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Trump\u2019s rollbacks are on shaky ground because most were done not through Congressional lawmaking but via presidential executive orders that can be easily torn up by a new administration. That means signature measures ranging from the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate agreement to the easing of vehicle emissions targets could vanish fast.<\/p>\n
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RELATED BOOK: SOUL OF THE SEA: In the Age of the Algorithm\u00a0by Nishan Degnarain and Gregory S Stone<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNothing Trump has sought to accomplish on climate change is secure,\u201d said Michael Burger, head of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, which has been tracking Trump\u2019s deregulation efforts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But building a lasting plan to replace Trump\u2019s regulatory agenda with an ambitious blueprint to fight global climate change may prove tough without a Democrat-controlled Congress to pass legislation. Republican lawmakers appear on track to retain a majority in the Senate, and have been reticent to adopt sweeping climate change measures.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The same issue dogged former President Barack Obama, who had also relied on executive authority to impose a raft of climate protections, due to a lack of support in his divided Congress. When he left office, Trump unwound them swiftly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n White House officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trump ran for his first term in the White House on a promise to unfetter the drilling, mining and manufacturing industries by slashing Obama-era green regulation and supporting new infrastructure permitting. Once in office, he moved quickly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Among his main accomplishments, he withdrew the United Stated from the Paris Agreement to combat global warming; replaced Obama-era rules meant to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and drilling operations; reduced automobile fuel efficiency targets; downsized wilderness national monuments; gave permits to energy companies seeking to build oil pipelines; and proposed opening new parts of the Arctic, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans to drilling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Biden has promised to rejoin the Paris Agreement quickly once he takes office and rescind may of Trump\u2019s rollbacks. But he has also pledged to usher in policies to make the United States economy carbon neutral by 2050 to fight global climate change, something that would require legislation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n