When Trump took office on January 20th, he came in with a long agenda of changes he wanted to make in the US. One of these included reopening oil drilling off the Alaskan coast which will negatively impact wildlife and the climate. During Trump’s first term in office in 2016, he negotiated the idea of withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming. By the end of his first term the US was no longer apart of this agreement. The U.S. rejoined in 2021 under Former President Joe Biden’s administration, however, with Trump back in office he has officially removed the U.S. from the agreement for the second time. According to npr.org Trump stated,
“I’m immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris climate accord rip-off”
The withdraw from this agreement has come after months of wildfires, hurricanes, and one of the hottest years on record. Removing the U.S. from the Paris Climate agreement and reopening oil drilling will have many impacts on global warming, climate change and impact wildlife.
Oil spills is one of the main concerns from officials seeing as they not only are very toxic to animals by ingestion, and inhalation but they could also become dangerous to food we consume. According to response.restoration.noaa.gov,
“The presence of certain levels of chemicals known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons some of which are carcinogenic.”
These carcinogenic carbons can potentially be cancer-causing and should be avoided. The office of Response and Restoration has also stated that if seafood has a taste or smell of petroleum that it should not be consumed.
Another one of the main concerns is disrupting wildlife habitats. With loud noises and vehicle traffic, oil drilling will be a disruption to animals breeding, communication and nesting.
For more information visit whitehouse.gov/issues.
