The Trump Presidency and Clean Energy Innovation… It Doesn’t Mix

Donald J. Trump, the United States president-elect will formally be inaugurated in January 2017.

Trump’s win is a surprise upset over Hilary Clinton and has left many in the clean and renewable energy industry surprised, stunned and they are now scrambling to get a sense for what a Trump presidency will mean for the future of clean and renewable energy, according to ChicagoInno.

Over Trump’s campaign trail, he had been light on specific policy details concerning the environment, but he has used heavy and emphatic rhetoric around his anti-EPA, anti-wind, anti-solar and pro-coal stances. Plus, he’s also the man who said that the climate change is a hoax carried out by the Chinese government.

Trump would also be the only leader of a major industrialised country to deny man-made climate change. As the world and many nations move to address the issue of global warming, energy experts are now searching Trump’s public statements on climate change to decipher what his environment campaign stance is.

According to Amy Franetic, SVCP of Chicago-based Invenergy and co-founder of Clean Energy Trust, it’s pretty hard to know if what Trump said on the campaign trail will translate to actual policy.

Below are a few points Trump has stated on his campaign trail:

1. He said that he wants to greatly reduce the Environmental Protection Agency.
2. He wants the United States out of the Paris Climate deal, which is a plan by 100 countries to reduce carbon emissions. He said that any policy that is bad for the workers or outdated for the national interest will be scrapped completely.
3. He also said that he wants to save the coal industry and cut government spending on global warming programs.
4. He doesn’t like wind energy because it kills birds.
5. He handpicked climate change sceptic Myron Ebell to lead the EPA transition team.
6. He said that he will get rid of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which looks to reduce United States carbon dioxide emissions.

Obama’s Clean Power Plan is the one that seems to be in immediate jeopardy. The plan is just waiting for a Supreme Court decision and with Trump at the helm, it will surely be on the chopping block.

Now climate experts are left hoping that Trump will still be open to being educated on the issues of global warming. Franetic stated that the renewable energy sector is a large job creator and has bi-partisan in many red states and others who’ve turned to wind and other clean energy sources.

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