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Environmental Politics

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Page Updated:
Mar. 17, 2025

• • House Select Committee
  on the Climate Crisis

  Climate Change: The Science
  is In -We Know the Cause

  The U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis is charged with delivering ambitious climate policy recommendations to Congress, in order to achieve substantial and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute to the climate crisis.

  The select committee was authorized by House Resolution 6 on January 9, 2019, and will publish a set of public policy recommendations for congressional climate action by March 31, 2020.

  Its members include experts in environmental justice, coastal flooding, clean energy development and other issues that are vital for addressing the climate crisis.

  Click now for their website.

• • Memorable Presidential
  Environmental Quotes

  Six Memorable Presidential
  Environmental Quotes

  Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama had something to say

  Some didn't always follow up on those quotes.

  Click now to read the article
  From the Earth Matters News.
• • Political Scorecard

  How Did Congress Do in 2022

  Mar. 6, 2023, (League pf Conservation Voters) -The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) provides maps showing how both the Senate and House voted on environmental issues (LCV)

  It's not quite time to celebrate.

• • Famous Climate Observatory’s Lease May End Because of DOGE

  NOAA, the Nation’s Leading Climate Science Agency, May Lose Dozens of Offices
  
  

  Mar. 14, 2025 -On the flanks of the largest active volcano on Earth, the Mauna Loa Observatory tracks the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that are warming the planet, and has been doing so since 1958.

  But the office in Hilo, Hawaii, that manages the world-famous site could close in August, according to a copy of an internal federal document viewed by The New York Times..

• • Trump Administration Launches All-
  Out Assault on Environmental Protection

  Environmentalists Vow to Fight “The Greatest Increase in Pollution in Decades”
  
  

  Mar. 12, 2025 -If there can be such a thing as bureaucratic “shock and awe,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin tried to unleash it Wednesday.

  He unveiled the Trump administration’s widely anticipated assault on regulation on all fronts at once, announcing 31 separate actions to roll back restrictions on air and water pollution, hand over more authority to states and relinquish EPA’s mandate to act on climate change under the Clean Air Act.

• • E.P.A. Targets Dozens of Environmental Rules

  As It Reframes Its Purpose
  
  

  Mar. 12, 2025 -In a barrage of pronouncements on Wednesday the Trump administration said it would repeal dozens of the nation’s most significant environmental regulations, including limits on pollution from tailpipes and smokestacks, protections for wetlands, and the legal basis that allows it to regulate the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet.

  But beyond that, Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, reframed the purpose of the E.P.A.

• • U.S. Energy Secretary Pledges to Reverse Focus on Climate Change

  Chris Wright Said Natural Gas was Preferable to Renewable Energy and Climate Change was a “Side Effect of Building the Modern World.
  
  

  Mar. 10, 2025 -Before a packed crowd of oil and gas executives on Monday, Chris Wright, the new U.S. energy secretary, delivered a scathing critique of the Biden administration’s energy policies and efforts to fight climate change and promised a “180 degree pivot.”

  Mr. Wright, a former fracking executive, has emerged as the most forceful promoter of President Trump’s plans to expand American oil and gas production and dismantle virtually every federal policy aimed at curbing global warming.

• • Exclusive: Honda to Produce Next Civic in Indiana, not Mexico

  Due to US Tariffs, Sources Say
  
  

  Mar. 3, 2025 -Honda (7267.T), opens new tab has decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling car models, according to three people familiar with the matter.

  The change underscores how manufacturers are scrambling to adapt to U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. While several automakers have expressed concerns about the levies, Honda's move is the first concrete measure by a major Japanese car company.

• • How Trump Is Crushing U.S. Climate Policy

  He's Quickly Transformed America’s Approach to the Environment, Withholding Funds and Stretching the Limits of Presidential Power
  
  

  Mar. 2, 2025 -In a few short weeks, President Trump has severely damaged the government’s ability to fight climate change, upending American environmental policy with moves that could have lasting implications for the country, and the planet.

  With a flurry of actions that have stretched the limits of presidential power, Mr. Trump has gutted federal climate efforts, rolled back regulations aimed at limiting pollution and given a major boost to the fossil fuel industry.

• • Trump Fired Hundreds at NOAA, Weather Service

  Here’s What That Means for Forecasts
  
  

  Mar. 1, 2025 -At dozens of National Weather Services offices across the country, staffing levels were low well before President Donald Trump took office. As the new administration announced mass terminations this week, current and former staffers said an exodus of new hires and veterans will hinder the agency’s ability to monitor and predict weather hazards.

  The administration let go of meteorologists, hydrologists and technicians that help inform daily weather forecasts in places including Boston and Boise, Idaho.

• • Trump Said E.P.A. Would Lose 65 Percent of Staff

  Then, a Correction
  
  

  Feb. 26, 2025 -During his cabinet meeting on Wednesday, President Trump casually mentioned that Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, intended to fire 65 percent of employees, an incision so deep that officials said it would hobble the E.P.A.

  Mr. Trump said Mr. Zeldin “thinks he’s going to be cutting 65 or so percent of the people from environmental. And we’re going to speed up the process, too, at the same time.”

• • Trump’s Transportation Dept. Targets Blue State Priorities

  The Administration has Set Its Sights On High Speed Rail in California and Congestion Pricing in New York
  
  

  Feb. 25, 2025 -The Department of Transportation delivered a blow to big transportation projects in the two most populous blue states last week when it moved to revoke its approval of New York City’s congestion pricing program and announced a review of California’s high speed rail project the next day.

  The D.O.T.’s moves arrive amid the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to freeze billions in climate funding, cut the federal work force and slash regulations.

• • Trump Administration Questions
  Funding for California High-Speed Rail

  The Government Would Conduct a “Compliance Review” on a $3.1 Billion Grant, Potentially Threatening the Viability of the Troubled Project
  
  

  Feb. 20, 2025 -Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy lashed out on Thursday at “mismanagement” in California’s troubled high-speed rail project, announcing an investigation into how the state was spending a $3.1 billion federal grant on a project that he said was “severely — no pun intended — off track.”

  In a letter to the state High Speed Rail Authority, the Federal Railroad Administration said it would conduct inspections, review activities and examine financial records.

• • The $20 Billion Controversy Over
  E.P.A. Climate Funds, Explained

  What an Attempt by the Agency to Claw Back Billions in Climate Funds has Led to
  
  

  Feb. 20, 2025 -The fate of $20 billion in federal climate funding that was legally committed months before the election has been thrown into question after a weeklong controversy involving “gold bars,” the right-wing group Project Veritas and two federal agencies.

  Now, more than 200 planned investments intended to help finance clean energy and environmental projects in underserved communities may be at risk.

• • Environmentalists Sue to Block Trump’s Offshore Drilling Plans

  The Suit, Filed in Alaska, is Likely to be the First of Many Challenging the Administration’s Goal of Expanding Fossil Fuel Production
  
  

  Feb. 19, 2025 -Environmental groups filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to stop the Trump administration from opening up vast new areas to offshore oil and gas drilling.

  The suit is an opening shot in what is likely to be a series of cases aimed at thwarting the White House’s push for what it calls “energy dominance” by pivoting toward fossil fuels and away from cleaner energy sources like solar and wind.

• • Trump Administration Moves to
  Fast-Track Hundreds of Fossil Fuel Projects

  Speeding Up Permits for New Gas Pipelines and Other Projects
  
  

  Feb. 19, 2025 -The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has created a new class of “emergency” permits for fossil fuel projects, raising the possibility that pipelines, mines, power plants and other facilities could be fast-tracked for approval as part of President Trump’s demand to increase oil, gas and coal production.

• • Broad Support for Conservation
  and Action on Climate Change Across the West

  What a New Poll Found
  
  

  Feb. 16, 2025 -As oil and gas production in the U.S. continues to reach record highs, the margin of Westerners who support public land conservation over increased oil and gas development also continues to climb.

  In a new “Conservation in the West Poll” released today by Colorado College, 72 percent of respondents from eight Western states said they would prefer their member of Congress to emphasize protecting clean air, water and wildlife habitat while boosting outdoor recreation over maximizing the amount of public land used for oil and gas drilling.

• • ‘The Far Right Wants Us to Play by Their Rules’

  Can German Greens
  Survive a ‘Witch-Hunt’?
  
  

  Feb. 12, 2025 -The crowd had crammed into a concert hall in central Berlin to hear crunch-time election pitches from Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock, the high-profile Green ministers in charge of Germany’s economy and diplomacy. But to the surprise of some supporters, it took half an hour for anyone in the environment-rooted party to mention the climate.>/p>

  Germany’s Greens are fighting to hold on to power after four years in a coalition government where they have been pilloried by other parties, and during which their core issue of climate action has slipped down the political agenda.

• • Trump Nominates Oil and Gas
  Advocate to Run Bureau of Land Management

  The Nominee, Kathleen Sgamma, has Worked for Nearly Two Decades on Behalf of Oil and Gas Companies in Western States
  
  

  Feb. 12, 2025 -Trump has nominated a professional advocate for the oil and gas industry, to run the Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the Interior Department that oversees grazing, logging, drilling and wildlife conservation on 245 million acres of public land.

  The nomination was received by the Senate on Tuesday and referred to its Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The committee has not yet scheduled a confirmation hearing for Ms. Sgamma.

• • Under Trump, Billionaire Climate Champions Have Gone Quiet

  Since the Inauguration, Billionaires who Funded Climate Action Over the Last Decade Have Avoided Criticizing Trump’s Climate Policies
  
  

  Feb. 11, 2025 -Over the last decade or so, a group of America’s wealthiest individuals, largely from the tech industry, became some of the world’s biggest climate champions, pledging billions in highly public campaigns.

  Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, committed $10 billion of his own money in 2020 to start the Bezos Earth Fund, a charity focused on climate and nature issues.

• • Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature

  They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway
  
  

  Feb. 10, 2025 -The draft was almost ready for submission, due in less than a month. More than 150 scientists and other experts had collectively spent thousands of hours working on the report, a first-of-its-kind assessment of nature across the United States.

  But President Trump ended the effort, started under the Biden administration, by executive order. So, on Jan. 30, the project’s director, an environmental scientist named Phil Levin, sent an email telling members of his team that their work had been discontinued.

• • NOAA Is Told to Make List of Climate-Related Grants

  Setting Off Fears
  
  

  Feb. 10, 2025 -The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s leading climate science agencies, has been ordered to identify grants related to global warming and other topics targeted by President Trump’s executive orders, raising fears that those grants are at risk of being canceled.

  The instructions were issued on Thursday at the direction of the Commerce Department, which includes NOAA, according to a copy of the document viewed by The New York Times.

• • Trump Is Freezing Money for Clean Energy

  Red States Have the Most to Lose
  
  

  Feb. 10, 2025 -In less than three weeks, President Trump has thrown the U.S. clean energy industry into chaos, with much of the economic damage hitting Republican states and districts.

  In a quest to eliminate any funding linked to climate change, the Trump administration has frozen federal grants for everything from battery factories to electric school buses and issued executive orders that have halted federal approvals for wind and solar projects.

• • Elon Musk’s Journey From Climate
  Champion to Backing EV-Bashing Trump

  Musk Believes Tesla’s Rivals are More Vulnerable to Trump’s Moves Against Electric Vehicles
  
  

  Feb. 7, 2025 -Donald Trump’s attempts to slash incentives for electric cars would cause sales of the vehicles to plummet, with this effort cheered on by a seemingly confounding supporter – Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of Tesla and erstwhile champion for action on the climate crisis.

  Trump has said that he “will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American auto workers”.

• • E.P.A. Workers Who Assist Heavily
  Polluted Communities Are Put on Leave

  One of the Oldest Power Plants in the U.S., Perched on the Edge of the Nation’s Largest Coal Mine, was Slated To Close in 2027. But...
  
  

  Feb. 6, 2025 -One hundred and sixty-eight employees at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Justice were placed on administrative leave on Thursday, according to agency officials.The notification of leave, sent via email to employees about 5 p.m., was a major step in President Trump’s widely expected plan to do away with the office. On his first day back in the White House, he signed an executive order to eliminate all government programs on environmental justice, which are aimed at helping poor and minority communities that are face disproportionate amounts of pollution. These communities are often located near industrial areas or other heavily contaminated places.

• • 22 States Sue to Block New
  York Law Targeting Fossil Fuel Companies

  Emboldened by President Trump, West Virginia and other states are challenging the Climate Change Superfund Act
  
  

  Feb. 6, 2025 -Twenty-two states, led by West Virginia, are suing to block a recently approved New York law that requires fossil fuel companies to pay billions of dollars a year for contributing to climate change.

  Under the law, called the Climate Change Superfund Act, companies that were the biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions between the years 2000 and 2024 must pay a combined total of $3 billion annually for the next 25 years. New York lawmakers contend that the reach of the law extends to companies around the world.

• • EPA Funding Freeze Endangers $7B Solar For All Program

  Citing Fairness and
  Energy Transition Costs
  
  {Environmental New Bits}
  
  

  Feb. 6, 2025 -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar For All program, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund with the aim of delivering residential solar to low-income and disadvantaged households, has seen its funds frozen as part of President Donald Trump’s overall halt on certain IRA disbursements.

  Though all IRA funding was approved by Congress, and the freeze has been subject to temporary restraining orders from two federal judges, funding associated with the Solar For All program remains frozen, said Vote Solar’s executive director Sachu Constantine.

• • In the Trump Era, Renewable Energy Isn’t Green

  It’s ‘Dominant’
  
  

  Feb. 5, 2025 -More than 160 solar energy executives converged Wednesday on Capitol Hill for what the clean-energy industry described as its largest-ever lobbying blitz. And they tailored their pitch for a new audience: President Donald Trump and his political allies.

  The executives sported surprising accessories: lapel pins with the message “AMERICAN ENERGY DOMINANCE” below an image of the sun rising over a solar panel.

• • Weakening Public Land Protections to Push Fossil Fuels

  What a Directive From
  New Interior Secretary Does
  
  

  Feb. 5, 2025 -National monuments, migratory birds, endangered and threatened species: Some of the nation’s most vulnerable natural resources are in jeopardy after Doug Burgum issued—on his first full day as secretary of the Department of the Interior—a seven-page directive weakening their protections to further fossil fuel development.

  President Trump laid the groundwork for Burgum’s order by revoking a dozen of the Biden administration’s executive orders, including those advancing clean energy, climate change mitigation and protections of natural resources.

• • Indonesia Mulls Paris Agreement Exit

  Citing Fairness and
  Energy Transition Costs
  
  {MONGABAY}
  
  

  Feb. 4, 2025 -Indonesia, one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, has signaled it might follow in the footsteps of the U.S. and withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

  “If the United State [the second-biggest emitter after China] does not want to comply with the international agreement, why should a country like Indonesia comply with it?” Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Indonesia’s special envoy for climate change and energy, said at a sustainability forum in Jakarta on Jan. 31.

• • Trump’s Trade War Could Affect Climate Change

  Here's How It Can Happen
  
  

  Feb. 4, 2025 - President Trump’s trade war has begun, with tariffs against all Chinese imports going into effect today. Levies against Mexican and Canadian imports were paused at the last minute, for 30 days, after Trump said both countries had offered concessions to his demands, though how significant these were is unclear.

  But the threat of steep tariffs against the United States’ closest trading partners remains. The effect of these disputes is already being felt worldwide...

• • Burying All of California’s Power Lines?

  What Would it Cost?
  
  {FACTOR THIS}
  
  

  Feb. 4, 2025 -President Trump’s trade war has begun, with tariffs against all Chinese imports going into effect today. Levies against Mexican and Canadian imports were paused at the last minute, for 30 days, after Trump said both countries had offered concessions to his demands, though how significant these were is unclear.

  But the threat of steep tariffs against the United States’ closest trading partners remains. The effect of these disputes is already being felt worldwide...

• • E.P.A. Tells More Than 1,000
  They Could Be Fired ‘Immediately’

  The New Head of the Agency, Said the Goal Was to Create an “Effective and Efficient” Federal Work Force
  
  

  Feb. 3, 2025 -The Trump administration has warned more than 1,100 Environmental Protection Agency employees who work on climate change, reducing air pollution, enforcing environmental laws and other programs that they could be fired at any time.

  An email, reviewed by The New York Times, was sent to staff members who were hired within the past year and have probationary status. Many of those employees were encouraged to join the E.P.A. under the Biden administration to rebuild the agency, which had been depleted during President Trump’s first term.

• • Trump Opened the ‘Valve’ on California Water

  It Will Probably Be Wasted
  
  

  Feb. 1, 2025 - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released water from two reservoirs in the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada to meet President Donald Trump’s recent directive to funnel more water to Southern California, but some officials there question whether it will actually prove helpful.

  Trump issued the executive order last weekend in response to the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles after he had falsely blamed water shortages during the response on California’s water management policies.

• • Trump’s Halt on Climate Spending
  Freezes Jobs and Stalls Projects

  The Pause Affects Billions of
  Dollars and is Delaying Home Repairs,
  Factory Construction and Other Projects
  
  

  Feb. 1, 2025 -When marble-size hail fell on Alabama in 2023, it devastated Camp Hill, a town of 1,000 where nearly half the residents live below the poverty line. Decks were demolished, cars shattered, roofs destroyed, and few people had insurance.

  The community was expecting to get help this month in the form of a $20 million federal grant to help homeowners make repairs — money that came from a Biden-era law to tackle climate change.

• • Trump’s First Two Weeks on Climate

  Has Thrown U.S. Climate
  Spending Into Chaos
  
  

  Jan. 30, 2025 -Over the past four years during the Biden administration, the United States started spending ever-greater sums on efforts to blunt global warming and help communities adapt to a hotter world. Many analysts expected the total tab for this work to exceed $1 trillion over the next decade.

  But in a matter of days, President Trump has thrown much of that spending into question, though how much money is affected is unclear. Some funds are frozen. Some projects are paused. And while a portion of that money is already out the door, there is an acute sense of uncertainty among people doing climate-related work that relies on government funding and approvals.

• • Some Useful Department of Energy Resources are Disappearing

  It Looks Like a Variety of Presentations, Documents, and Other Resources Related to Clean Energy have Disappeared from the Internet Since the Trump Administration Took the Keys Last Week
  
  {FACTOR THIS}
  
  

  Jan. 29, 2025 -Tyler Norris, a Duke University fellow and PhD student, was disappointed to discover the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) interconnection innovation webinars, including his recent presentation, have been removed from DOE’s site. The i2X page, once packed with useful information for utilities, project developers, and the companies that work with them, now returns a 404 error.

  And that isn’t the only example that’s been called to our attention lately.

• • Senate Confirms Lee Zeldin to Head E.P.A.

  He's Expected to Follow
  Orders to Weaken Climate Rules
  
  

  Jan. 29, 2025 -The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Lee Zeldin to run the Environmental Protection Agency, where he will be charged with executing President Trump’s orders to dismantle major environmental regulations, and possibly parts of the 55-year-old agency itself.

  The Senate voted 56 to 42 to confirm Mr. Zeldin, a former House member with little experience in environmental regulation. He is expected to work to erase rules to fight climate change and chemical pollution, while shutting down programs designed to help poor and minority communities that are disproportionately affected by pollution.

• • The Largest TB Outbreak in US History is Unfolding

  Just as Trump “Paused” All
  Public Messaging by the CDC
  
  

  Jan. 29, 2025 -Kansas City is currently facing the largest documented tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in the United States. According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), there are 67 active TB cases and 79 latent cases, with most occurring in Wyandotte County.

  The KDHE, guided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is working to contain the outbreak and ensure proper treatment for affected individuals. However, CDC communication efforts remain hampered by a Trump administration order barring public health messaging.

• • Inside Trump’s Renewed Effort to Undo a Major Climate Rule

  A Rule Known as the Endangerment Finding Had Required the E.P.A. to Regulate Greenhouse Gases
  
  

  Jan. 28, 2025 -For years, the fossil fuel industry and its allies have tried to overturn one of the most important federal rulings in the history of climate policy: the one that requires the government to limit greenhouse gases.

  But in President Trump, they have a new ally in their campaign against the rule, known as the endangerment finding. The finding empowers the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, because they endanger human life.

• • Trump Pulls US From World Health Organization

  This, As Climate
  Change Supercharges Disease
  
  

  Jan. 24, 2025 -On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations agency tasked with protecting global public health.

  A day later, his administration instructed federal health agencies to temporarily stop communicating with the public, a directive that applies to the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services.

• • Conservation Won Big Under Biden

  Environmentalists and Tribal Leaders Fear Trump Will Undo Those Gains
  
  

  Jan. 24, 2025 -From the red-rock country and canyonlands of the Colorado Plateau to the Joshua trees of the Mojave Desert, some of the West’s most iconic and wild places are now stitched together in the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental U.S. after former President Joe Biden created two new national monuments in California in his last week in office.

  Biden’s creation of 10 new national monuments and protections of 674 million acres of U.S. lands and waters make conservation one of his most significant legacies. But...

• • Trump’s Retreat From Clean Energy

  Puts the U.S. Out
  of Step With the World
  
  

  - Jan. 23, 2025 -President Trump’s repudiation of renewable-energy technologies stands to make the United States an outlier in the world.

  Many of its large-economy peers are choosing a different path. Even as coal, oil and gas still power the global economy, and more fossil fuels are burned year after year, the movement globally is toward heavy investment in solar, wind and batteries, the prices of which have fallen sharply in recent years.

• • How Trump’s Day One Orders Reveal a White House for Big Oil

  What You Need to Know About Trump’s Energy and Climate Executive Orders
  
  

  Jan. 22, 2025 -Through a flurry of executive orders, a newly inaugurated Donald Trump has made clear his support for the ascendancy of fossil fuels, the dismantling of support for cleaner energy and the United States’ exit from the fight to contain the escalating climate crisis.

  Trump has promised to cut Americans’ energy costs in half within a year and he claimed removing all restraints on drilling for “liquid gold” will achieve this, even though the US is already producing more oil and gas than any other country in history.

• • Leaders at Davos Economic Forum
  Vow to ‘Stay the Course’ on Climate Action

  With or Without the United States
  
  

  Jan. 21, 2025 -When President Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement on Monday as part of his flurry of moves upon taking office, it represented a shot across the bow of the world leaders and chief executives gathered in Davos, Switzerland.

  Many of the political and business figures attending the World Economic Forum’s annual conference support efforts to combat climate change, including the Paris Agreement, which almost all nations agreed to in 2015...

• • Trump Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

  Temporarily, or Permanently?
  
  

  Jan. 21, 2025 -President Trump signed an executive order Monday temporarily halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for both onshore and offshore wind projects.

  The interior secretary will review wind leasing and permitting practices for federal waters and lands. The assessment will consider the environmental impact of wind projects on wildlife, the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry, the order states.

• • Trump Declares ‘Energy Emergency’

  Environmentalists Stress Worsening ‘Climate Emergency’
  
  

  Jan. 21, 2025 -Soon after he was sworn in to his second term as U.S. president, Donald Trump issued more than two dozen executive orders that touch on nearly every facet of U.S. policy, from immigration to national security.

  Several of the directives have profound implications for the climate, promising to further ratchet up oil and gas production while slashing initiatives directed at reducing the country’s soaring greenhouse gas emissions.

• • The Presidemt Wants to Unleash Energy, But...

  As Long as It’s Not Wind or Solar
  
  

  - Jan. 21, 2025 -President Trump is moving to restructure the nation’s energy future to block any transition away from fossil fuels. And he is testing the boundaries of presidential power to do it.

  The orders that Mr. Trump signed on Monday would make it easier and cheaper for companies to produce oil and gas and for the government to stop clean energy projects that have been approved.

• • A Climate Activist Faces Deportation from Canada — Again

  Canada Could Become One of the First Countries to Ever Deport a Climate Activist
  {The Narwhal}
  
  

  Jan. 20, 2025 -Federal officials should intervene to halt the imminent deportation of climate activist Zain Haq from Canada, federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said on Monday.

  “It’s globally precedent-setting,” May told The Narwhal. “No climate activist has been deported for so-called crimes that amount to non-violent civil disobedience in defense of the climate.”

• • Trump Orders a U.S. Exit From the World’s Main Climate Pact

  The U.S. Will Be One of Only Four Countries Outside the Paris Agreement
  
  

  - Jan. 20, 2025 -President Trump on Monday signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the pact among almost all nations to fight climate change.

  By withdrawing, the United States will join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only four countries not party to the agreement, under which nations work together to keep global warming below levels that could lead to environmental catastrophe.

• • Challenge: Raising Trillions to Fight Climate Change

  With or Without the U.S. Presidential Cooperation
  
  

  Nov. 12, 2024 - Getting big cash commitments would be hard enough without wars, a pandemic and inflation having drained the reserves of rich countries that are expected to help poorer ones cope with climate hazards.

  It just got even harder. The election of Trump as president of the U.S. all but guarantees that the world’s richest country will not chip in.

• • Climate Hawks 2020 Endorsements

  What It Takes to Be Endorsed

  (CLIMATEHAWKS), -What we consider in issuing endorsements: First and foremost, a candidate’s public statements regarding climate change. Do you mention specific climate change action in your stump speech? Did you show up at a People’s Climate March? Do you have a thoughtful statement on your website? We also look at viability, although we will back longshots when we find a compelling reason to do so.

  We do not endorse mediocre Democrats, no matter how vehemently a Republican opponent may deny climate science. We only endorse when we are convinced that the candidate will commit to strong climate action in Congress.

  We like primaries. And in 2018 we won 6 out of 8 primaries in which we endorsed — a better track record than any of the larger groups whose endorsement records were compiled by FiveThirtyEight.

  Climate Hawks Vote does not accept contributions from fossil-fuel corporations, executives, or lobbyists. We are a federal Super PAC, which means that we are an independent expenditure committee and can’t endorse in state/local races. We do network with others on the lookout for climate hawks who can think globally and lead locally.

• • Conservatives and Liberals Want
  a Green Energy Future - But..

  They Want it For Different Reasons

  May 5, 2020,(The Conversation)-Political divisions are a growing fixture in the United States today, whether the topic is marriage across party lines, responding to climate change or concern about coronavirus exposure. Especially in a presidential election year, the vast divide between conservatives and liberals often feels nearly impossible to bridge.

  Our research examines what people know about the energy sources in use today in the United States, and what types of energy they would like to see the nation using in 2050. Energy connects to many important issues, including climate change, jobs and economic growth, equity and social justice, and international relations. It would be easy to assume that America’s energy future is a highly polarized topic, especially when the Trump administration is clashing with many states led by Democrats over energy policies.

  Click now to learn what the 'BUT' means.

• • Trump's Early Environmental Rollbacks

  23 Environmental Rules Rolled
  Back in Trump’s First 100 Days

  May 2, 2017 (NY Times Climate Forward) - President Trump, with help from his administration and Republicans in Congress, has reversed course on nearly two dozen environmental rules, regulations and other Obama-era policies during his first 100 days in office.

  Citing federal overreach and burdensome regulations, Mr. Trump has prioritized domestic fossil fuel interests and undone measures aimed at protecting the environment and limiting global warming.

• • The Climate President Action Plan

  10 Climate Actions
  the Next President
  Can Take Without Congress

  Dec. 23, 2019 (ClimatePresident.org)-The United States faces an indisputable climate emergency. The solution to the crisis is also inarguable: We must transform our extractive economy to a regenerative and inclusive one.

  The actions called for in this Presidential action plan can be implemented by the President acting alone without any Congressional action. These ten actions form the necessary foundation for the country's true transformation to a safer, healthier, and more equitable world for everyone.

• • Why Not a Green Marshall Plan?

  Elizabeth Warren Has
  Added a Green Marshall
  Plan to Her List of Proposals

  June 4, 2019  ( Mother Jones)- Elizabeth Warren has ascended in recent Democratic presidential polls atop a growing stack of audacious proposals to wipe out student debt, break up giant companies like Amazon and Facebook , and slap new taxes on the ultra-rich.

  Yet the senator from Massachusetts is taking a different approach to the climate crisis, weaving a patchwork that will likely amount to Warren’s answer to the Green New Deal.

• • Who Are the Climate Mayors?

  We Are Climate Mayors

  Climate Mayors, founfed in 2014, is a bi-partisan, peer-to-peer network of U.S. mayors working together to demonstrate leadership on Climate Chane through meaningful actions in their communities, and to express and build political will for effective federal and global policy action.

  The Climate Mayors coalition has emerged as a key voice anddemonstration of the ongoing commitment of U.S. cities to accelerate climate progress.

• • Congress Should Be
  Supporting Clean Energy Incentives

  Tell Congress to Support
  Clean Energy Incentives

  July, 2019  (Environment Florida)) -

  By going big on renewable energy, we can stop polluting our communities and planet with dirty energy sources and make real strides in tackling the climate crisis. Tell your representatives to expand their support for clean energy incentives.

  
  Click now to sign on.
• • Jay Inslee’s Campaign Pledge: No Fossil Fuel Money

  Jay Inslee’s Pledge to
  Reject Fossil Fuel Money

  Mar. 1, 2019 (Huffington Post)) -Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a pledge Tuesday promising to reject donations from the fossil fuel industry ahead of a likely run for the White House that he’s vowed to uniquely center on climate change.

  In an interview with HuffPost, Inslee, 67, said he added his name to the list of more than 1,300 politicians across the United States who took the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.

  Almost every Democratic candidate running in 2020 has signed the pledge.

  Click now to read more.

• • The Green New Deal Explained

  What Is the Green New Deal?
  A Climate Proposal, Explained

  NY Times Climate Forward, Feb. 21, 2019  - The Green New Deal is a congressional resolution that lays out a grand plan for tackling climate change.

  Introduced by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, both Democrats, the proposal calls on the federal government to wean the United States from fossil fuels and curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions across the economy. It also aims to guarantee new high-paying jobs in clean energy industries.

  Interested? Click now for whole story.

• • Burn It or Eat It (Trump’s Choices)

  Food Vs. Fuel: What Trump's Ethanol
  Policy Means For the Food System

  Oct. 25, 2018 (Forbes) -The Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with President Trump’s directive to lift a federal ban on high ethanol blended gas during the summer months, though not quickly enough for Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who Reuters reports is urging the EPA to lift the ban on a much quicker timeline. Lifting the ban is a policy shift that’s being celebrated by large-scale corn growers and decried by biofuel opponents. But the policy has implications for the food system too, as many food system reformers say the last thing U.S. farmers should be growing is more corn.

  Corn is a complicated crop. It’s highly efficient, nutrient-packed and yet, on the other hand, the U.S. probably grows too much of it. Corn has earned its fair share of criticism — it’s starchy, grown industrially and ubiquitous in ultra-processed food — but this leading cereal crop has also more than earned its place as an agricultural success story.

  Click now to stay on top of the situation.

• • How the Border Wall Affect Wildlife Near the Border

  ‘This Is Not Like a Fence in a Backyard’
  — Trump’s Border Wall vs. Wildlife

  The Revelator Podcasts, Apr. 11, 2019 - As was discussed recently on the Sciencentric podcast, the wall’s true impact becomes more evident when you envision all of the things that accompany it: Roads, vehicles, lights, and acres upon acres of cleared habitat. That’s bad news for jaguars, bears, birds, bees and hundreds, if not thousands, of other species.

  Check out the video interview, where host Eric R. Olson and John Platt also discuss The Revelator, my work on “Extinction Countdown,” and what technologies might work instead of a wall.

  
  Click now to watch the interview.
• • Trump Wants to Tell the Polar Bears Where to Get Off

  Help Protect the Arctic Refuge
  Before It’s Too Late!

  NRDC -The Trump administration is closer than ever to tearing open the heart of Alaska’s pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for dangerous oil and gas drilling — and if they succeed, it will have devastating, irreversible consequences for our waters, wildlife, climate, and the region’s Gwich’in people.

  NRDC is fighting back in and out of the courtroom in an unprecedented battle to protect the Arctic Refuge and its fragile Arctic coastline.

• • Trump is Not the 1st to Assault Env. Protection

  History of US Presidential Assaults
  on Environmental Health Protection

  Apr. 26, 2018 American Public Health Association - The Trump administration has undertaken an assault on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency critical to environmental health. This assault has precedents in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

  The early Reagan administration (1981–1983) launched an overt attack on the EPA, combining deregulation with budget and staff cuts, whereas the George W. Bush administration (2001–2008) adopted a subtler approach, undermining science-based policy.

  Wait, there’s more…

• • Some Republicans Support Carbon Fee/Dividend

  Exceeding Paris

  Contain Forewords by: Ted Halstead, George P. Schultz, Lawrence Summers, Rob Walton, Christine Todd Whitman and Janet Yellen.

  The Baker-Shultz plan would achieve approximately 32% in greenhouse gas reductions by 2025, thereby exceeding our Paris commitment by a wide margin

  The Baker-Shultz Carbon Dividends Plan is not only the most environmentally ambitious plan, but also the most politically-viable. Why? Because it addresses the legitimate concerns of all key stakeholders in the climate debate and enables each to realize an important victory.

  Click to read the PDF from the
  Climate Leadership Council.

• • Attention Humanists: You Have a Role to Play

  Ask What You Can Do for Your Climate(1)

  Apr. 18, 2017 -While the federal government is becoming a follower rather than a leader on climate change, humanists can fight on the state, local, and personal levels

  IF THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL, then climate change is personal, too. As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump campaigned against the Paris Agreement negotiated in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. With President Trump signing an executive order to roll back federal efforts to reduce global warming, humanists must do more at the state and local levels to fight climate change. If you’re up for it, there are many things you can do to help.

  
  Click now if you’re ready to learn more.
• • We Can Take Active Role in the Climate Crisis

  Ask What You Can Do for Your Climate<2>

  Join a Climate Reality Chapter,and be part of a sustainable future. You’ve heard about “the future.” It’s not that far away, and your children and grandchildren will be living in it, long after you’re gone.

  Chapters give you the opportunity to draw on Climate Reality’s support and expertise, while creating and executing plans for climate action that make the most sense for your community.

  Already, Climate Reality chapters have become a vital force for progress, helping expand clean energy alternatives, tackling the legacy of fossil fuels in low-income communities, and pushing for carbon pricing policies, to name just a few of the many campaigns underway across the US.

  
  Click now if you’re ready to take action too.

• • Science Under Attack:

  Sidelining Researchers and Their Work

  Dec. 28, 2019 (NY Times Climate Forward -In just three years, the Trump administration has diminished the role of science in federal policymaking while halting or disrupting research projects nationwide, marking a transformation of the federal government whose effects, experts say, could reverberate for years.

  Political appointees have shut down government studies, reduced the influence of scientists over regulatory decisions and in some cases pressured researchers not to speak publicly. The administration has particularly challenged scientific findings related to the environment and public health opposed by industries such as oil drilling and coal mining. It has also impeded research around human-caused climate change, which President Trump has dismissed despite a global scientific consensus.

• • Politicians Voting Against
  Climate Change Get More Corporate Cash

  Voters Seem to Care About Climate
  Change, But Do Big Corporations?

  Oct. 23, 2020, (Bloomberg Green)-As Americans vote in an election that will redefine national climate priorities, the biggest U.S. companies—even those with ambitious green agendas—are throwing their support behind lawmakers who routinely stall climate legislation.

  Bloomberg Green examined political donations by businesses in the S&P 100 and large U.S.-based corporate contributors to climate change identified by the Climate Action 100+, which seeks to help them lower their emissions.

• • Dems to Fossil Fuel Contributions: No Thanks

  DNC Votes to Ban Fossil
  Fuel Company Donations

  June 12, 2018 -The move is a step toward purging oil, gas and coal industry influence on the Democratic Party’s climate policies.

  The Democratic National Committee voted over the weekend to ban donations from fossil fuel companies, HuffPost has learned.

  The resolution — proposed by Christine Pelosi, a party activist and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter — bars the organization from accepting contributions from corporate political action committees tied to the oil, gas and coal industries. The executive committee voted unanimously to approve the motion.

• • Clean Energy Research Not a Priority

  White House Seeks 72% Cut to
  Clean Energy Research,Underscoring
  Its Preference for Fossil Fuels

  Feb. 1, 2018 -The Trump administration is poised to ask Congress for deep budget cuts to the Energy Department’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, slashing them by 72 percent overall in fiscal 2019, according to draft budget documents obtained by The Washington Post.

  Many of the sharp cuts would probably be restored by Congress, but President Trump’s budget, due out in February, will mark a starting point for negotiations and offer a statement of intent and policy priorities.

• • Donald Trump: Making the Oceans Not-So-Great Again

  Donald Trump Aims to
  Weaken Ocean Protections

  Mar. 16, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -We are approaching the 10th anniversary of the British Petroleum (BP) disaster, which killed 11 men, injured 17 others, and spilled more than 130 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster polluted more than 1,300 miles of coastline, devastated marine life, and cost the Gulf Coast billions in lost revenue.

  The Trump Administration’s aggressive deregulatory agenda threatens to undo many of the safeguards for ocean and coastal ecosystems, including those that regulate the offshore oil industry. We cannot have a repeat of the BP disaster and we need common sense protections for the ocean now more than ever.

• • Strip Mining on Protected
  Tennessee Cumberland Plateau

  Trump May Approve
  Strip Mining on Tennessee’s
  Protected Cumberland Plateau

  Feb. 13, 2020 (inside climate news) -LAFOLLETTE, Tennessee—Even as the nation's demand for coal tumbles, the Trump administration is considering a permit that would allow strip mining on protected ridgelines in Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau over the objection of environmental groups and the state's Republican attorney general.

  The wild, scenic terrain is within 75,000 acres designated, at the state's behest, as unsuitable for surface coal mining in 2016 by the Obama administration's Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation, the agency responsible for regulating coal mining in the state.

• • Good Riddance to Climate Denier From NSC

  Climate Denialist to Depart
  White House National Security Council

  Sep. 11, 2019 (New York Times)- William Happer, the White House architect of a stalled plan to attack the established science of climate change, is leaving the Trump administration on Friday, according to three people familiar with his plans.

  Dr. Happer, a physicist who gained notoriety by claiming that the greenhouse gases contributing to warming the planet are beneficial to humanity, and for likening attacks on fossil fuels to “the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler” in a 2014 interview, served on the National Security Council as President Trump’s deputy assistant for emerging technologies.

• • No Lessons Learned From Deepwater Horizon

  Trump Plan Would Open Nearly All
  the Gulf of Mexico to Oil Drilling

  Jan. 4, 2018 - The Trump administration on Thursday (Jan. 4) announced plans for the largest expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. history, putting up for lease federal waters in the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans and millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico, including protected areas in the eastern Gulf.

  Click now for article from azCentral.

• • Clean Energy and Electric Cars Hit By GOP

  Tax Overhaul Hammers
  Clean Energy and Electric Cars

  (M.I.T. Technology Review) Dec. 8, 2017 - Legislators from both chambers are now hashing out their differences in the reconciliation committee in hopes of delivering a final bill to the White House before the end of the year. Clean-energy lobbyists are scrambling to push back on provisions they and others fear could stunt development or deployment of technologies needed to lower the nation’s greenhouse-gas emissions.

• • DOW's Campaign Contributions
  Stopped the Banning of Chlorpyrifos

  How Dow Chemical Influenced
  the EPA to Ignore the
  Scientific Evidence on Chlorpyrifos

  (Union of Concerned Scientists) -On March 29, 2017, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that his agency would decline to ban chlorpyrifos, despite years of scientific study and deliberation indicating that the pesticide poses a clear risk to children, farmworkers, and users of rural drinking water.

  This was a 180-degree turn from the science-based conclusion reached just a few months before by the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which found that chlorpyrifos has harmful effects on children’s brain development. Both EPA scientists and the American Academy of Pediatrics have urged the EPA to ban the insecticide.

  Click now to read on.

• • The Top Ten Toxic Threats

  The E.P.A.’s Top 10 Toxic
  Threats, and Industry’s Pushback

  Oct. 21, 2017 - The E.P.A.has published a list of 10 toxic threats it will evaluate first under a law passed last year intended to crack down on hazardous chemicals.

  They are among 90 chemicals identified by the agency that may harm children, damage nerve tissue, cause cancer, contaminate the environment, accumulate in the bloodstream or show up in consumer products. As the review begins, industry and other interest groups are urging the E.P.A. to limit any restrictions.

  Click for the list that should
  not be on your top ten.

• • Climate Change Collapsing Australia’s Ecosystems

  Ecosystems Across Australia Are Undergo Climate Change

  The Converstion

  Research, recently published in Nature Climate Change, describes a series of sudden and catastrophic ecosystem shifts that have occurred recently across Australia.

• • CC Advisory Committee Dropped

  Administration Disbands Climate
  Change Advisory Committee

  Aug 20, 2017 - The Trumpv administration of has decided to disband a federal advisory panel on climate change - in a further sign of the White House's view on environmental policy.

  The panel is part of the National Climate Assessment, a group aimed at helping officials and policy makers integrate the US Government's climate change analysis into their long-term planning.

• • Climate Skeptic Heads Top Science Post

  New USDA Research Head
  Thinks Climate Science Is 'Junk'

  July 20, 2017 - President Trump has nominated a well-known climate change doubter to the top science job at the Department of Agriculture.

  The nomination, which had been expected, was announced in a statement by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Sam Clovis, an early campaign adviser to Trump, will serve as undersecretary for research, education and economics.

• • Is the State of the Great Lakes a State Problem?

  Trump Says 'Yes' -
  Congress Says 'No'

  July 14, 2017 - Together, the five lakes hold nearly one-fifth of the earth’s surface freshwater. They’re home to 3500 species of plants and animals, including 170 species of fish. Not to mention the drinking water for about 35 million people, in eight states plus Canada. They have been a major highway for transportation, trade and migration. And more than 1.5 million jobs are directly connected to the lakes.

  But the Trump administration views the health of the Great Lakes as a local issue. Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow and budget director Mick Mulvaney squared off at a budget hearing a couple months ago on the topic. You can watch the exchange here:

• • Shades of White House Climate Denial

  5 Shades of Climate Denial,
  All on Display in the White House

  June 9.2017 - - From ‘it’s not real’ to ‘it’s not urgent,’ take a tour through the many shades of climate change denial wielded by Donald Trump's administration.