On March 28, making good on his campaign promise to reduce environmental regulations imposed by his predecessor, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing federal regulations upon carbon emissions.

Primarily, this executive order will remove the hold currently placed upon coal mining on federal land and impose further federal review of the Clean Power Plan. Enacted in 2015 by the Obama Administration, the Clean Power Plan is a federal effort to curb carbon emissions, especially those released by power plants, to combat the growing and omnipresent threat of climate change.

While such regulations help adapt the United States to a progressive path towards economic environmental conscientiousness, critics argue that additional regulation of carbon emissions is harmful to the energy industry. They believe it hinders economic progress and disproportionately attacking working class members of the industry in struggling regions of the country.

By rescinding these regulations, the energy industry will, in Trump’s mind, be able to flourish unhindered, providing Americans employment and furthering us on our quest towards energy independence.

However, it is worth bringing into question what cost the removal of these regulations may have upon the environment. As we’ve so recently seen in Flint, Michigan and our own Corpus Christi, Texas, the energy sector appears to have no qualms about the welfare of both the environment and the Americans negatively affected by the industry’s repeated patterns of negligence and apathy.

Claims to protect the economic interest of the working class are difficult to substantiate because of Trump’s promises to defund Planned Parenthood, abolish Obamacare and attack paid leave, the removal of any of which disproportionately affects working class people and even more significantly, working class people.

Additionally, it is worth noting the potential conflicts of interest that exist within the Trump Administration regarding environmental protection, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s position as the former CEO of ExxonMobile and Head of the EPA Scott Pruitt’s denial of climate change.

While the executive order itself doesn’t single-handedly abolish environmental regulation on the spot, it is worth paying attention to the long-term fallout that would potentially result from scaling back environmental regulation. While the United States is still a part of the international Paris Agreement, which sets ecological goals to be reached by 2020, the administration’s determination to undermine environmental protection threatens these goals and discourages the economic shift towards green energy.

Without the financial motivation to evolve, corporations will likely continue to act without much regard to the environment, our dependency upon fossil fuels will grow rather than subside, and the environment will continue to face the full-fledged impact of human irresponsibility. Trump’s approach to climate change panders to his wealthiest supporters at the cost of our flora, fauna, and future.

With the recent uproar of fervent opposition towards the Dakota Access Pipeline and the multiple water crises contaminating the drinking water of working class Americans, an act against the environment is an act against ourselves. Donald Trump and his administration’s popularity is dwindling as the weeks press on and presidential talks of policy shine light upon his weaknesses as an elected official. With an approval rating as low as 36% in the first two months of his presidency, it would be wise for President Trump to reconsider his position on environmental protection.