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!" ways Trump made America dirtier and

the planet warmer
In the past four years, Trump has shredded environmental protections for American lands,
animals and people

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by Alvin Chang, Emily Holden, Oliver Milman and Noa Yachot

"I want crystal clean water and air."

That's what Donald Trump said in the first chaotic presidential debate with Joe Biden. But there is
scant evidence of that desire in the actions of his administration, which has spent nearly four years
systematically dismantling core environmental protections, some of which stretch back decades.

Experts agree that the climate crisis's most destructive manifestations, on display in a particularly
difficult year for the US, barely scratch the surface of the catastrophes to come. Yet the president
appears unmoved by the enormous wildfires, devastating hurricanes, widespread water problems
and persistent air pollution that disproportionately blights black and Latino communities. His
administration has scrapped climate regulations, rolled back clean water rules and loosened
pollution standards. Protections for public land and threatened species have been shrunk while new
oil pipelines and coal mining have been encouraged.

The legacy of these changes will stretch well beyond Trump’s presidency. Here is a list of some of
the key rollbacks of the Trump era.

This list was adapted from the Harvard Law School's Regulatory Rollback Tracker.

1 Made it easier to lease public land for oil and gas drilling.

2 Enabled the expansion of offshore drilling.

3 Proposed making 85% of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska available for oil
and gas drilling.

4 Amended rule that reduced toxic air pollutants from petroleum refineries.

5Rejected the science calling for tougher air

pollution rules
The Trump administration rejected government scientists’ recommendations to strengthen air
pollution standards for soot, or PM2.5.

PM2.5 are tiny particles, mainly from fossil fuel combustion in cars and power plants, that are
linked to increased hospitalizations, emergency department visits and deaths.

PM2.5 Pollen and mold Width of human hair

Studies suggest long-term exposure is associated with chronic bronchitis, reduced lung
function and increased death rates from lung cancer and heart disease. Communities of color
and low-income populations face disproportionate exposure to PM2.5. Research has shown
that tightening the PM2.5 standard would save 12,000 American lives each year.

This fine particulate pollution decreased under Barack Obama, but has seen a steady uptick
since Trump took office.

How PM2.5 levels changed since 2016

+25% compared to 2016

+20%

+15%

+10%
PM2.5 level started
increasing after 2016
+5%

No difference from 2016

2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

Guardian graphic. Source: US Environmental Protection Agency and “Recent increases in air pollution: evidence and implications for mortality,” by
Karen Clay and Nicholas Z. Muller

The Trump administration has also declined to strengthen the Obama rules for ozone, also
known as smog, which regularly covers cities like Los Angeles. Ozone forms when pollution –
from power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants and cars – reacts to sunlight.

6 Rolled back rules prohibiting the hunting of bears and other predators in Alaskan
national preserves.

7 Removed protections for the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna.

8 Lifted restrictions on mining in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

9 Changed the way the Endangered Species Act is applied, making it harder to protect
animals and plants.

10 Exited international climate cooperation

Donald Trump announced he is withdrawing the US from the 2015 international Paris climate
agreement. In the deal, all 197 nations in the world agreed to voluntarily cut the heat-trapping
pollution that is causing the climate crisis. The aim of the agreement was to keep global
heating to 2C above pre-industrial temperatures.

US carbon emissions v its Paris agreement pledge

8,000 million metric tons
Projected range

6,000

The US is not on pace to meet its

pledged range for 2025.
4,000

2,000

0
1990 2020 2030
Guardian graphic. Source: Climate Action Tracker

Despite those emissions reductions, the US is far off the path of what scientists say is
necessary for the nation and the world to avoid catastrophic climate change. Trump has nixed
climate rules that would have brought the US closer to what is needed. If the US had continued
to lead on climate, global efforts would be in a stronger position.

11Reversed a rule that prevented taking sand from protected areas to replenish other
beaches.

12Weakened a rule that directs states to improve visibility at national parks by

controlling pollution.

13 Proposed opening most US coastal waters up to oil and gas drilling.

14 Weakened the Clean Water Act, giving the federal government more power to overrule
state objections to projects.

15Narrowed pollution safeguards for lakes, rivers,

tributaries and wetlands
Last year, the Trump administration dismantled federal protections for vast tracts of
America’s water. The revised Waters of the United States (or Wotus) rule shrinks the purview
of the Clean Water Act.

Some streams are dry ...

Dry streams
River

... until it rains. These are called ephemeral streams. They account for about 18% of streams
and river miles.

Rain

Streams
River

Trump revised the Clean Water Act so it no longer protects these ephemeral streams from
pollution that flows from industry, farming, and other sources. The Trump administration
argued the protections, expanded under Obama to cover the drinking water of 117 million
people in the US, hindered farmers and golf course owners.

16Proposed speeding up the environmental review process for companies seeking oil
and gas drilling permits in national forests.

17 Opened up drilling on 9m acres of public land in the west, which are the habitat for
greater sage grouse.

18 Abandoned efforts to reduce emissions from large sewage treatment plants.

19Delayed implementation of a rule intended to limit pesticide exposure to agricultural

workers.

20Proposed amended emissions standards for brick kilns and clay products
manufacturing based on concerns from industry.

21 Proposed revisions to carbon dioxide emissions standards for new or retrofitted power
plants.

Weakened toxic pollution and water rules for

22

coal plants
The Trump administration has sought to ease the steep decline of the US coal industry by
weakening pollution rules for coal power plants, but its efforts haven’t helped much. Coal use
is waning in the US as utilities turn to cheaper fossil gas and renewable power. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is rescinding standards for coal plants to curb
mercury pollution, even though most plants had already complied.

Mercury pollution at power plants

60,000 pounds of mercury
Regulations begin

40,000

Regulations fully
implemented
20,000

0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Guardian graphic. Source: Environmental Protection Agency

The agency is also dialing back requirements for plants to treat the water they use to remove
toxic contaminants before putting it into rivers and lakes.

23 Rolled back rules designed to prevent accidents at chemical facilities.

24 Reduced the territories of two national monuments and opened the removed lands up
to mining and drilling.

25 Revoked an executive order protecting oceans, coastal areas and the Great Lakes.

26 Loosened controls on emissions of hazardous air pollutants from facilities like power
plants and petroleum refineries.

27 Announced, and then walked back, a repeal of a cap on gliders R older, dirtier engines
installed into new truck bodies.

28 Proposed a repeal of emissions standards for gliders.

29 Delayed issuing and enforcing new ozone pollution standards.

30 Weakened climate standards for new vehicles

The fuel efficiency of cars and trucks has steadily improved since the federal government
started setting national standards in the 1970s and the Obama administration looked to raise
them further, requiring that vehicles manage around 54 miles a gallon of fuel by 2025. The
move was perhaps the biggest national rule to combat the climate crisis, with transportation
accounting for more than a third of the US’s planet-heating emissions.

Trump’s new fuel economy standards

50 miles per gallon average
Obama standards

45

40

Trump standards
35

30

25 Historical standards

20
2000 2019 2035

Guardian graphic. Source: Carbon Brief

The Trump administration not only gutted the rule, winding it back to 40 miles a gallon; it
attempted to prevent California from setting its own, tougher, standards. The administration’s
own figures show this rollback will cause an extra billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions
over the lifetime of the vehicles manufactured during the terms of the rule, as well as
thousands of jobs lost in the auto industry and more expensive gasoline for drivers.

31 Withdrew a proposed rule to protect groundwater near uranium mining sites.

32 Lifted a moratorium on new coal leasing on public lands.

33 Loosened enforcement of an air quality rule for states that pollute across state lines.

34 Approved the building of the Keystone XL pipeline.

35 Proposed rescinding a rule that required companies using federal land to prove they
will have the financial means to decommission a project.

36 Proposed weakened regulations on the type of equipment required for exploratory

drilling operations in the Arctic.

37 Approved the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

38 Weakened monetary penalties for automakers who fail to meet fuel efficiency
standards.

39Proposed opening the protected Tongass national forest in Alaska to logging and road
construction.

Authorized oil and gas leasing on the Arctic

40

National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain

The last large untouched wilderness in the US is found in the north-east extremity of Alaska.
The 19m acres of tundra, streams and mountains that make up the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge is home to creatures ranging from polar bears to hundreds of bird species, as well as a
migratory caribou herd vital to the sustenance of the Gwich’in native people.

Arctic national
wildlife refuge

Alaska

Guardian graphic. Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service

The Trump administration is repealing decades of protections to allow oil and gas drilling in
the coastal region of the refuge. The Gwich’in, who say the drilling will destroy their way of
life, have vowed to fight the move. The recoverable oil could, when burned, release as much
as 5m tons of carbon dioxide.

41Proposed changes to rules governing the high emissions from power plant startups,
shutdowns and malfunctions.

42 Changed the process for setting energy conservation standards for consumer
products.

43 Withdrew a proposed rule to protect whales, turtles and dolphins in the Pacific.

44 Reduced oversight of the air pollution that can result when a company builds a new
facility, like a plastics plant, or modifies an existing one.

45 Rescinded policies requiring companies to offset environmental harms to public

lands.

46 Reversed climate rules for the electricity sector

The Clean Power Plan was the Obama administration’s signature climate rule. The rule –
finalized in 2015 – directed states to reduce their electricity sector emissions. It aimed to slash
carbon pollution from power plants 32% by 2030, as compared to 2005 levels within the
electricity sector.

Even though the supreme court halted the rule in 2016, and states were never required to
comply, carbon dioxide emissions from the US power sector have still fallen more than the
rule’s goal – by at least one-third. Cheaper natural gas and renewable power, as well as local
policies to move away from fossil fuels, sped the shift.

US electricity sector has moved away from fossil fuels

50,000 trillion BTUs

40,000

ALL RENEWABLE
30,000 NUCLEAR

NATURAL GAS
20,000

10,000 OTHER

COAL

0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2019
Guardian graphic. Source: US Energy Information Administration

Despite that progress within electricity, Trump’s other rollbacks threaten to stagnate the US’s
overall climate pollution reductions.

47 Suspended use of an ObamaXera calculation of the social cost of carbon, which seeks
to tally the money spent and lives lost as a result of climate change.

48 Repealed a rule to prevent coal mining companies from dumping waste in streams.

49Ordered federal agencies to review rules impeding energy production, resulting in

numerous environmental rollbacks.

50Repealed a rule updating Bureau of Land Management processes to better account for
and resolve ecological pressures on public lands.

51 Delayed rules to cut methane emissions from landfills.

Reversed rules for methane pollution from oil

52

and gas operations

Trump’s EPA and interior department (DOI) have both weakened Obama-era rules that limit
methane emissions from oil and gas operations.

Methane is the second-most emitted greenhouse gas.

Nitrous oxide (7%) Methane (10%) Carbon dioxide (81%)

Fluorinated gases (3%)

Carbon dioxide has a Heat

global warming potential of one.

Methane trap 28 times more heat

in a shorter amount of time.

Guardian graphic. Source: US Environmental Protection Agency and the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, 2014

The EPA has rolled back methane rules for new operations around the country, and the
interior department has weakened them for oil and gas companies operating on public lands.
A federal court struck down the interior department rollback.

53Proposed subsidizing coalXfired and nuclear generation in markets where other

sources were more economic.

54 Proposed cutting funding to clean up the Chesapeake Bay to meet EPA water quality
standards.

55 Proposed relaxing rules on how much states can send pollution downstream to
neighboring states.

56Opened the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monument to

commercial fishing.

Rescinded requirements limiting superR

57

polluting refrigerants
Hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, have been widely used in refrigeration, air conditioning and
building insulation as a replacement for chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which were found to be
depleting the ozone layer.

HFCs replaced CFCs, which deplete the ozone layer

HCFCs also deplete the ozone layer and many are greenhouse gases.

1,200 thousand metric tons consumed per year

1,000 CFCs

800

600

400
HCFCs HFCs
200

0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Carbon dioxide has a global warming HFC 134a, a common HFC, traps 1,300
potential of one. times more heat.

Heat

Guardian graphic. Source: The UNEP report “HFCs: A Critical Link in Protecting Climate and the Ozone Layer” and the IPCC Fifth
Assessment Report

HFCs, however, are a potent greenhouse gas and the international community has agreed to
phase out their use. The Trump administration has refused US backing for this move, ignoring
pleas from Republican senators, and in February scrapped rules requiring HFC leaks to be
repaired. This rollback will increase planet-heating emissions by the equivalent of 2.9 million
tons each year, the EPA estimates.

58 Weakened protections on hunting, capturing or killing migratory birds.

59 Rolled back fracking regulations that protect drinking water on federal and tribal lands.

60 Weakened regulations on pesticide use in National Wildlife Refuges.

61 Halted a rule that tightened air pollution standards for offshore drilling operations.

62Approved seismic air gun surveys for offshore oil and gas exploration, a technique that
can harm marine wildlife, in new areas of the ocean not yet available for leasing.

63 Weakened offshore drilling regulations designed to prevent system failures that would
result in oil or gas being released into the water.