US reversing global climate endeavor: China Daily editorial

The House of Representatives of the United States passed a bill last week, which advanced a sweeping spending package that would roll back Biden-era tax credits for renewable energy projects. They include an early phasing out of a tax break for clean energy vehicles, moving up the timeline to end tax credits for new renewable energy power plants as well as requiring them to begin construction within 60 days of the enactment of the legislation and be in service by the end of 2028.

At the same time, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced on Saturday that it is working on a proposal to remove all existing restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants in the country.

The EPA was reported as arguing in its proposed regulation that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants that burn fossil fuels "do not contribute significantly to dangerous pollution" or to climate change because they are a small and declining share of global emissions.

It should be no surprise for the world what the Donald Trump administration will do on climate change since he signed an executive order for the US' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on his first day in the White House on Jan 20, as he did during his first term.

"It is the policy of my administration to put the interests of the United States and the American people first in the development and negotiation of any international agreements with the potential to damage or stifle the American economy," said Trump's day-one executive order on global environmental deals.

As part of Trump's first day orders, the US also halted all financial contributions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, leaving the UN climate body with a 22 percent shortfall in its core budget. In 2024, US contributions totaled $13.3 million.

Washington has not only turned a blind eye to the international obligations it has because of the huge amount of CO2 it has contributed during its industrial development, it has now also started to encourage the use of coal and gas in generating electricity by scrapping the limits on gas emissions from such plants.

Furthermore, it is trying to make things hard for renewable energy power plants, and even starts to add annual federal registration fees for EV and hybrid car owners. The fee will be $250 for electric vehicles and $100 for hybrids.

As one of the largest contributors of green house gas emissions and definitely the largest on a per capita basis, the US' withdrawal of its financial aid to emissions cutting projects will greatly compromise global climate actions. What the US government has done to roll back clean energy projects and encourage the use of fossil fuel in power generation represents a huge disservice to what the world has achieved in its fight against climate change.

"Interest of the US and American people first" has become a pretext for the Trump administration to shirk its due international responsibility as the world's sole superpower. With "make America great again" as the guide for its policymaking, Trump's US has become an irresponsible superpower without a smattering of vision about the future of humanity.

Without making its due contribution to the global fight against climate change and to global endeavors to address other common challenges facing humanity, how can the Trump administration put the interests of the US and American people first?

The extreme climate conditions caused by climate change such as droughts and flooding will not exempt American people from their devastation, nor will environmental pollution.

To address common challenges such as climate change and ecological destruction, joint endeavors of all countries are important. This is common sense.

That explains why China has proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. China has also proposed the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, which is meant to mobilize global resources for addressing common challenges in order to make human development sustainable.

To the grief of the world, the US is reversing global endeavors against the common challenges facing humanity.