What New Executive Orders Mean for Climate, Health
By Shelby Crosier
Shortly after taking office on January 20, President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders that aim to do everything from withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization to ending government diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Many of the executive orders also seek to roll back climate protections established during the Biden administration.
These executive orders, especially those that may make it harder to decrease U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, could have wide-reaching and long-lasting impacts on climate change and human health.
Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement
In one executive order, Trump declared his intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change with a goal to keep the global average temperature less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages. This move, which will take a full year, would make the U.S. one of only four United Nations countries that do not recognize the agreement. It also marks a return to the climate policies of Trump’s first term, when he also withdrew from the accord.
This move comes less than two weeks after confirmation that 2024 was the hottest year on record, with temperatures at over 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, just half a degree shy of the Paris Agreement’s goal.
The terms of the Paris Agreement stipulate that participating countries submit targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. is currently the number two carbon dioxide emitter in the world, responsible for 12.6% of worldwide emissions. While the Biden administration set a goal to cut emissions by 60% over the next decade, Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement means that the U.S. will not be held to that standard.
“There is a highly visible statement that is being made with this withdrawal,” says Carmen Marsit, PhD, executive associate dean for faculty affairs and research strategy at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. “The U.S. has been reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that is likely to continue, albeit not at a fast enough rate as would be needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. We don't know if this move will change that, but it could signal to other countries not to take the agreement seriously.”
A National Energy Emergency
In order for the U.S. to continue to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, cutting down fossil fuel use is vital. Some of Trump’s new executive orders may do the opposite, including his declaration of a “national energy emergency.”
While it is still unclear exactly what a national energy emergency entails (it is an unprecedented move), the language of the declaration supports increasing fossil fuel production on U.S. soil. Invoking the National Emergencies Act also grants the president additional powers, like the ability to suspend some environmental regulations. This national energy emergency is also accompanied by executive orders that encourage energy production on federal lands, including the Outer Continental Shelf and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Marsit cautions that while these orders may allow for increased fossil fuel production and use, that does not necessarily mean that it will happen.
“If alternative energy sources or products that use alternative energy sources (i.e. electric cars) are continuing to increase and can demonstrate not only climate but economic benefits, then the economic drivers won't be there,” says Marsit. “So, while the regulations might allow for greater production, there also needs to be a market for the fuel, and that may not exist.”
It remains to be seen what the market for alternative energy sources will look like in the coming years. Trump has already rescinded a host of Biden-era executive orders that aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb climate change, including the electric vehicle mandate that required half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030, and in a memorandum he paused new wind energy leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf.
What Happens if We Stop Fighting Climate Change?
How these new executive orders might affect the health and lives of people living in the U.S. is directly tied to how they will impact climate change. Increased fossil fuel use will increase greenhouse gas emissions, which will contribute to rising global temperatures—and the implications of that are vast.
“We are already living with the impacts of a changing climate: from more severe storms, like the hurricane that devastated parts of interior Georgia and western North Carolina, to the wildfires that are devastating the Los Angeles region, and even extreme heat and cold that could affect people everywhere,” says Marsit. “These extreme weather events all come with health impacts from injury to cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental health effects.”
He added, “a continued lack of attention to curbing climate change will only make these changes worse, which will have some impacts in the near future, but major impacts on future generations.”
Learn more from Rollins experts about the politics and health impacts of climate change in Rollins magazine.
