The U.S. President, Donald Trump, signed an executive order on Tuesday, the 28th of March, to undo climate change regulations Obama brought around in his time of leadership, which Donald Trump’s administration says is hobbling oil drillers and coal miners. This action has already led to an uprising throughout America.

“The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” said Donald Trump on November 6, 2012.

The former president, Barack Obama, believed that climate change was “real and cannot be ignored.” Trump and the Trump administration says that scrapping Obama and the EPA’s clean energy plan will put people to work and reduce America’s reliance on imported fuels.

The number of jobs in the coal industry began to plummet in the 1980’s for a variety of reasons, including regulations aimed at greenhouse gas emissions.

The EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, was established in December of 1970. Their mission is to protect human and environment health.

“It may be hard to imagine that before 1970, a factory could spew black clouds of toxic into the air or dump tons of toxic waste into a nearby stream, and that was perfectly legal. They could not be taken to court to stop it,” a post on the EPA website reads. How was that possible? Because there was no EPA, no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act. There were no legal or regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment.

Trump also promised to pull the United States out of the so-called Paris Agreement aimed at curbing global warming. The Paris deal was aimed at reducing emissions enough to starve off a warming of the planet by more than  3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The main source of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a prolific greenhouse gas, is the burning of coal and oil for the production of electricity. CO2 is a major driver of climate change. This would be a large backward step in the fight against global warming.

Trump has yet to appoint a science adviser and has made no inclination to do so. A nonpartisan group called March for Science, which includes environmental scientists and science supporters from around the world, desires to address Trump’s renouncement of the scientifically proven impacts of humans on our planet. They have planned a march on Washington on Earth Day, April 22nd, to promote “robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity.” The march on Washington hopes to reinforce to our new government the importance of protecting our natural resources and the significance of securing a healthy world for our children and generations to come. Mary Englebright, a well-known artist, provided free artwork to supporters of the march on their Facebook page, stating, “Tell the strange people who have recently taken over our government that we DO believe in science, we DO want clean air and water, we DO want our National Parks protected, and we DO want to remain a leader in medical research.” Visit their Facebook page to see how you can support.

The effects of global warming on temperature, precipitation levels, and soil moisture are turning many of our forests into kindling. Red flag warnings are more and more prevalent. As the climate warms, moisture and precipitation levels are changing, with wet areas becoming wetter and dry areas becoming drier. This applies heavily to those of us in Colorado. Globally, 24% of dryland areas, primarily croplands and range lands, are degrading to desert lands. Over 1.8 billion people directly depend on these. What will Donald Trump do here in Colorado when our forests catch on fire? It doesn’t look promising.

What are some simple and effective ways we can help reduce our individual carbon footprint? Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb. CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner. Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 350 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Be sure you’re recycling at home. You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household creates. Opt to walk or ride your bike instead of driving everywhere in your car; often times, using the bus system is easier than you might think.

The potential to make a difference is within each of us, whether or not we support our current government. Levi Kilcher, a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, petitioned us to stand up and do our part. “Dear America, Take this moment to breathe deeply and rise above. Believe in your power to make a difference and apply it earnestly.”

Bibliography:

“Deserts, desertification, drylands, biodiversity, climate change, the environment, United Nations.” United Nations. United Nations, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

“How To Stop Global Warming: Top 50 Things to Do.” Global Warming Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

Press, The Associated. “Climate change: Trump tosses Obama’s ‘clean’ energy plan, but little impact on California laws.” The Mercury News. The Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2017. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.