The election of Donald Trump on November 5 has already caused a lot of consternation in the climate zealot community, with hockey-stick graph creator Michael Mann declaring the United States a “failed Democratic state” after the election results became known. A list of actions climate realists have compiled for Trump to take during his upcoming presidency is certain to upset the climate hysterics even more.
A coalition of climate realist and energy independence groups has suggested 10 actions Trump should take when he takes office in January. The groups presenting the agenda are The Heartland Institute, E&E Legal Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), Truth in Energy and Climate, and The American Energy Institute.
The List
First on their list is a repudiation of the Paris Agreement by declaring it a treaty:
Paris Climate Treaty and Endangerment Finding. Determine that the Paris climate agreement is properly a treaty (rather than a mere “Executive agreement”) that requires Senate ratification. Transmit the treaty to the Senate for its advice. This … will legally relieve the US of any and all obligations under the treaty until and unless the Senate formally ratifies it. Repeal the Obama/Biden EPA determination that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are threats to the public health and welfare (the “endangerment finding”).
Any treaty must be confirmed by a two-thirds majority of the Senate — which is now controlled by the GOP. Trump has already signaled that he would remove the nation from the agreement, as he did during his first term. By declaring the agreement a treaty, the group hopes to make it more difficult for future administrations to use it for policymaking.
The next suggestion is to “repeal all the anti-coal regulatory actions of the Biden administration and promote coal as a preferred means of producing electricity [and] Commence a review of related air quality regulations issued by EPA.”
The climate realists also call for an end to the war climate zealots have waged on the oil, gas, and coal industries:
Restore active federal oil and gas leasing on federal lands and offshore, including the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. Lifting moratoria on offshore drilling in areas put off limits by prior presidents. Reverse the Biden moratorium on federal leasing for coal mining. Streamline the permitting process for energy production. End the Biden moratorium on LNG export terminals.
The group also requests that the president nominate people to his Cabinet who would
aggressively permit new oil and gas pipelines, LNG terminals and other infrastructure required for producing oil, gas and coal … streamline the permitting process [and] terminate all existing federal science advisory boards and reconstitute only the ones legally required. Appoint qualified and pro-energy individuals to the boards.
They also urge an end to the Biden-era Deep State regulatory structure: “End regulatory agency use of the linear non-threshold model (LNT) for radiation and chemical risk assessment. Reinstate the EPA rule against the use of ‘secret science.’ Request legislation to require that federal courts no longer defer to regulatory agencies on scientific matters.”
Ending the Usurpation
Many of the suggestions from the climate realists involve rolling back the administrative state’s unconstitutional takeover of responsibilities that rightfully belong to Congress. For decades now, the alphabet agencies have usurped congressional authority in rulemaking for the federal government. If the new Trump administration is able to stem that tide, it will have done a huge thing.
