President Trump capped what the administration dubbed “Energy Week” with a speech at the Energy Department. Touting his vision of achieving “energy dominance,” Trump ticked off a handful of goals that include reviving nuclear power, expanding offshore drilling, and exporting more coal and natural gas. He also boasted of America’s “near limitless supplies of [fossil fuel] energy”—especially the unicorn of “clean, beautiful coal”—with nary a mention of renewable energy or climate change.
The president’s energy agenda represents a stark reversal of the Obama administration’s clean energy policies, which studies show lowered the cost of clean energy technologies, quadrupled wind power production, and increased solar electric generation 40-fold between 2008 and 2016. Roughly 3 million Americans earn a living in wind, solar, and energy efficiency jobs within industries that come with the added benefits of cleaner air and water, a safer climate, and a healthier environment for people and wildlife. It’s little wonder that a new national poll shows most Americans do not support Trump’s antipathy toward climate action nor his pro-polluter energy policies.
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