A big part of the Trump administration’s agenda is to undo everything and anything that might be seen as something that helps the vulnerable—or simply liked by progressives. One of the ways he does that is through undermining America’s efforts to understand and effectively grapple with climate change, which is why he disbanded the US climate advisory committee in August 2017.
A coalition is aiming to undo Trump’s advisory committee destruction by reinstating it—outside of the reach of Trump’s tiny little hands, of course. The coalition includes the State of New York and Columbia University’s Earth Institute, which announced:
Effective Jan. 1, the Earth Institute has brought on Richard Moss, the former chairman of the Federal Advisory Committee for the National Climate Assessment, as a visiting senior research scientist in the Earth Institute’s Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management. In his role, Moss will reestablish the panel, and deliver the report that the committee originally set out to write. The Earth Institute is supplying financial and logistical support as well as office space for the effort.
New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) will also help reinstate the committee. In a statement detailing the proposals from his recent State of the State address, it explains:
In the absence of guidance from the Advisory Committee, decision-makers will have limited ability to know how climate change will impact their organizations and communities, and what they can do to better plan for those impacts.
Therefore, Governor Cuomo, as co-chair of the U.S. Climate Alliance and in collaboration with partners, will reconvene the Advisory Committee to develop recommendations to navigate the challenges of climate change. As a result, the Advisory Committee will continue its critical work without political interference and provide the guidance needed to adapt to a changing climate.
The committee won’t have the same power or reach as the federal version, of course. Its power will be limited in its current capacity. However, it aims to make information about climate change more accessible and provide resources to better understand how dire of a situation we’re in and what we can do to mitigate that. I’m looking forward to seeing what they will do!