Petroleum, Refineries, and the Future

Implications of the Current Administration

Society should be concerned about the environmental justice movement taking a step backwards as the Trump administration is no friend to the environment. The U.S. should be shifting towards renewables, weaning off of petroleum products, but instead, the government is investing in new oil infrastructure. Evidence shows the Environmental Protection Agency being shushed under the guidance of Scott Pruitt. Times journalist, Justin Worland argues Pruitt has the goal of dismantling the EPA’s core functions over time with the attempt to unravel the Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s most significant legislation in the fight against climate change (Worland). The Trump administration is a friend to the petroleum industry even seen as our Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson is the former energy executive of Exxon Mobil. Oil and gas sector analyst and contributor to Forbes, Gaurav Sharma, describes how Trump supports oil infrastructure as he issued an executive order backing the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines (Sharma). The government should be backing investments in renewable resources instead of investing in oil infrastructure. As society weans off oil, the neighborhoods affected by oil refineries will slowly recover from environmental injustice. Even as Trump took the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, hope still stands as many states in the U.S. vow to follow the Paris Climate Agreement requirements at their own will. 


Works Cited 

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