By Rick Krause
LILBURN, Ga. | “This too shall pass,” some say, offering solace as President Trump runs rampant. But not all damage is reversible, and the Earth doesn’t “bounce back” on political timelines. Some things won’t pass.
The Trump administration’s environmental policies have had profound, often devastating, and potentially lasting consequences. Political, economic, cultural, and social systems may recover or reinvent themselves. Ecosystems, however, are not so easily restored—and certainly don’t regenerate on command.
Consider the climate and carbon emissions. More than 125 environmental rules were rolled back during Trump’s first term, weakening fuel economy standards, methane regulations, and power plant CO₂ limits. The U.S. withdrew from the Paris Agreement, signaling a retreat from coordinated global climate action. His second term has continued this trajectory, with executive orders promoting fossil fuel development and rescinding climate-focused directives.
On public lands, the administration has pushed to turn parks, sanctuaries, and refuges over to corporate interests. Fossil fuel extraction has been prioritized, nearly always at the expense of conservation. Expanded leasing for oil, gas, and mining operations has surged. A stark example: the cancellation of the Esmeralda 7 solar project in Nevada, which would have powered millions of homes with clean energy.
Forests are treated as timber reserves, with little regard for the biodiversity crisis. Logging and deregulation have been favored, including efforts to reduce protections for old-growth forests and endangered species habitats. These actions accelerate habitat loss and species extinction—upon which all life, including human, depends—at a time when scientists warn we’re in the midst of a sixth mass extinction.
Trump’s institutional undermining and attack on science is equally devastating. It hits home for me, a retired geohydrologist and sometime volunteer with the U.S. Geological Survey. My agency is feeling the pain.
Key environmental institutions—the EPA, BLM, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Department of the Interior—have been staffed with individuals tied to fossil fuel interests and climate-change denial, raising concerns about regulatory capture and long-term erosion. Changes to how agencies conduct environmental impact assessments have weakened safeguards for air, water, and wildlife. The Trump Administration is having science deep-sixed, by funding cuts, political interference, misinformation and disinformation, and abandonment of standards.
And the effects of this environmental devastation do not stay within our borders. These examples are just a handful—there are many more.
Not everything passes. Much must be protected before tipping points are reached. And as the slogan reminds us: “Extinction is forever.”
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