Straight into action Andrew Harrer/Pool via CNP/Consolidated/dpa/PA

The writing is on the wall for Barack Obama’s climate legacy. Hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as president, his administration signalled a dramatic change of direction by removing the White House webpage on climate change and publishing “An America First Energy Plan” on the site.

According to this webpage, Trump will roll back two key elements of Obama’s environment policy: the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the US rule.

The Climate Action Plan outlines steps to reduce carbon emissions, prepare for the effects of climate change and lead international efforts to protect the climate.


The Waters of the US rule expanded the rivers, lakes and wetlands protected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Coal comeback

The new White House webpage outlines plans to exploit untapped shale, oil and natural gas reserves on federal land and revive the US coal industry. It also says Trump will “refocus the EPA on its essential mission of protecting our air and water”, which suggests it will abandon its role in regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

That may not prove simple. A Supreme Court ruling established that carbon dioxide is a pollutant and the EPA must therefore address it under the Clean Air Act. “The Trump administration is legally obligated to do something and if they don’t there will be litigation and lawsuits,” says Henrik Selin, an environment policy researcher at the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University.

Although Trump has called global warming “a hoax”, his nominees for relevant cabinet positions have struck a more conciliatory note in senate confirmation hearings. Scott Pruitt, his pick to lead the EPA, said, “Science tells us that the climate is changing and that human activity, in some manner, impacts that change.”

Energy secretary nominee Rick Perry said, “I believe the climate is changing. I believe some of it is naturally occurring, but some of it is also caused by man-made activity.”

Room for manoeuvre

Such statements make it difficult for their opponents to label them as climate change deniers, while giving them room to manoeuvre on policy decisions.

Myles Allen of the University of Oxford, UK, says the key question is how much global warming Trump’s team considers consistent with responsible stewardship of the environment.

“If the answer is below 3°C then much of the currently known fossil fuel reserves become ‘unemittable’ – meaning, if they are used at all, the CO 2 they generate will need to be captured and disposed of rather than dumped into the atmosphere,” he says. “Is this what they mean by their commitment to ‘clean coal technology’? It would be nice to know.”

As the White House changes course, some US states are pushing ahead with their own policies to address climate change. For example, California announced plans on the day of the inauguration to extend its carbon cap-and-trade programme, reduce emissions from oil refineries in the state and increase the number of zero emissions vehicles on its roads.

The state previously set a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 – a target matched by New York state.

Read more: Climate scientists brace themselves for a Trump-led witch-hunt; President Trump means we can’t escape a dangerously warmer world; Trump would deliver fatal blow to fight against climate change