Repealing Climate Policies While California Burns – Forbes


US President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in … [+] Washington, DC, on January 23, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2018, I wrote about my first experience with deadly wildfires in California. The historic Woolsey fire forced my family, including my then-nine-months-pregnant daughter to evacuate in terror during the night. Five days later, my granddaughter was born. Now, six years later, my family and our neighbors in California are once again grappling with the devastating aftermath of unprecedented wildfires, a stark reminder of the escalating climate crisis.
I spent 32 years at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with 18 years focused on combating air pollution from the transportation sector – I know these fires are proof of the climate crisis I spent a large part of my career trying to address.
Yet the scale of these wildfires, exacerbated by climate change, continues to astonish me. The science is unequivocal: Climate change intensifies the conditions that lead to wildfires. Rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, shifting rainfall patterns, increased wind intensity, and longer fire seasons have turned Southern California into a tinderbox, making wildfires not just a local issue but a global crisis.
The fires that incinerated Southern California in early January are the largest and costliest natural disaster in the state’s and the nation’s history. As of late January, at least 28 lives have been lost, over 130,000 individuals have been displaced, 57,000 acres have burned, and more than 16,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed.
Financially, the toll is projected to exceed $250 billion. For context, estimates from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information suggest that the overall cost of weather and climate-related disasters in 2024 reached $182.7 billion, while global insured losses are pegged at $140 billion. California’s disaster is on an entirely different scale.
Regrettably, some have attempted to politicize the disaster and early recovery efforts, blaming Democratic elected officials for the devastation. However, climate-driven disasters are not confined to “blue” states; they affect communities nationwide.
Florida and Texas have the most properties vulnerable to wildfires, underscoring the pervasive nature of this crisis. The Smokehouse Creek fire torched Texas in February 2024, and last fall Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated Tennessee and Florida within weeks of each other. Hurricane Helene eventually caused catastrophic damage in ten states across Southeast and Appalachia.
The climate crisis is at every American’s doorstep, whether we live in a red state or a blue state, and it’s up to our governments to protect our homes and families.
But while fires raged across Southern California, the new Trump administration quickly moved to dismantle critical climate policies that cut carbon pollution accelerating the climate crisis.
By signing a series of executive orders aimed at repealing laws passed by Congress including the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, as well as the EPA’s clean car, truck, and renewable energy programs, the administration risks reversing progress made combating climate change. Repealing these policies would also cede U.S. economic leadership and innovation to China and Europe.
However, executive orders to reverse environmental standards can’t be implemented overnight. The new administration will need to rewrite the regulations, which could take several years, and then face legal challenges.
Four climate-related actions in the new executive orders highlight the dangers.
Reviewing the EPA’s Endangerment Finding: The “Unleashing American Energy” executive order targets, among other things, the EPA’s Endangerment Finding that determined that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare, and provided the legal basis for the EPA climate regulations and policies. Undoing it would significantly hinder the agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and cut air pollution.
Rolling Back Clean Car Standards: The same executive order would also jeopardize the U.S. auto industry’s competitiveness by undermining the regulatory framework that American automakers have relied on. This comes at an especially promising moment as sales of electric vehicles (EVs) surged from 6.7% in 2022 to 11.5% in 2023, creating thousands of jobs and attracting billions in EV production investment.
The order would also revoke California’s authority to implement its clean car program’s goals to stop the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035. Under federal Clean Air Act laws, for more than 50 years, California has set its own vehicle standards that are more stringent than federal limits. Those standards have been adopted by 12 other states, helping lead not only the U.S. but the world in clean car policies.
Defunding Clean Energy Initiatives: The order also halts approximately $50 billion in funding for renewable energy projects, impacting $280 billion in loan requests aimed at advancing EV manufacturing and renewable energy investments.
Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement: A separate new executive order withdrawing from the Paris Agreement – the foundational international agreement driving global climate progress – undermines global climate efforts and erodes international cooperation at a critical time, providing cover for other nations to weaken their own climate efforts.
The irony of these actions is stark: Repealing climate policies occurs when renewable energy and EVs are protecting our climate, insulating consumers from inflation, and expanding economic opportunity.
Under the Biden administration, clean energy became one of the fastest-growing sectors, creating jobs and driving innovation. By reversing successful policies, the Trump administration would not only exacerbate the climate crisis but also hurt consumers with high prices at the pump and squander the chance to transition to a more resilient economy.
Similarly, under Biden, clean transportation policies created more than 195,000 new jobs. Automakers and suppliers are investing heavily in U.S. EV production – they know that the future of global mobility is electric. Globally, car manufacturers have committed to invest as much as $1.2 trillion in transitioning the industry; $312 billion was expected to come to the U.S.
Clean energy is a $1.8 trillion investment opportunity. Repealing these policies would only cede economic growth to China and Europe and guarantee their dominance over EV investments, innovation, and sales.
The stakes have never been higher. Every delay or reversal inches us closer to irreversible damage. While the Biden administration laid the groundwork for meaningful progress, the new administration’s actions threaten to dismantle it, jeopardizing our response to a crisis that demands urgent action.
For those concerned about our country’s future and the planet’s health, we must raise our voices. States, cities, businesses, and individuals must step in where federal leadership falters.
Philanthropist Michael Bloomberg stepped in stating that the “American people remain determined to continue the fight against the devastating effects of climate change” and pledged to fund U.S. obligations under the Paris Agreement. We must hope that others with long-term vision follow that example to help the country mitigate the climate crisis and prepare for the next climate-driven disasters. The cost of inaction is far too great—not just for us, but for generations to come.

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