Evaluation of Risks and Policy Responses †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Evaluation of Risks and Policy Responses. Answer: Introduction: This essay introduces the discussion and evaluation of the renewable energy and climate change policies in the US under the administration of President Trump along with comparing the differences from the policies promoted during Obamas administration The use of renewable energy sources has become inevitable in order to combat the increasing scarcity of fossil fuels as well as implementing a sustainable approach for living on Earth. Considering the adverse environmental impact, the countries have started developing renewable energy policies individually and as a part of global organizational networks such as OECD, IEA, and EPA (Kheshgi, de Coninck and Kessels 2012). The use of fossil fuels has adversely affected the environment due to the emission of increased greenhouse gases. As commented by Twidell and Weir (2015), renewable energy is defined as the source of energy that can be rapidly replaced by natural resources such as sun or wind. The naturally occurring energy resources can help in refilling the energy consumption globally. Due to increased urbanization and modernization, the use of fossil fuels has increased drastically in the developed countries. This has led to increased environmental pollution along with giving rise t o increased fossil fuel scarcity. In 2012, the world used around 13.2% of the renewable energy that has increased to 22% in 2013. Reports suggest that in 2016, renewable energy sources accounted for about 10% of total US energy consumption and 15% of electricity generation (Aslani and Wong 2014). As commented by Aghaei and Alizadeh (2013), renewable sources of energy are safe, abundant, cleaner than fossil fuel, stable and generate no environmental pollution. However, as argued by Lu et al. (2015), generation of renewable energy is largely dependent on weather thereby, questioning its generation. The government of the countries emphasizes on protecting the environment by restricting the use of fossil fuels. The climate policies of various countries provide guideline and framework for restricting the use of fossil fuels and promote the use of renewable energy resources. The global organizational networks such as Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), International Energy Agency (IEA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) influences the climate change policies for the betterment of the environment and save the non-renewable sources of energy for future (Sil, Kumar and Kumar 2014). Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is a group of 34 countries that aims towards discussing the development of the social and economic policy of the countries. The OCED countries are democratic countries that support free market economies. OECD aim towards achieving sustainable economic growth and employment along with enhancing the living standard of the countries. The organization also aims towards sound economic expansion along with the successful expansion of the world trade (Saboori, Sapri and bin Baba 2014). International Energy Agency (IEA) is an autonomous intergovernmental organization in Paris that follows the OCED framework. The organization was initially established with the aim of supplying oil without any disruption and serving as an energy resource regarding the international oil market. The organization acts as a policy advisor and works with countries that are not members of the OCED. IEA emphasizes in promoting alternative energy sources such as r enewable energy. The members of the IEA countries need to maintain a standard level of oil stocks for 90 days of the previous year's net import (Malone et al. 2012). The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a federal government agency of the US that was formed with the aim of protecting the environment and the human health by strict enforcement of the laws. EPA has environmental protection measures for air, water, land, endangered species, and hazardous waste (Cai, Stevens and Syage 2012). Therefore, OCED, IEA, and EPA aim towards implementing a sustainable approach to the environment by reducing adverse environmental impact. From 2002-2008, the federal government paid a large amount of subsidy for fossil fuels to renewable energy in six years. Former President Barack Obama initiated the Clean Power Plan that set attainable standards for decreasing the emission rate of greenhouse gases. According to the Clean Action Plan initiated by Obama, in 25 years from 2005-2030, the emission of carbon dioxide should be reduced by 32%. Obama developed the action plan with criteria that aimed towards protecting the health of the American family. The Obama administration also aimed towards saving the life of the American population thereby, proposing to enhance the economy of the country (Smith et al. 2013). Within a gap of 132 years, the world temperature has risen by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (Brown 2012). Therefore, the scientists have recommended that controlling the rise of world temperature will help in preventing the most adverse environmental impact. Stronger fuel economy was established under Obama administration that helped in increasing the efficiency value by 2025. The production of solar energy was increased 20 times due to the increase in the clean energy initiative by Obama administration. Due to the initiative, the generation of renewable energy also increased by three times. Under the Clean Power Plan initiative by the Obama administration, 12% reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases was noticed in 20 years. By 2030, 30% more production of renewable energy is suggested under the Clean Power Plan (Wustenhagen and Menichetti 2012). Additionally, the Obama administration also launched Solar Ready Veta program that aimed towards training to the veterans for making a successful entry into the solar workforce. This resulted in successful employment to more than 75,000 people thereby, supporting healthy lifestyle and job for the American citizens. Under the Obama administration, around 50 clean utility-scale projects were established in the tribal and public lands thereby, providing 20000 jobs in order to produce sufficient electricity for approximately 4.8 million homes (Rubin, 2017). After Obamas administration, Donald Trump along with the support of the company executives and miners signed a long-promised executive order that nullifies former President Barack Obamas effort in climate change thereby, reviving the local coal industry. Donald Trump made clear that the United States does not intend to meet the commitments that have been made by Obama to curb global warming and restricting carbon dioxide pollution thereby, turning denials of climate change into national policy. Donald Trump also ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to re-write the lengthy and complex legal process of Clean Power Plan initiated by Obama (Pengelly, 2017). In order to protect the environment, the Obama administration placed a moratorium on coal leasing on the federal land in 2016. This is because the coal companies paid extremely low leases that the US government and the taxpayers were subsidizing coal production that adversely affected the health and the environment. However, Tr ump ordered to lift the moratorium on the coal leasing thereby, putting an end to the initiative. Donald Trump also assured that the miner would very soon resume their mining work (The Hill, 2017). Additionally, the Trump administration ensured of renewing the coal industry abiding by the clean coal technology in order to ensure a sustainable environment. The Trump administration has ordered to balance the number of precautions initiated by the Obama administration to tackle climate change. He issued orders to handle the gap between the defense and change of climate (Company, 2017). The review was provoked in order to withdraw the policies and regulations of the previous government for the coal industry (The Hill, 2017). Under Obamas administration, the government aimed towards reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, increase the use of renewable energy resources and change the infrastructure of the American population for combating with the adverse environmental impact. However, on the contrary, the Trump administration ordered that the US should leave the Paris Climate Agreement as well as a commit for removing the Climate Action Plan and the waters of the United States rule. Considering the order, the Trump administration ordered to construct Dakota Access pipelines and Keystone XL. The construction of the pipes will help the US to export the crude- oil from Canada to the Gulf countries (Pengelly, 2017). The Obama administration ensured that the initiatives undertaken by the government to protect the environment are followed by the entire US by enforcing laws. The Obama administration imposed severe penalties if the laws for protecting the environment encountered any non-compliance. Under the Obama administration, the EPA was ordered to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases from the existing power plants. However, under the Trump administration, the budget proposal for the fiscal year 2018 suggests that majority of the initiatives undertaken by the Obama administration will be stopped (Whitehouse.gov, 2017). Donald Trump clearly stated that the US government needs to pull back any effort to help fight global warming along with adapting its impact. Under the proposal, the variety of the climate programs of the Obama administration will be completely slashed. According to the order of Donald Trump and the newly developed budget, the US has to withdraw their support towards Environm ental Protection Agency, Department of Energy's efforts to restrict the carbon emission along with NASA's Earth-monitoring programs and Sea Grant Program (The Hill, 2017). The Trump administration has ordered to cut EPAs budget by 31%, that is, from $8.2 million to $5.7 million. This will be the highest cutdown in the EPAs budget in the past 40 years. EPA is the main authority in the US that monitors the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases. Therefore, the huge budget cut down suggests lack of money of the Clean Power Plan, an Obama initiative for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. Additionally, EPAs budget cut down also suggests a prohibition of Obama-era initiatives such as International Climate Change Programs, Climate Resilience Evaluation Awareness Tool, and Energy Star. However, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will likely survive after the EPA budget cut down under Trump administration (Tabuchi, 2017). The Trump administration plans for withdrawing the initiative towards the landmark power plant that was initiated under the Obama administration with the aim of maintaining the use of fossil fuels for ensuring a sustainable pl anet. The Trump administration is withdrawing its support from the climate policy initiatives from the Obama-era along with imposing penalties on the wind and solar energy producers (Tabuchi, 2017). Under the George W. Bush administration, the climate policy aimed towards 18% reduction of greenhouse gases by tax credits along with discovering and adopting energy-saving technologies and promoting the expansion of carbon dioxide absorption by increased agriculture and forestry. However, the climate policy under Bush administration has faced criticism for being too modest (Siepr.stanford.edu, 2017). The Clinton administration formed various innovative programs for reducing the emission of the greenhouse gases with the Climate Change Technology Initiative (CCTI), a $6.3 billion program for five years that emphasized on tax incentives developed for stimulating the use of energy-efficient technologies in power generation, transport and industrial processes (Goldenberg, 2017). President Ronald Reagan has played a major role in negotiating the Montreal Protocol followed by President George H. W. Bush who remarked that there is the reflective effect on the world's environmental and economic policy (Goldenberg, 2017). In this essay, it can be concluded that the US climate policy is undergoing changes as Donald Trump has ordered the ministers to withdraw their support from the initiative from the policies of the Obama-era that was created with the aim of preventing global warming. However, the order released by Trump administration does not restrict EPA to control the emission of greenhouse gases. References Aghaei, J. and Alizadeh, M.I., 2013. Demand response in smart electricity grids equipped with renewable energy sources: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 18, pp.64-72. Aslani, A. and Wong, K.F.V., 2014. Analysis of renewable energy development to power generation in the United States. Renewable Energy, 63, pp.153-161. Brown, L.R., 2012. 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