Vineyarders, like all Americans, are living in an era of vast environmental and climate change. For most of November, the entire commonwealth suffered under “red flag” alerts. Since Sept. 1, so little rain has fallen that not only is there a statewide drought, but severe fire danger. By mid-November, some 317 brushfires had broken out in Massachusetts. Meteorologists estimate that the state is currently six to nine inches below the rainfall average.
The prospects of rapidly increasing climate change, global warming, and environmental degradation will be one of our greatest challenges in the next four to five years. But we can, and must, act on the state, local, and individual level.
President-elect Donald J. Trump promised to base his environmental agenda on actions he took or tried to take during his first administration. As president, he reversed the conservation, climate change, and environmental regulations that President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) had put in place. He touted the virtues of the fossil-fuel industry over renewable sources.
His nominees, if confirmed by the Senate, will do his bidding. These include former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to run the EPA, Gov. Doug Burgum of South Dakota to oversee the Department of the Interior and to be the new “energy czar,” and Chris Wright, a Colorado fossil-fuel executive, to head the Department of Energy. They will end the climate change initiatives President Biden reinstated in 2021, and added to over the following three years.
As a New York Republican, Zeldin served in the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023. The League of Conservation Voters gave him a 14 percent lifetime score for opposing most environmental initiatives. His main qualification seems to be his loyalty to the president-elect.
A former software executive, as energy czar Burgum will head Interior and a new White House organization called the National Energy Council, to oversee “the production, generation, distribution, regulation, and transportation” of energy. He will ensure that fossil fuels — oil, gas, and coal — remain the major source of energy in the U.S. Burgum will also serve on the National Security Council.
As the CEO of Liberty Energy in Denver, Wright has long argued for increased oil and gas exploration. He too will serve on Burgum’s National Energy Council. Like Trump, Wright believes climate change is a hoax. He wrote last year, “The only thing resembling a crisis with respect to climate change is the regressive, opportunity-squelching policies justified in the name of climate change.”
We can count on increased drilling for oil and gas on public lands. We can expect that most of Biden’s environmental regulations regarding air and water pollution will wither away. We can anticipate that as president, Trump will again withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, as he did in 2017. That agreement was aimed at stopping “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above preindustrial levels,” and to try “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.”
Now that Republicans control both houses of Congress, Trump may encourage them to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, passed under the Biden administration. The New York Times calls it a “landmark climate law that is pouring more than $390 billion into electric vehicles, batteries, and other clean energy technology.” One problem: The Times points out that some “80 percent” of all funding for clean energy has gone to congressional districts held by Republicans, all of whom voted against the bill, but now take credit for it.
Here is what we must do.
First, the states. Donald Trump has long advocated for states’ rights, such as when he hailed the return of abortion policies to the states. Now, those state leaders who understand the environmental crisis must and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It may take legal action, insofar as the federal government must allow them to act in more restrictive ways than the EPA requires. This is so especially once the EPA reduces or rescinds the rules and regulations concerning climate change. But it can be done. So contact your state senators and representatives.
Second, as individuals, we too must act. Here are a few suggestions: Make your next new or used car a hybrid, or all-electric. If you are financially able, install electric mini-splits to heat and cool your residence. If possible, add solar panels. It’s difficult on an Island as big as the Vineyard, but try to walk, ride a bicycle, or take public transportation. Lower your water heater’s temperature, or if you can, put it on vacation mode. Buy local, and if purchasing appliances, make sure they have the Energy Star label affixed.
Plant native species in your garden, and follow the Vineyard Conservation Society’s (VCS) Vineyard Lawns Initiative: Reduce or end the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Follow the VCS proposal: Use only electric-powered leaf blowers, never gas-powered ones. Subscribe to VCS’s Island Climate Action Network (ICAN), “a volunteer organization that shares climate news and resources while advocating for local climate initiatives and a more sustainable future.”
Working together, we can help defeat climate change for a better, stronger Vineyard for future generations.
Jack Fruchtman serves on the board and executive committee of the Vineyard Conservation Society. The views expressed here are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of VCS.
