Donald Trump Wants to Revive Coal at the Expense of Clean Energy
Barack Obama may have made clean energy one of his legacy issues, but President-elect Donald Trump seems to have no interest in following the example. Environmentalists are worried that Trump, who has never hidden his skepticism over man-made global warming, could scrap the United States’ commitment to the Paris Climate agreement. Clean energy investors should be worried.
In truth, the environment played a small role in the campaign. Even Hillary Clinton did not talk much about it. Her apparent lack of interest in the topic was a warning sign, announcing tough times ahead for the clean-tech sector. In fact, both candidates spent barely five minutes—altogether—talking about the environment during the three debates.
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Trump has made it clear. He doesn’t believe in man-made global warming. In 2012, Trump (@realDonaldTrump) tweeted, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” (Source: “Twitter post,” Donald J. Trump, November 6, 2012). During the campaign, he announced his intention to cancel the Paris climate agreement in the event of victory. In turn, he would relaunch the Keystone pipeline project, abandoned by Barack Obama.
During the campaign, Trump upped the ante on his climate-skepticism. He talked about cutting funding for programs to combat global warming. He also said he would scrap the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) restrictions on the production of fossil fuels. These proposals are straightforward, which worry ecologists. The fact that coal shot up since the November 8 election has already raised flags.
Barack Obama, in contrast, had the U.S—along with other 195 countries—sign an ambitious plan to cut greenhouse gases (Paris – COP21). Trump stated openly he wanted to reject COP21, with evident consequences for companies that emerged to recalibrate the American energy mix to achieve the Agreement’s targets.
Trump wants to boost oil and coal. He would unleash billions of shale oil and natural gas reserves, ending the moratorium on drilling in the federal territory. Coal, moreover, which has experienced a crisis in recent years, would see a boost, with production bouncing back to levels not seen since 1986. (Source: “Battered U.S. coal industry hopes for Trump, prepares for Clinton,” Reuters, November 4, 2016.)
One of the main reasons for Trump to pursue this is job creation, which has been one of his fundamental points. Estimates suggest that between 2008 and 2012, 50,000 jobs were lost due to coal’s demise. Slower Chinese industrial growth and Obama’s regulations to curb coal use were responsible. The Clean Power Plan (part of COP21 – which Trump wants to reject), would have dealt coal a final and deadly blow. Trump could single-handedly revive and invigorate coal, dealing a numbing—if not deadly—blow to the clean energy sector.
