U.S. to pull out of Paris climate-change agreement under Trump

Donald TrumpAs seemed likely from the day Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, the country will pull out of the global Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The move had been signaled even before the election by the new president's choice of noted climate-science denier Myron Ebell as head of his EPA transition team...

Trump EPA ordered to remove climate science; gag order, grant freeze too

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]Following the removal of all mentions of climate change from the White House website, the new administration has apparently trained its sites on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA and a handful of other government agencies are now reportedly under gag orders: employees are forbidden to discuss ongoing changes, post new material on...

Three-quarters of Americans accept climate science, regardless of Trump

Photovoltaic solar power field at Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TennesseeThe new U.S. administration has made it clear that it does not accept the scientific consensus on climate change. From President Donald Trump down through his nominees for key roles—Scott Pruitt for EPA adminstrator, Rick Perry for Department of Energy head, and others—key elected and appointed officials have rejected the idea of human...

Action on climate change ‘harmful, unnecessary’: Trump White House

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]If there were any doubt that U.S. policy on climate change would change drastically under President Donald Trump, it should have been laid to rest shortly after noon yesterday. Following inauguration ceremonies for the 45th president of the United States, the Obama White House website was replaced with an entirely new site for the Trump White...

China’s five-year budget for renewable energy: $360 billion

ChinaDespite a recent downturn, the Chinese government is moving full-speed ahead to invest heavily in renewable energy. The country's national regulators have already promoted renewable energy as a possible cure for the country's notoriously-bad air pollution. But China has placed more emphasis on renewable power in its latest five-year economic plan...

Clean energy to grow, coal to fade, regardless of Trump EPA plans

wind farmPresident-elect Donald Trump's choice of Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates that his administration will pursue radically different energy policies from its predecessor's. Pruitt is a climate-science denier, and has sued the agency he is being asked to lead multiple times. He has...

Trump supported ethanol, but his team may not; is oil the reason?

Big square baler harvesting wheat straw for production of cellulosic ethanolAs President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration draws closer, confusion still surrounds many of his possible energy policies. During the campaign, Trump indicated that he supported ethanol, even while he called for expansion of domestic fossil-fuel production. In January, he said he supported the Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandates that growing...

Donald Trump owned two American cars; one was a Tesla

Tesla Model SElectric cars have the potential to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, but that does not seem to be a priority for President-elect Donald Trump. He has suggested that climate change is a hoax created by China to hurt U.S. businesses, and his statements on the campaign trail indicate policies that will boost fossil fuels. Some of Trump's...

What effect will Trump presidency have on electric cars? Poll results

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]It may reflect unshakable confidence in the future prospects of electric cars. Or perhaps it's a lack of conviction that the incoming Trump Administration can have enough effect on incentives, emission regulations, and gas-mileage rules to make a difference. Either way, the respondents to our most recent poll don't think the new president will...