Climate Power’s Statement in Response to Donald Trump’s Presidential Campaign Launch

Washington, DC— Climate Power Executive Director Lori Lodes issued the following statement in response to Donald Trump’s poorly planned presidential announcement, just days after his endorsed candidates lost Republicans the majority in the Senate:

“This loser?”

In addition to being an electoral and political failure, Donald Trump’s presidency was rife with policies and decisions that harmed the environment and bailed out his fossil fuel donors. Below are just some examples of how Trump and his administration undermined climate progress, damaging communities across the country. 

1. Denied Climate Science: Trump has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax” and “bullshit.” He has cast doubt upon established climate science since at least 2010, saying the “science doesn’t know” about climate change. Trump even attacked climate scientists, claiming they have a political agenda and dismissing them as “hoaxters” and “dollar sucking wiseguys.” Under Trump’s presidency, government scientists were pushed out or forced to stop work on climate issues.
2. Withdrew The U.S. From The Paris Climate Agreement: One of Trump’s first actions as president was to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, making the nation an outlier in the international community and putting the planet at risk while leaders in Europe and China positioned themselves to lead the clean energy economy. He also claimed the Agreement would kill jobs, calling the pact an “economic nightmare”, despite experts concluding that the U.S.’s participation would save over half a trillion dollars annually and the Agreement would create 24 million clean energy jobs globally by 2030. 
3. Repealed The Clean Power Plan & Undermined Key Environmental Protections: Trump repealed the Clean Power Plan to allow coal power plants to continue polluting our air. If fully implemented, the Clean Power Plan would have reduced power sector carbon emissions by 32%, SO2 pollution by 90%, NOx pollution by 72%, and prevented 4,500 premature deaths per year resulting in over $50 billion in health savings per year in 2030. He also rolled back clean cars standards after a lobbying campaign by Big Oil, and repealed common-sense rules to protect air and water from dangerous toxic pollution from fracking.
4. Waged A War On Renewables & Electric Vehicles: Trump actually thinks windmills cause cancer and “kills all our birds” (seriously?!) Beyond the ridiculous, the former president’s policies amount to a war on the clean energy economy that cost jobs, stunted growth, and impeded the nation’s ability to tackle climate change. Trump imposed tariffs on solar, tried to eliminate the electric vehicle tax credit, and slow-walked the leasing and planning processes for renewable energy projects. His actions cost Americans 1.1. million clean energy jobs.
5. Opened Millions Of Acres To Oil & Gas Drilling While Awarding Billions To Fossil Fuel CEOs:Trump prioritized fossil fuel drillers above other uses for our public lands, slashed the rates they have to pay to extract our natural resources, and blocked rules that gave hunters and anglers more of a say in public land management. While handing over our public lands to Big Oil, Trump pushed a tax law that gave a $25 billion handout to the oil and gas industry, meaning companies like Chevron now pay barely anything in federal income taxes while raking in record profits. 

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