It is not necessary to be an environmental activist to recognise the folly of Donald Trump’s executive order unravelling measures taken by his predecessor to slow the pace of climate change. As economic policy, his directive tries to recapture an irretrievable, coal-fuelled US of 40 years ago, rather than aiming for the US that could exist 20 years hence - a global leader in clean technology.
The order, if implemented, would roll back Barack Obama’s clean power plan, which aimed to cut emissions from existing power plants. It also lifts the moratorium on the federal leasing of coal reserves and revisits estimates for the “social cost of carbon” that justified climate regulations.
One sentiment driving these measures is understandable. US miners and their communities have suffered terribly as the US and the world has moved away from coal. Government has a responsibility to mitigate the damage, as it does in all industrial transitions. Environmentalists have become more vocal about the need for a “just transition” for fossil fuel industry workers, recognising that their plight makes climate policies an easy target for opponents.
Removing Mr Obama’s clean air regulations will not come close to restoring the coal mining industry to its glory days.
The industry has been damaged most by markets, not government. The fall in the price of both domestic natural gas and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar have made coal uncompetitive in many regions.
Yet Mr Trump’s motivations appear to go well beyond a concern for blue-collar workers. Rather, he has taken aim at any policy that recognises climate change as a problem that requires a government response. As such, the Trump administration is setting itself up as one of the last governments in the world to question whether climate change is happening at all.
Leaving aside that grave misconception, there are sound business reasons why Mr Trump’s energy agenda should be resisted. Defending jobs in coal and pulling the US out of a system that encourages investment in clean technology is wasteful. It opens the way for China and others to dominate the clean energy industries of the future. These are the industries where the jobs of the future will be.
This may just be Mr Trump’s opening gambit. Should he succeed in bulldozing his measures through, the US may struggle to fulfil its commitments under the Paris climate change treaty. Should the administration go further and pull out of the agreement altogether - despite the support it enjoys from energy industry stalwarts such as ExxonMobil - it would not only hand moral high ground to its rivals but give a competitive edge to other nations, putting domestic jobs at risk.
