I am not going to pretend that this is not bad. Donald Trumps former term was bad for the natural world and the fight against climate change. Likely changes:
- Leaving the Paris climate agreement again – there is some suggestion that this will lead to a collapse of the agreement. Trump has pushed coal among other fossil fuels, and is likely to roll back various progress. Perhaps a possible hope is Elon Musk and his closeness to Donald Trump – might this relationship mean that less is done against electric cars? Last time, the USA carbon emissions fell despite everything that Trump did (definitely not because). Keeping temperature increases to just 1.5 degrees Celsius is pretty much impossible, if the USA does not do its part.
- Denialism and doubt will return – it is not just that Donald Trump is not willing to work towards the end of carbon emissions, but he does not believe that global warming is real. This is a real indictment on how he forms his views of the world, as it is a simple fact that the world is warming
- Clean energy policies will go, along with scientific decisions on wolves and other wildlife within the country. This is quite likely to have an impact on global biodiversity, as the USA will abandon its lead on this.
- Under Trump the first time, protected status for species no longer required the same protections, and much wilderness in the USA lost its protection. A return to office is likely to make this far worse.
The situation is serious. Having been president before, it is highly likely that trump will be more effective this time, as he knows more than last time. He has retaken the Senate, and it looks like he is going to take the house as well. Will he manage to use his position more effectively? Leadership on climate, biodiversity and many more things will fall open, we must wait and see if other countries step up to fill their shoes, and continue to push forwards.
We are in for another bumpy road