Global warming
Crisis, what crisis? How Trump is undermining climate protection
Updated February 13, 2026 – 6:02 p.mReading time: 4 minutes
Donald Trump wants nothing to do with climate protection. The crisis still remains. But Trump has his own solution – with unforeseeable consequences.
An end to the climate crisis: US President Donald Trump has quickly declared greenhouse gases to be unproblematic – and thus overturned the central legal basis for laws for the benefit of the climate. Specifically, Trump has canceled the so-called Endangerment Finding, with which the US Environmental Protection Agency has classified the most important greenhouse gases, including CO2, as a threat to public health and well-being since 2009.
Quite the opposite. There has long been no doubt in science that they are the main drivers of the worsening climate crisis. There are no new findings that could shake this assessment. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), greenhouse gases have caused average global temperatures to rise significantly since the late 19th century. This warming in turn noticeably increases extreme weather events such as floods, heat waves or droughts.
In the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, researchers from all over the world summarize the state of knowledge about climate change. Before reports are published, they must be adopted by member state governments. This is to ensure that all countries act on the same basis. Trump is therefore going against an internationally recognized consensus.
Trump is consistently continuing his ideological anti-climate course with this step: “It is not unexpected that Trump is now finally pulling the plug on climate protection in the USA,” says climate researcher Mojib Latif from the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel. “He previously withdrew from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and thus from practically all international bodies that have to do with climate protection, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.” The previous classification of greenhouse gases as dangerous was the basis for the environmental agency being allowed to set limits for such pollutants.
Trump also promises his people “TRILLIONS!” Dollar Savings: Eliminating ratings and “expensive and useless” vehicle emissions rules would save taxpayers $1.3 trillion.
However, Trump fails to mention that unchecked climate change comes with very high costs. Anders Levermann from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research explains: “Climate protection is primarily about investments, which creates jobs and strengthens the economy. Climate damage causes destruction and disrupts the economic system, meaning that processes no longer work. These disruptions lead to economic damage that goes far beyond the costs that can be expected from a rethink in the energy industry.” The statement that climate protection costs more than climate change is wrong.
