Environmental advocates dismayed by President-elect Donald Trump’s victory this week are preparing to play defense for another four years.
Trump campaigned on promises to dramatically roll back environmental regulations, pull the United States out of an international climate agreement and “drill, baby, drill.”
His critics — including green groups, conservation proponents and clean energy advocates — say they’re ready to do battle again over the next four years. They’ll dust off a familiar playbook to push back against the Trump administration’s policy agenda. They’re eyeing wins in the courts, looking to state and local governments to advance climate policies, and hoping to rally the public to oppose Trump’s deregulatory agenda.
“We’re deeply disappointed,” League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski told reporters in the wake of Trump’s White House victory and the GOP clinching the Senate majority. “But we know how to play defense. We’ll do that well. We’ll continue progress in the states, and our issues remain popular,” he added.
