Trump spends his first 100 days attacking the climate

News broke last week that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists had recorded the largest annual increase in Carbon dioxide levels since they began measuring them in 1979. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere grew by 3.75 parts per million in 2024 — 25% larger than the previous record jump of 2.96 ppm, set in 2015, meaning that the amount of global climate pollution is increasing, not decreasing. At the same time, President Trump’s budget plan calls for a cut of $1.6 billion and hundreds of layoffs at the agency, crippling its ability to measure these changes accurately in the future. And while President Biden passed the largest climate spending bill in world history three years ago, far more investment is needed to tackle global climate change. Now, the Trump Administration is threatening to roll back key pieces of the Biden Climate legislation, further hampering progress on climate change.

None of this is a surprise. President Trump has repeatedly called climate change a hoax and is in the pocket of fossil fuel companies. Buried among his many executive orders was a directive to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider the 2009 endangerment finding. Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires EPA to regulate air pollutants if it finds that they “cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” After much litigation and political protest, in 2009, the Obama EPA finally made the scientific finding that CO2, along with other climate pollutants, endangers public health and welfare. This unlocked the ability for the EPA to regulate climate pollution from everything from cars to coal power plants. By reconsidering the endangerment finding, the Trump Administration is essentially throwing in the towel on reducing climate pollution and giving the fossil fuel industry a huge regulatory win. 

To prove the point, on March 12, 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the “Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History”. Here are just some of the things they’re proposing to deregulate: cross state air pollution; radiation from coal ash; hazardous air pollutants emitted from chemical plants; fine particulate matter; mercury and other hazardous pollutants; pollution from cars and trucks Trump has also shuttered all of EPA’s regional offices focused on environmental justice and frozen grants to help disadvantaged communities adapt to climate change.

In addition to increasing their pollution, the Trump Administration is also trying to speed up permitting for fossil fuel projects by declaring a national energy emergency. On April 23, 2025, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that it would accelerate National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental reviews for dirty energy sources from 1 to 2 years to 14 to 28 days. Favored energy sources include crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal energy, kinetic hydropower, and critical minerals. To accomplish this, the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is also proposing to expedite Endangered Species Act consultation for dirty energy projects.

Not to worry, though, there’s one kind of energy source that Trump is very concerned about harming the environment – renewables. In his executive order targeting offshore wind, Trump attacked the federal permitting process for wind energy as deficient. Even wind projects that are fully permitted are not safe from Trump’s attacks. Earlier this month, the Trump Administration issued a stop-work order for Empire Wind, a fully permitted offshore wind project off the coast of New York. This, even though the project had gone through the extensive, years-long NEPA process that the administration is simultaneously trying to shorten to 4 weeks for fossil fuel and uranium projects. While not as explicit, Trump is also threatening to attack solar and battery projects by rolling back the financial support in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Normally at a time like this I’d talk about the importance of our federal system of government and the ability of States like California to take the lead on climate action. But the Trump Administration thought of that too. In his Executive Order “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach” Trump attacked State’s abilities to regulate climate pollution, specifically calling out California’s Cap & Trade policy. 

All of this is to say that the Trump Administration is acting as an arsonist about our global climate. It’s more important than ever to speak out against dirty fossil fuel projects and in favor of renewable energy. To embolden your State representatives to stand up to the Trump Administration’s extreme overreaches. And to fight for local solutions to the climate crisis, like public transportation, bike lanes, and infill housing.