The possibility of a second Trump presidency has alarmed scientists and climate experts, especially as world leaders prepare to descend on Azerbaijan for this year’s international climate talks—known as COP29—which kick off in one week.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term saw him claim climate change was a “hoax” and dismantle key environmental protections. Under Trump, the United States also became the first and only country to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement. (The United States rejoined in 2021, under the Biden administration.)
The possibility of a second Trump presidency has alarmed scientists and climate experts, especially as world leaders prepare to descend on Azerbaijan for this year’s international climate talks—known as COP29—which kick off in one week.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term saw him claim climate change was a “hoax” and dismantle key environmental protections. Under Trump, the United States also became the first and only country to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement. (The United States rejoined in 2021, under the Biden administration.)
Trump is expected to go even further in overhauling U.S. climate and environmental policy regulations if he is reelected. Trump 2.0 would “tear down and rebuild” the structure of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mandy Gunasekara, who was the EPA chief of staff during Trump’s first term, told the New York Times. Trump would also pull Washington from the Paris treaty again, according to campaign spokespeople. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that a second U.S. withdrawal would result in a “crippled” agreement.
Project 2025—the Heritage Foundation’s conservative policy blueprint that is deeply connected to Trump’s team, despite his attempts to distance himself from it—offers additional clues into what a second Trump approach might look like.
“The Biden administration’s climate fanaticism will need a whole-of-government unwinding,” said Project 2025, which advocates cutting the EPA’s budget and removing scientific advisors who evaluate the agency’s work. “Under the next president, the Department of Energy should end the Biden administration’s unprovoked war on fossil fuels.”
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