Analysis & Opinions - PBS NEWSHOUR

What Does Trump's Victory Mean for Climate Change Policy?

| November 11, 2016

Making Sen$e

Although he denied it during the presidential debates, it is well known that Donald Trump tweeted in November 2012 that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive." Tweets should hardly be taken as clear and reliable signs of likely public policies, but Mr. Trump followed up during the campaign with his "America First Energy Plan," in which he pledged to reverse all of President Obama's actions on climate change.

The plan includes canceling United States participation in the Paris climate agreement and stopping all American funding of United Nations climate change programs. It also includes abandoning the Clean Power Plan, a mainstay of the Obama administration's approach to achieving its emissions reduction target for carbon dioxide under the Paris agreement....

Continue reading: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/trumps-victory-mean-climate-change-policy/

For more information on this publication: Please contact Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
For Academic Citation: Stavins, Robert.“What Does Trump's Victory Mean for Climate Change Policy?.” PBS NEWSHOUR, November 11, 2016.

The Author

Robert N. Stavins

Robert N. Stavins

  • Director, Harvard Project on Climate Agreements
  • A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy & Economic Development
  • Member of the Board, Belfer Center
  • Director, Harvard Environmental Economics Program
  • Chair, Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Group
  • Chairman, Ph.D. Programs in Public Policy and Political Economy & Government
  • Co-Chair, Kennedy School–Harvard Business School Joint Degree Programs
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