Trump to scrap consideration of climate change in infrastructure planning

The US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to fast-track federal infrastructure projects by allowing developers to skip consideration of climate change and flooding risk when planning projects.

The order would reverse Obama legislation which required the recipients of federal funds to factor in risks related to flooding.

The widely reported news follows the head of the US’ Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, pushing to revise further Obama legislation to limit water pollution from coal-fired power plants. Pruitt wrote to the US Water Act Group and US Small Business Administration indicating his intentions. The revision would see 2015 guidelines mandating increased treatment for wastewater from coal plants revised.

In early August, the Trump administration sent a letter to the UN expressing its intention to leave the Paris Agreement in writing. While, under the terms of the agreement, the US cannot formally notify the UN till 2019, the letter indicates its intention to leave only the Paris Agreement, and not the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entirely – which would have been a much more dramatic move.

Nevertheless, a media release from the White House says that the US will continue to participate in international climate change negotiations. No nation can officially leave the Paris Agreement until November 2020 – the time of the next US election.