Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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President Donald Trump speaks at a March rally in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo | Mark Humphrey)

President Donald Trump, who called climate change a hoax during the campaign and promised to remove limits on fossil fuels whose emissions are contributing to global warming, has taken numerous steps during his first two months in office to roll back environmental protections through executive orders and proposed budget cuts. On Tuesday, he was to sign an executive order rolling back many of President Barack Obama's efforts to address climate change.

"The Trump administration’s actions will further speed global warming, encourage more fuel consumption, and generate more pollutants while costing us jobs in the clean energy sector," said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Trump's actions, which he says are aimed at removing regulations that impair businesses, are unpopular with the American public. A recent Gallup poll said 59 percent to would rather protect the environment than increase protection of oil, coal and other traditional energy sources. Just 34 percent felt the other way.

Here are 9 ways (in no particular order) Trump is scaring the daylights out of environmentalists.

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The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012

1. Slashing funding for the Environmental Protection Agency

The president's proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent, more than any other department.

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2. Undoing Obama's regs aimed to ease N.J. pollution

Trump on Tuesday was to sign an executive order repealing Obama's Clean Power Plan, which regulates emissions from power plants that use coal or other fossil fuels. The plan, currently tied up in the courts, would have had the effect of shutting down the dirtiest coal-fired power plants.

Emissions from midwestern coal plants migrate to the Northeast, polluting Jersey skies. It also makes it harder for New Jersey to meet federal clean air standards.

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Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks in Washington. (AP Photo | Susan Walsh)

3. Appointing a climate change denier to lead the EPA

As Oklahoma attorney general, Scott Pruitt sued the very agency he is now in charge of. The Environmental Protection Agency administrator has questioned the overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity is contributing to climate change.

Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd Dist.) and 14 other House Republicans rebuked Trump when they introduced a resolution calling for actions to combat climate change.

"There is increasing recognition that we can and must take meaningful and responsible action now to address this issue," including "efforts to balance human activities that have been found to have an impact," the resolution said.

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4. Allowing mining companies to pollute streams

The president agreed to repeal an Interior Department rule preventing mining activities that would harm streams, drinking water sources and forests. The rule also would have required companies to restore mined areas once their activities ended.

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5. Removing limits on burning off a climate change gas

The White House endorsed repeal of a rule limiting methane emissions from oil and gas drilling on federal lands.

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President Donald Trump tours the American Center of Mobility in Ypsilanti Township, Mich., with, from left EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, General Motors chief executive. (AP Photo | Evan Vucci)

6. Revisiting fuel economy standards

The Obama administration, which championed the federal government bailout of automakers General Motors and Chrysler, issued a rule that would increase the average fuel economy of new cars and light trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

On a trip to Michigan, Trump said he would revisit those rules. A rollback would increase U.S. oil usage and increase air pollution.

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7. Permitting oil companies to hide payments to foreign governments

Trump signed a resolution revoking a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that ordered energy companies to disclose payments to foreign governments. The SEC order was in response to bipartisan legislation.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who supported the rule, said the public had the right to know whether U.S. oil companies were paying off despotic rulers and hostile governments.

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Mike Ballo hits his tee shot on hole 4 during the 99th Met Open Championship at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster in 2014. (John O'Boyle | The Star-Ledger

8. Helping his own golf courses

Trump signed an executive order in February ordering the EPA to take action against the Obama administration's Waters of the United States rule, which expanded federal authority to include smaller streams and wetlands that feed into larger bodies of water.

Trump called it an example of government "run amok," and said the rule has "been a disaster." He called it "a massive power grab.”

Opponents of the rule included the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, which spent $75,000 last year lobbying on this and other issues, and the Professional Golfers Association, which spent $120,000, according to Senate records.

Trump owns a dozen golf courses, including three in New Jersey.

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9. Eliminating science from developing public lands

Trump signed a repeal of U.S. Interior Department regulations requiring federal officials to use the best available science, including climate change and clean energy, in allowing development on public lands. Just four House Republicans dissented, three of them from New Jersey: LoBiondo, Smith and Leonard Lance (R-7th Dist.).

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President Donald Trump. (AP Photo | Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The Trump donors who may benefit from all this

The Trump presidential campaign committee's two biggest industry sources of campaign cash were coal companies, Murray Energy and Alliance Resource Partners, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group. In addition, Murray Energy helped fund a pro-Trump super political action committee.

Exxon Mobil Corp., whose chief executive Rex Tillerson became Trump's secretary of state, contributed $500,000 to the presidential inaugural committee, Senate records show. Valero Energy Corp. donated $100,000.

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Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.