That pretty much sums up the difference between a Democrat and the treatment of climate change compared to Trump: as an emergency and not as a joke. That would be a huge change in itself.
This is a global problem that will require the cooperation of countries like China and India. In addition, the most important actions that the United States could undertake would require Congressional approval, a difficult task when the Senate is controlled by a Republican who represents coal. But the presidents actually have a lot of power to change US climate policy without waiting for Congress.
A first set of steps would be to cancel many of Trump's actions that either sidelined US climate leadership or overturned the new standards set up under the Obama administration.
Related: 2020 climate change positions of candidates
CNN has gathered input from lobbyists, former government officials and academics. This is what any president can do on the first day of his mandate:
1. Join the Paris climate agreement
Promising to withdraw the United States from the milestone of 2015 The climate agreement was Trump's benchmark action that rebutted the responsibility to act on climate change. He said, without much evidence, that it was a bitter failure for American workers, who would be expected to do more than those in other countries. The result is that the United States is one of the few countries not to participate in the effort, in which countries have pledged to reduce carbon in different ways.
All candidates for Democratic nomination to the presidency have declared that they would bring back the United States. The United States was expected to cut its carbon emissions by 26% from 2005 levels by 2025 under the agreement. The deliberate sabotage of the Trump administration will probably not succeed.
But with some states, cities and companies trying to fill the void, the United States could find the way further, according to groups like America's Pledge, the coalition backed by the former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, and former California governor, Jerry Brown.
2. Declare a national climate emergency
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was the first presidential candidate to say that Trump, instead of declaring a national emergency at the border, should do so depending on the climate. Others, like Tom Steyer, did the same. This would certainly attract national attention and free up funds without congressional approval.
The Pentagon has adopted renewable energy and efficiency in the name of defense strategy. However, just worrying about climate change could do a lot to change how the government works. This would be a massive departure from the current situation, where the words "climate change" are removed from reports and releases and where the entire US government has rotated to ignore that climate change exists.
While the US government turns a blind eye, cities and states, as well as other countries, are taking matters into their own hands. New York, joining the UK and other countries and cities, said a climate emergency and Los Angeles is currently creating a "Department of Mobilization for Climate Emergencies".
3. Set a goal without carbon
The president could easily declare the goal of 100% decarbonization by a given year – 2050 for example – and ask the secretaries of his cabinet to do everything in their power to achieve this goal.
4. Reverse Trump's retreat of fuel economy standards
At the request of automakers, the Trump administration has been working to lower fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks. A different president could again push things in the opposite direction.
California has renounced a clause in the Clean Air Act that gives it the special power to set its own fuel economy standards. It has negotiated fuel economy increase standards with four companies (Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW) in order to meet a standard of 51 mpg in 2026. As this is the largest market American automobile, it is likely that other companies will follow suit and this will become the new de facto standard. But it's not as strong as the 54.5 mpg standard set by the Obama administration, which a new administration could restore.
5. Set a zero emission deadline for the United States
Ten states set zero emission targets for automobiles by 2030. Colorado became the last in August. The federal government could do the same or go further.
6. Embrace energy-efficient light bulbs
Calls for new spending on infrastructure or a Green New Deal all share the goal of making American buildings more energy efficient. This seems like a good idea, but even the smallest of standards can trigger a huge reaction, as Obama discovered about incandescent bulbs in 2011. The country has since moved away from them .
The Trump administration is trying to relax the standards applicable to bulbs. Trump has also tried to reduce funding for energy efficiency research at the Ministry of Energy. And his Ministry of Energy wants to let manufacturers bypass the energy efficiency tests.
Trump actually signed an order to make federal buildings more efficient. But this only represents a small part of the country's buildings. Increasing efficiency standards on a larger scale would help reduce emissions.
7. Restore clean energy plan
The clean energy plan was an Obama era regulatory regime that required states to adhere to specific carbon reduction standards based on their individual energy consumption. The plan includes an incentive program allowing states to take a step ahead of meeting the standards for rapid deployment of renewable energy and low-income energy efficiency.
The Trump administration, under the former president of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, found that the plan exceeded the authority of the president and l '. spilled. A coalition of states is suing the government to put an end to some of these regulatory regulations.
8. Reverse Trump's plan to accelerate oil and gas pipelines
Trump is extremely proud of the fact that the United States now produces more oil and natural gas than any other country in the world, although it has reached that level under the Obama administration. It rescinded the safety rules for oil and gas producers, used executive measures to facilitate pipeline approvals and gave the federal government more powers over states that could block them under the law. Law on water sanitation.
At the beginning of this year, workers at the Bureau of Land Management proceeded with the partial closure of the government to approve more and more petroleum and natural gas drilling applications on public lands. A new administration could go in the opposite direction.
9. Reimpose a moratorium on coal sales on public lands
Trump has canceled an Obama era moratorium on new leases of public land for coal development. His administration argued this year that new coal from public lands would not affect US greenhouse gas emissions. According to the federal government, 40% of the coal mined in the United States comes largely from public lands.
10. Stop trying to push the coal altogether
The One Trump administration's efforts to bail out the coal industry have already failed and information suggests that the administration hopes to try again. Trump is committed to focusing on coal and helping to save jobs.
This did not happen as expected, as cheaper market forces and natural gas and renewable power plants pushed the coal industry to the brink of collapse. Trump's EPA tried to help the coal industry when it repealed new emission regulations for coal-fired power plants, but 22 states took up the challenge of using the air law provisions pure.
11. Cancel Trump's efforts to increase oil drilling at sea
While he 's mocked the idea of offshore wind turbines, Trump pushed offshore oil rigs. Her administration upset decades of precedent when she had called for new drilling on all US shores, though she exempted some states, such as Florida, where he owned a beachfront property. The administration seems for the moment to have suspended the plan after having had some trouble in court, when a federal judge in Alaska froze plans for new drilling in the Arctic Ocean.
12. Accelerate the production of renewable energy on public lands
Although the Trump administration has pushed oil and gas exploration on public lands, Congress proposes to use public lands, particularly in the southwestern part of the country, for the production of oil and gas. 39 renewable energy in the form of wind or solar farms.
The Obama administration had a rule that would have moved in that direction without congressional approval.
13. Use the SEC to examine the climate-related risks of banks and investors
The energy sector pays a lot of attention to climate change, but banks and investors also play an important role. The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking companies about the risks to their investments from climate change and new regulations.
As the world moves away from oil and natural gas, businesses in this sector and those dependent on it will face challenges and may need to adapt. The chairman could ask the SEC to demand more serious answers. Several presidential candidates have approved this approach.
14. Exploit the growing public feeling and work with businesses
States and cities are tackling climate change, whether with zero-emission vehicle targets or the Northeast Regional Cooperative, which is trying to limit and reduce carbon emissions by its own means. American companies are also evolving alone. It is setting up business coalitions and lobbying Congress to take further action on climate change. At present, the federal government does not even participate in this discussion.
15. Finally, convene the Congress
Virtually everyone who agrees that climate change is a problem agrees that the Congress will have to deal with it thoroughly in the end. This means that you have to set a price on carbon. The House voted in this direction in 2010, but the so-called cap-and-trade proposal was not voted on in the Senate and the Democrats then lost control of the House for eight years.
Democrats' calls for a Green New Deal that would rebuild the US economy around a move away from carbon or investing in multibillion-dollar infrastructure to make the country more efficient would require approval of Congress, which might not happen. Such action could, in the short term, require the end of the buccaneer's custom in the Senate.
