Trump Seeks to Uproot the Obama Climate Change Agenda
Citing concerns over economic harm, President Trump has targeted his predecessor’s climate change agenda. He has sought reversal of a number of key Obama regulations, directives, and other actions, including the Clean Power Plan and the U.S. participation in the Paris accords. The overall blueprint for these actions is found in his March 2017 Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth. This order lays out for the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior, as well as other agencies, specific actions to take to promote the development and use of domestically produced oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power. The agencies are only now beginning to undertake these actions, which could have dramatic impacts on the expansion of the mining, oil and gas, and power sectors in the United States, as well as on Canadian companies investing in these sectors or trading in these fuels with the United States. Of course, the path forward will be somewhat uncertain as any actions will be challenged in court by a revitalized environmental community.
For more information, see our partner Jim Rubin’s recent article featured in Trends, a newsletter published by the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources: www.americanbar.org/publications/trends/2016-2017/july-august-2017/trump-seeks-to-uproot-the-obama-climate-change-agenda.html
