Climate deregulation by the Trump administration could increase U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by more than 200 megatonnes per year by 2025, enough to “hobble global efforts to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” Reuters reports.
“The Trump administration’s actions amount to a virtual surrender to climate change,” concluded a report to state attorneys general released last week by the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center.
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The Center’s research focused on the six major regulatory rollbacks that represented the “most important near-term opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight against climate change,” the report stated, including vehicle tailpipe emission standards, the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, and pollution controls on major industries.
“More than a dozen state attorneys general, including those from Maryland, New York, and Massachusetts, are challenging the administration on their rollbacks in court,” Reuters notes. “California, for example, is leading a coalition of 21 states in challenging the administration’s rollback of tailpipe standards. Weakening those standards will lead to an additional 16 to 34 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually by 2025, according to the report.”
While the Trump administration claims tougher auto emissions standards would have made vehicles too expensive, analysis shows U.S. drivers paying US$193 to $236 billion more for fuel by 2035 without the regulation.
