National

Sustainability First: Experts Weigh In On Potential Trump Impact on Climate Action

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Both Prime Minister Philip Davis and Leader of the Opposition Michael Pintard have commented on sustainability efforts may be impacted by a Trump administration.

Published

1 year ago

November 7, 2024

Marlena Leonard

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Both Prime Minister Philip Davis and Leader of the Opposition Michael Pintard have commented on sustainability efforts may be impacted by a Trump administration, hopeful to continue the country’s push for climate action regardless of who holds the United States’ highest office.

Under Trump’s last administration, over 100 environmental rules were rolled back, including but not limited to rules on air pollution and emissions, drilling and extraction, toxic substances and safety, and removing protections from over half of the country’s wetlands.

But Dan Lashof, the U.S. Director of the Non-Profit, World Resources Institute, says that Trump’s return to power won’t be a “death knell” to the clean energy transition, thanks to the fact that “global support for addressing the climate crisis has grown significantly since Donald Trump first took office.”

He adds that “country leaders know that reducing emissions and supercharging clean energy growth strengthens their economies and competitiveness.”

It’s a global push that The Bahamas has often been at the forefront of in recent years but the impact of the U.S. can’t be overlooked, as the United States has often been the second highest emitters of greenhouse gases globally.

For context, the world’s top three contributors emit fifteen times the gases as the bottom 100 countries.

That disparity between emissions and the smaller countries who often bear the burden of climate-fueled disasters is an issue that the Davis administration has been highlighting in recent years and one only time will tell if a new president brings better or worse cooperation on the road to climate action.