Climate policy Unprecedented scale of rollbacks in Trump's first 100 days

Donald Trump launched an unprecedented assault on the environment in his first 100 days in office, instigating 145 actions to undo rules protecting clean air, water and a livable climate.

- Oliver Milman

The swathe of rollbacks - more than were completed in Trump's entire first term - hit almost every major policy to shield Americans from toxic pollution, curb the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and protect landscapes, oceans, forests and imperilled wildlife, a Guardian analysis found.

The total is derived from research by Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School and administration announcements.

However, many of these rollbacks are far from complete and face severe legal challenges or years of further rule-making. In Trump's first presidency about 110 environmental rules were scaled back or revoked.

"What we've seen in this first 100 days is unprecedented - the deregulatory ambition of this administration is mind-blowing," said Michael Burger, an expert in climate law at Columbia University.

"They are doing things faster and with less process than last time, often disregarding the law. The intent is to shock, overwhelm and to overcome resistance through sheer force of numbers."

Through executive orders, agency memos and other policy moves, the Trump administration has cut Biden-era green policies, frozen climate spending, removed the US from the Paris climate accords and set about rewriting pollution standards for cars, lorries and power plants.

Huge tracts of land, including in the Arctic, have been earmarked for new oil and gas drilling, commercial fishing will be ushered into ocean sanctuaries and half of the US's vast expanse of national forests can now be cut down for timber.

Laws to prevent harm to endangered species are set to be drastically pared back, while the areas covered by protected national monuments are to be shrunk.

Trump's actions have often explicitly favoured a fossil fuel industry that donated heavily to his presidential campaign.

A start has been made on winding back rules on emissions of greenhouse gases and toxins such as mercury, as well as pipeline safety regulations.