain in office. So if we all want clean energy, we’ll get it.
President Obama has the power to permanently protect the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic from offshore oil and gas drilling. Invoking the OCS Lands Act, presidents can create national monuments to permanently protect parcels of land from development. Obama has used the law over the past two years to make some areas in Alaska off-limits to oil drilling.
