How will Trump’s climate change executive orders impact Ohio?

Flanked by coal miners and joined by Vice President Mike Pence, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Trump said his action would “eliminate federal overreach, restore economic freedom and allow our companies to thrive, compete and succeed on a level playing field for the first time in a long time.”

Making the U.S. ‘energy independent’

The administration says the effort is aimed at making the United States “energy independent,” with a senior administration official Monday saying that Trump believes that we can serve the twin goals of protecting the environment and providing clean air and clean water, getting the EPA back to its core mission, while at the same time, again, moving forward on energy production in the United States.”

While the administration still plans to enforce clean air laws currently on the books, the official said “when it comes to laws or regulation like the Clean Power Plan, we’re going to go in a different direction.”

Christian Palich, president of the Ohio Coal Association, was gleeful. “This is a great day,” he said, saying Trump was fulfilling his campaign pledge to create an environment “that will allow the coal industry to compete.”

“It’s a great first step,” he said. A 2015 study published in the journal Energy Policy found that 50,000 coal jobs had disappeared over five years. “It has been heartbreaking to see,” he said. “Now, there is a renewed sense of optimism, a renewed sense of faith.”

Some say move still won’t bring back jobs

But not all are convinced that the regulatory rollback will translate to jobs. Even before Trump released his executive order, Murray Energy CEO Bob Murray told the Guardian that Trump, despite his efforts, will not be able to bring back the jobs.

Murray argued that natural gas has also driven down the demand for coal. An ardent foe of Obama’s policies, Murray said “it’s a better time,” for the coal industry, but nonetheless suggested Trump “temper” his expectations for job growth in the aftermath of the action.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue said Trump’s executive actions “are a welcome departure from the previous administration’s strategy of making energy more expensive through costly, job-killing regulations that choked our economy.”

“There is every reason to believe that the federal government will no longer seek to punish American consumers and businesses for using the energy resources that fuel our economy,” he said.

Ohio Republican lawmakers support the move

Similarly, three Ohio GOP lawmakers applauded the actions. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, was among those to join Trump at the signing ceremony at the EPA.

Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, said regulations such as the Clean Power Plan “would do nothing but raise costs on families…This order protects families and business from significant costs and burdens stemming from EPA regulations.”

“The President demonstrated today that there can be a common-sense balance - it is possible to have environmentally responsible regulations that don’t result in lost jobs and skyrocketing electricity costs,” said Johnson, while Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville said Trump “continues to make good on his promises and give the hard-working people of once-forgotten towns in coal country a chance at making a good living without the fear of government bureaucrats shutting down the industry they depend on to raise their families.”

Environmentalists say it’s a setback

While business and the energy industry welcome the decision, environmentalists say that the change will bury the U.S. behind much of the industrialized world in efforts to end climate change; that the world is already seeing the impact of climate change and that the economic toll, too, will be devastating, as nations try to deal with the impact of unpredictable weather.

“It’s a disaster,” said David Scott, a Columbus resident who is a former president of the Sierra Club and currently a member of the board. “Collectively it puts us out of touch with the rest of the world.

“This is an all-out assault on the protections we need to avert climate catastrophe,” said Rhea Suh, president of the National Resources Defense Council.

“Dismantling existing EPA programs and policies isn’t a plan—it’s an abdication,” said Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Seas are rising, droughts are becoming more commonplace, the Mountain West’s wildfire season is getting longer and we’re seeing more record-breaking temperatures. The fingerprints of climate change are everywhere, threatening Americans’ health, safety and pocketbooks.”

Lake Erie impact

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said climate change could hurt Lake Erie by creating an ideal environment for the growth of harmful algal blooms. Trump’s budget also zeroed out money for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program to clean up the Great Lakes.

“I refuse to accept that we have to choose between clean air and good jobs, or between protecting Lake Erie from the effects of climate change and promoting American energy production,” he said.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, said the executive actions ignore the boon brought by transitioning to a clean-energy economy. He said more than 100,000 jobs in Ohio are supported by clean energy.

“President Trump needs to stop lying to the American people about how this harmful executive order will impact our job market, and work on ways get coal miners back to work building a new, clean economy,” he said.

Scott points out that undoing Obama’s executive actions isn’t as easy as “waving a wand.” Undoing an action, he said, takes time and won’t happen immediately.

Trump, who once called climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese but also told the New York Times last year that he has an “open mind” about dealing with the issue.

But the public’s view may be at odds with his: For the first time ever, half of Americans now say they believe in climate change and are very concerned about it, according to a March Gallup poll.

In a background briefing Monday night, a senior administration official said that Trump’s goal was to “protect the environment and provide people with work.”

“The president has been very clear that he’s not going to pursue climate or environmental policies that put the U.S. economy at risk,” the official said.

Asked about scientists’ worry that climate change would create adverse economic consequences – rising sea levels, dangerous hurricanes – the official claimed to be unaware of the studies. “I would want to see the research,” the official said.

The official also said that the administration is reviewing whether it will continue to participate in the 2016 Paris Climate Accords, an agreement between to work to curb climate change that 194 countries including the United States have signed and 141 countries have ratified.

“It’s a tragedy,” Scott said. “I don’t know what else to say. We made promises in Paris and the Clean Power Plan is a linchpin of those promises. Donald Trump is the only leader in the world who is denying that carbon pollution causes climate change.”

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