Welcome to The Environmentalist, your column for understanding the natural world. This article will address the United States’ contentious environmental policies and why it is an international issue.
Fossil fuel is made from decomposed remains of prehistoric plants and organisms, which can be used and transformed into energy. Despite producing our electricity, heating our homes, and fueling our cars, planes, and ships, it is the leading cause of climate change related to human activity. This creates one of the most politically charged topics regarding the health of our planet: global warming is good for no one, but individually we have no control over where our energy comes from.
The United States is the country with the second highest carbon dioxide emissions, with China being the first. Despite China’s carbon dioxide emissions being higher, the U.S. has higher emissions per capita, meaning a person in the U.S. produces more emissions than a person in China. Even though the U.S. has a federal sustainability plan, which includes transitioning to zero-emissions electric vehicles by 2035. However, the plan itself is likely to face more obstacles given that the steps the U.S.’ government has taken are unfavourable for its environmental program to carry through as it should.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mission is to “protect human health and the environment,” and yet it received a 54 per cent reduction in funding for 2026 — a result of President Donald Trump’s administration. Furthermore, Trump initiated the rollback of more than 140 rules that seek to protect diverse environmental areas and an overall healthy climate. We can certainly say that the United States is not moving forward, and is rather taking significant steps backward.
Trump promotes the fossil fuel industry, as its presence is still strong in the U.S., but despite this, oil and gas stocks have declined. This is a silver lining when considering the tendency observed in the last nine U.S. presidents was to support the fossil fuel industry — but now, change is happening. The impact of excessive carbon dioxide emission can impact not only the quality of the air we breathe, but also the acidity of the oceans, the rising global temperature, and biodiversity loss. It is paramount to take action in defense of the environment before it deteriorates even further, and causes more strain on the lives of both U.S.’ inhabitants and people worldwide.
The world is watching, and how the United States chooses to handle this problem can set an example of either how to solve the problem, or how to worsen it. Here’s hoping it is for the best. Even when these actions are not taken inside our country, we need to understand that climate change knows no borders. As the Lorax once said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.” So, let’s care.
