From the Newsstands: This story appeared in The Eagle's April 2025 print edition. You can find the digital version here.
Students and faculty at American University are concerned after President Donald Trump issued executive orders impacting environmental policies at home and abroad, such as withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement for a second time and opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling.
Faculty warn that Trump’s executive actions on health and natural disasters will have impacts for years to come. Trump has vowed to make the United States richer by promoting the development of oil and gas and cutting back on climate regulations, ending clean energy incentives and promoting the use of fossil fuels. In addition, the oil and gas industry contributed $75 million to Trump’s reelection campaign, according to EuroNews.
Associate professor in the School of International Service Malini Ranganathan said that “without a doubt, the influence of the oil lobby is at play here in terms of Trump's favoritism in the fossil fuel industry. This is a case of grifting and what people have called ‘legalized corruption.’”
The World Bank predicts that climate change may pull more than 100 million people into poverty by 2030, leaving communities with fewer resources to fight against climate change increasingly vulnerable.
“We are all going to bear the costs both financially and healthwise from this,” said Karen L. Knee, an associate professor and chair of the Environmental Science Department at American University. “These disasters strike in surprising places and in places that are already vulnerable; it's getting worse.”
The world is already observing the increasing intensity of natural disasters. The recent Los Angeles fires destroyed over 13,000 structures and caused more than $250 billion in damages, according to reporting from ABC News.
Misinformation has also followed recent natural disasters. But scientists are readying for an expected wave of misinformation from the Trump administration, according to Professor Claire Brunel, an associate professor in SIS, who said that “the big problem with misinformation is the fact that it means that a part of the population is voting against their own interest.”
“The conversation about misinformation is a uniquely American conversation,” Dr. Ken Conca, a professor in SIS, said. “It's quite striking that when you look at the state of the climate change debate in other countries, there’s very little skepticism and climate denialism.”
So far, for many students and professors, the Trump administration has painted a hostile picture of how they intend to approach the climate crisis.
“It’s something that could be very dangerous,” Oliver Ivey, a freshman in SIS, said. “We don’t have much time left.”
This article was edited by Conor Gillingham, Marina Zaczkiewicz. Copy editing done by Emma Brown, Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Ella Rousseau, Jaden Anderson, Ariana Kavoossi, Nicole Kariuki and Hannah Langenfeld.
