Most Americans would agree that the 2024 US Presidential election was perhaps the most turbulent and polarising election in recent history, the effects of which were felt globally. While the election did conclude with a decisive victory for Donald J. Trump, the former 45th President of US, soon to be 47th President of US, the President-elect has already started laying the groundwork before the transition to power on 20th January 2025. Admittedly, Trump has been vocal that given his limited exposure to politics and inexperience during his first term as president, he made some pretty bad decisions when it came to picking his cabinet members.
Having said that, it seems that Trump having gained invaluable experience (or not) during his first term has vowed to not repeat his mistake and is making very calculated and strategic decisions (or not) when appointing members to be part of his second administration. Over the last few weeks, Trump has been announcing his cabinet picks; some choices being lauded while some choices being greeted with confusion given that Trump is no stranger to throwing an odd ball here or there, as was evident from his stances and polices during the first term.
On November 12, 2024, the President-elect nominated former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Naturally, the response was not as positive as one may expect, given that Zeldin is no stranger to squaring off with environmental groups in his not so noticeable political career over the years. In terms of ratings, the League of Conservative Voters (LCV), which rates lawmakers basis their environmental track record has given Zeldin a horrifying score of 14% lifetime score. To make this worse, he is often cited as anti-science and pro polluter, given that he has received funding from oil and gas industries for his Congressional aspirations. Perhaps what might make this odd curveball work in Trump’s favour is the fact that Zeldin seems to be aligned with Trump’s long-term vision for an energy dominant US. In an interview with Fox News following his nomination, Zeldin has shown exuberance and confidence about going straight to work to unleash US energy dominance and make America the AI capital of the world. This is ironic considering he has been nominated as the EPA head and his focus should be more oriented towards the environment rather than AI.
It would be an understatement to state that the President-elect has not been very fond of environmental policies and regulations in the past, given that before venturing into politics, he was a business tycoon in the real estate industry. In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, Trump has been vocal critic of environmental impact studies, which he claims to have become an expert on, given that he has developed his own building projects globally including in the state of New York which is notorious when it comes to regulations. He further explained that his projects faced several backlashes due to environmental concerns and that the environmental authorities had the power to slow down a project by 10 (ten), fifteen (15) or even indefinitely in some cases. This prompted Trump into rolling back at least 98 (ninety-eight) environmental rules and regulations during his first term, and some others which were still progress at the time. Coming back to Zeldin and his aspiration of making US the AI capital of the world, it seems that the apple does not fall far from the tree and Zeldin is absolutely aligned with Trump’s political philosophy when it comes to the environment.
One might ask how exactly the Trump-Zeldin environmental regime hopes of achieving a balance between environment and AI, given that AI is extremely data and energy hungry. In a study published by Yale University, it has been summarised that electricity consumption by data centres, cryptocurrency (also another sector Trump heavily favours) and AI could potentially rise to 4% (four percent) of the annual global energy usage which is equal to the entire energy consumption by the state of Japan! It is going to be unprecedentedly challenging for the Trump-Zeldin environmental regime to follow through on trying to balance the environment/AI dichotomy. One may speculate that the regime might completely ignore the original purpose of the EPA and focus solely on driving the American economy with the power of AI. There have also been indications that Trump’s pro crypto and AI stances are a direct consequence of China and Russia’s overwhelmingly anti-environmental stances, as these countries continue to focus on AI advancement in hopes of overtaking the US one day. Trump’s general attitude of ‘if they are not following through on the environmental concerns over their own political and geopolitical aspirations, then why should the US’, may completely alter the course of history as we head towards an age where power, especially AI driven power is much more valuable than the impending doom of climate change.
At this point, the Trump-Zeldin environmental regime seems to be doubling down on AI, and it seems that Trump’s historical attitude towards EPA has finally culminated into a crippled EPA. It is a well-known fact that when US says something, the rest of the world listens, and when US itself abandons the environmental economics in the long haul, the rest of the world will follow suit. This may have a domino effect on the world economy which will shift towards complete energy domination at the expense of environmental sustainability. What the future holds? Only time will tell.
Author: Amartya Mody