During a , Donald Trump boasted of the country鈥檚 vast reserves of oil and natural gas.
鈥淲e have more liquid gold than any country in the world. More than Saudi Arabia. We have more than Russia. Bobby, stay away from the liquid gold,鈥� Trump told Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former environmental lawyer and presidential candidate who in the next Trump administration.
Trump鈥檚 goal in a second term will be to boost fossil-fuel production, his campaign has said. But he will be entering the White House after what in 2024. Greenhouse gas emissions, which trap heat and mainly come from burning fossil fuels, reached an . And global temperatures are on track to rise to a level that scientists say will heighten the risk of much more dangerous climate impacts, from more destructive storms and heat waves to rising sea levels that could swamp coastal cities.
Trump, however, has long cast doubt on the scientific consensus that the Earth is getting hotter primarily because of human-caused emissions. In recent months, Trump railed against wind turbines and electric vehicles, which experts say would help curb climate pollution, and he .
Yet, a second Trump administration will not be able to stop the country鈥檚 transition to cleaner sources of energy, analysts and activists say. Costs for a lot of those technologies are falling fast. Companies are under pressure from their customers and investors to deal with climate change. And states led by Democrats and Republicans alike from new factories and power plants that have received government support.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that our job hasn鈥檛 gotten harder鈥� with Trump鈥檚 reelection, says Mindy Lubber, chief executive of Ceres, a nonprofit that advocates for clean energy. 鈥淏ut there is a legitimate vein of opportunism, of entrepreneurial spirit, of new jobs, of new economics, of business people, of entrepreneurs, of business school leaders who are saying, 鈥榃e need to deal with climate change because of the financial risk, the material risk and, of course, the human risk.鈥欌��
Other advocacy groups echoed Lubber.
鈥淭here is no denying that another Trump presidency will stall national efforts to tackle the climate crisis and protect the environment, but most U.S. state, local, and private sector leaders are committed to charging ahead,鈥� Dan Lashof, U.S. director of the World Resources Institute, said in a statement. 鈥淎nd you can count on a chorus of world leaders confirming that they won鈥檛 turn their back on climate and nature goals.鈥�
Jason Grumet, chief executive of a trade group called the American Clean Power Association, noted there was a lot of investment and growth in the wind and solar industries during Trump鈥檚 first term.
鈥淧rivate sector clean energy investment is bringing jobs and economic opportunity to small towns and rural communities across the nation, while hundreds of new factories have come online in states that have seen far too many good jobs move overseas,鈥� Grumet said in a statement. He said the industry is 鈥渃ommitted to working with the Trump-Vance Administration and the new Congress to continue this great American success story.鈥�
However, Lubber cautioned that while companies might not abandon their climate initiatives, they may be reluctant to advertise them.
And that could have consequences.
鈥淟eading companies often help companies that aren't as far along in their thinking understand why something is worth doing,鈥� Rich Lesser, global chair of Boston Consulting Group, told NPR ahead of the election. 鈥淚f the leading companies act in a responsible way, in a way that will build advantage for them, but they don't feel like they can talk about it, we will fail to help the broader set of companies understand why they should be taking this on, too.鈥�
, including former administration officials, pose other risks for climate action. Some have called for abolishing federal programs that address climate change and repealing Biden administration-backed laws that give billions in funding and tax incentives for corporations and communities to cut emissions and prepare for the risks they face in a hotter world.
For example, conservative activists have been at the Department of Energy. The office, which Trump tried to strip funding from during his first term, helps finance groundbreaking projects that can help cut emissions.
Without that kind of government investment in innovation, the United States would struggle to make deep cuts in climate pollution or to compete with China and other nations that are racing to dominate emerging technologies, says Tanya Das, who works on energy innovation at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
And there鈥檚 of political interference in Trump鈥檚 second term. One conservative proposal, , calls for eliminating the office at the Environmental Protection Agency that鈥檚 tasked with reducing pollution in minority communities, cutting back on monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change and getting rid of the main government office that does atmospheric research.
Project 2025 also describes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 鈥� which includes the National Weather Service and offices that support fisheries and monitor air quality 鈥� as a "colossal operation that has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry," and they propose gutting it.
Trump , but dozens of its writers and architects worked in his administration. And the plan鈥檚 vision for climate and energy policy aligns with the former president鈥檚.
Trump is also expected to change how the U.S. engages in global efforts to deal with climate change. During his first term, Trump , which requires virtually every country on Earth to pledge how much they'll cut planet-warming pollution. Right now, world leaders are debating how to provide more climate funding to developing countries, which bear little responsibility for causing global warming but are suffering disproportionately from its impacts.
鈥淚 think it is of concern if we withdraw [from international climate efforts] or do not deliver on the kinds of commitments we've made, or exhibit less interest in those sorts of problems, because those are problems that have to be solved globally,鈥� Vijaya Ramachandran, director for energy and development at The Breakthrough Institute, a research and advocacy group, told NPR before the election.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), which represents the U.S. oil and gas industry, that voters picked Trump based in part on his energy policies. 鈥淓nergy was on the ballot, and voters sent a clear signal that they want choices, not mandates, and an all-of-the-above approach that harnesses our nation鈥檚 resources and builds on the successes of his first term,鈥� API Chief Executive Mike Sommers said.
Despite the Biden administration's focus on limiting climate change, it has .
U.S. oil and gas production is influenced by global prices: Companies drill more when prices are high and less when they鈥檙e low. U.S. presidents have very little sway over those corporate decisions and, ultimately, fuel prices.
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