Trump scraps ruling: death knell for climate protection?
The US government has revoked the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2009. The ruling formed the basis for almost all climate protection regulations since then, but now cars with higher emissions can be manufactured once more. Trump has called his decision the 'largest deregulatory action' in US history.
US will become an industrial museum
If Trump believes that this move will benefit US industry he is very much mistaken, writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung:
“In many markets, the US will only be able to compete if it complies with local emissions standards. The result will be that fuel-efficient cars will be exported to these markets while less fuel-efficient cars are sold to the US. In other words, to the country where, in Trump's thinking, the capped climate targets will save industry and consumers billions of dollars. ... Trump's tariffs are already lulling US industry into a false sense of security about international competition being a thing of the past. With the removal of regulations, there will no longer be any pressure on them to continue developing resource-saving technologies. The American president is steering his country's industry into a museum, in keeping with his obsession with the past.”
The president delivers and remains firmly in the saddle
De Volkskrant points to a pattern in Trump's actions and the absence of a reaction from the Republicans:
“He can harass women, evade taxes, entangle interests, receive Russian support, ignore laws, encourage violence, carry out a coup, abandon foreign allies and establish a police state – as long as he appoints conservative judges, lowers taxes and abolishes inconvenient regulations. Trump 'delivers', perhaps precisely because of his typical shamelessness. And that's why this alliance is far more enduring than outsiders, who with each new eccentricity by Trump think he really must have gone too far this time, believe.”
China becoming a role model
The United States is shifting into reverse gear when it comes to climate protection while China is forging ahead, observes The Guardian:
“In the same week as this reckless and destructive US decision, it emerged that China had recorded its 21st month of flat or slightly falling carbon emissions. As Washington tears up environmental regulations, Beijing is extending carbon reporting requirements. ... Clean energy drove more than 90% of [China's] investment growth last year. ... No one can compensate for the grim reversal of belated US action on emissions. But Beijing has a vested interest in encouraging others to cut emissions. ... In contrast, US billionaires look forward to prospering at the cost of wallets and lives - not only at home, but around the world.”