President Trump’s Kept Promise: Reversing Environmental Progress

The Colleges of Law will host a panel to discuss just how much California’s environment has changed since Trump took office.

On the global stage, the U.S. is no longer a leader in the fight to combat climate change.

When President Trump entered office he promised to roll back laws and regulations protecting the public’s health and safety, and our environment.  

Unfortunately, he has kept these promises. 

On May 7, 2019, the Colleges of Law will host “Federal v. State: How has the Trump Administration Affected California’s Environment?”, a forum at the Santa Barbara campus from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. The goal is to educate the public on how California’s environment has been affected by the changes made by Trump’s administration and what the state is doing to mitigate the consequences.

This is a follow-up panel to the one that took place in May 2017, where COL discussed the future of environmental law in California. Linda Krop, Chief Counsel of the Environmental Defense Center, and Aeron Arlin Genet, the Director and Air Control Officer for Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, are set to return as panelists.

Context: Two Years of Reversed Legislation and Environmental Protections

In the past two years, Trump has taken multiple actions to negatively impact the environment.

At the beginning of his presidency, Trump immediately expressed his intent to withdraw the United States’ participation in the Paris Agreement, an ambitious international effort to combat global warming. He was the only global leader at the G20 summit to refuse to sign a communiqué confirming that climate change is irreversible and a commitment to address the causes of global warming. Instead, the Trump Administration wrote a separate paragraph promoting fossil fuels. The Trump Administration also dramatically cut funding to the Climate Adaptation Program, an international effort to monitor and mitigate the effects of climate change. 

On the domestic front, the Trump Administration has taken an even more aggressive approach by rolling back environmental protections that have existed for decades. National Geographic created a list of how this administration has dramatically reshaped the environmental landscape by:

• Lifting restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions for coal plants
• Approving off-shore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic
• Repealing rules requiring oil and gas companies to monitor methane gas releases
• Nullifying rules restricting coal power plants
• Reversing vehicle emission standards
• Revoking water rules accounting for sea level rise
• Reducing the number of waterways protected by the Clean Water Act
• Changing the approach to the Endangered Species Act

States, both red and blue, are pushing back—and California, a leader in this area—is at the forefront of this fight. Both the California legislature and Attorney General Becerra are challenging the Trump administration’s efforts.

Meet the Panelists

Linda Krop, Chief Counsel of the Environmental Defense Center

Linda has worked at EDC as a staff attorney since 1989, and as Chief Counsel since 1999. Linda’s specialties include fighting offshore oil and gas development, protecting natural resources, and preserving open-space lands. Linda’s successes include the unprecedented termination of 40 federal oil and gas leases offshore California, the defeat of several specific oil drilling projects, and the preservation of important areas for public access and ecological protection, including Hearst Ranch, Ellwood, Carpinteria Bluffs and Sedgwick Ranch. Linda represented the conservation community on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council from 1998-2013, and teaches Environmental Law at UCSB.

Aeron Arlin Genet, Director and Air Control Officer for Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District

Aeron Arlin Genet is the Director and Air Pollution Control Officer for the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD), a local government agency that works to protect the people and the environment of Santa Barbara County from the effects of air pollution. Before heading SBCAPCD, Arlin Genet served as the Manager of the Planning, Monitoring, and Outreach Division at the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District for 16 years. Arlin Genet currently serves on the Board of California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA), an association of Air Pollution Control Officers representing all 35 local air quality agencies in California. Arlin Genet is a graduate from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Biological Sciences.

You can learn more about the Trump Administration’s actions by watching the event on our Facebook page.