During first term, Trump’s team undid or weakened hundreds of federal regulations on environment, energy and wildlife
By Benjamin J. Hulac, Washington Correspondent, NJ Spotlight News
WASHINGTON — After winning the White House and majorities in the Senate and House, Republicans are poised to carry out a broad deregulatory agenda to slash environmental protections when they assume power in January.
When he takes office on Jan. 20, President-elect Donald Trump, a skeptic of global organizations like the United Nations, is expected to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate accord, an international deal to rein in planet-warming greenhouse gases.
Trump and congressional Republicans are also gearing up to cut environmental and clean-energy programs, hamstring public transit and pull away from international environmental agreements.
Two other federal programs critical to New Jersey — offshore wind development and a tax to fund toxic waste cleanup — are also in the crosshairs.
Presidential administrations hold enormous discretion over what federal departments prioritize and the issues they pursue, and each president seeks to make a mark promptly upon taking office, typically by issuing a flurry of executive orders and memoranda.
Second-term fallout
A second Trump term could add an additional 4 billion tons’ worth of carbon emissions by 2030, or the equivalent of the annual emissions from the world’s 140 lowest-emitting nations, according to Carbon Brief, a U.K.-based climate research organization.
That would generate more than $900 billion worth of environmental damages, Carbon Brief said.
During his first term, Trump and Cabinet officials rolled back or weakened hundreds of federal regulations on the environment, energy and wildlife.
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