The Climate Question · BBC World Service

Trump and the planet: The first 100 days

·26 min·2 clips

A climate scientist describes being fired twice from NOAA, warning that denying climate change will hurt people.

1. The Climate Question from the BBC World Service marks 100 days of Trump's second presidency by examining its climate policy rollbacks and what they mean for the global green transition. 2. Host Greya Jackson is joined by Carl Nassman, BBC climate journalist in Washington DC; Tom DiLiberto, a recently fired NOAA climate scientist; Justin Rowlatt, the BBC's climate editor; and Zarin Osho, director of the India program at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development. 3. The episode's core question is whether Trump 2.0 will meaningfully slow down the green transition in the US and globally, or whether economic momentum makes the transition unstoppable. 4. Trump signed executive orders on his first day withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Agreement — making it one of only four countries outside the accord — and declaring an effort to 'unleash American energy' by removing restrictions on fossil fuel extraction. 5. The EPA is being directed to eliminate many environmental regulations; NOAA received a $1.3 billion cut and approximately 1,300 staff were fired in February 2025; FEMA faces further cuts. 6. Eight billion dollars of US clean technology projects, including large-scale battery, solar, and wind installations, have already been cancelled in 2025. 7. Trump also signed an executive order to classify coal as a critical mineral and to allow oil drilling on federal lands and in the Alaska wilderness. 8. Tom DiLiberto was fired by NOAA on February 27th, reinstated by a US court on March 17th, then re-fired on April 10th; he describes the experience as 'very, very confusing.' 9. DiLiberto warns that reduced weather balloon launches will degrade global weather forecast accuracy, including European models, because all models use the same shared data inputs. 10. DiLiberto argues the NOAA cuts will cost the American public more money than they save, given the increasing frequency and cost of billion-dollar natural disasters driven by climate change. 11. Justin Rowlatt says Trump's attack on climate institutions has been 'more aggressive than people expected,' citing the dismissal of hundreds of volunteer scientists from the National Climate Assessment at short notice. 12. Zarin Osho maintains her November 2024 position that 'economics trump Trump,' citing falling solar prices, solar-grid parity with coal in India, and the three-decade momentum of the green transition. 13. Trump's tariff announcement caused oil and gas markets to drop approximately 15%; OPEC responded by tripling production output, further suppressing prices and making new extraction economically marginal; Citibank warned investors against oil assets. 14. BYD, the Chinese EV manufacturer, is projected to outsell Tesla for the first time in 2025, with Osho arguing that US vehicle efficiency rollbacks are ceding competitive ground to China. 15. Justin Rowlatt identifies 'green hushing' as a new phenomenon: companies with genuine clean energy commitments are downplaying them to avoid being targeted or penalised by the Trump administration. 16. China is reaffirming its commitment to the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC in meetings with the UN Secretary General, positioning itself to sell surplus EVs, solar panels, and batteries to countries the US has abandoned. 17. Rowlatt warns that Trump's stance gives cover to other countries — Argentina under Milei, Indonesia, and Eastern European nations — to slow their own renewable transitions. 18. The episode is a mix of journalist briefing, first-person testimony from a fired scientist, and commentary from two regular contributors; the tone is serious and specific throughout. 19. Listeners who follow international climate policy, US environmental governance, or the geopolitics of the clean energy transition will find this episode most relevant. 20. Listeners looking for solutions-focused content or coverage of non-US climate progress will find the episode heavily weighted toward the US rollback story.

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Trump's first 100 days become a steady lesson in how climate policy and research get squeezed.

Donald Trump's first 100 days frame a calm, clear look at how climate policy and research shift under pressure. The episode works best when it stays close to the consequences: U.S.

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You want a clear map of how Trump's first 100 days hit climate policy and research.

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