From the outset, key goals of the incoming Trump Administration have been: supporting fossil fuel development, ending incentives for renewable energy and energy transition, removing burdensome environmental regulations and policies, and stepping back action on climate change and environmental justice initiatives. In his first week in office, President Trump rescinded several Biden Administration executive orders regarding action on climate change and environmental justice and issued executive orders seeking to boost fossil fuel development rather than renewable energy. Actions have continued in these particular areas, indicating that the Trump Administration’s focus and goals remain consistent.
On February 4, 2025, new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the EPA’s “Powering the Great American Comeback” Initiative. The announcement outlined five key pillars, all of which focus on the EPA’s role of supporting American industry consistent with Trump campaign goals and reiterated by Administrator Lee Zeldin in his confirmation hearing. The five pillars are:
- Clean Air, Land, and Water for Every American;
- Restore American Energy Dominance;
- Permitting Reform, Cooperative Federalism, and Cross-Agency Partnership;
- Make the United States the Artificial Intelligence Capital of the World; and
- Protecting and Bringing Back American Auto Jobs.
These pillars highlight the Trump Administration’s goals of having the EPA support Americans through growth of American industry and fossil fuel production while working with states and across-agencies to find efficiencies.
Another important action taken by the Trump Administration is a January 30 memo that temporarily froze all environmental litigation to allow for review and potential reconsideration by the new administration. In addition, an EPA spokesperson said in an email that there is a hold on new (not yet effective) and pending (not yet published) regulations, and that, “most major decisions are undergoing a quick review process to ensure transparency and accountability to the American people.” For companies dealing with the EPA on resolution of ongoing matters, whether in litigation or on compliance matters, this may prolong resolution, if it has not already. However, in the long term this will likely lead to the dropping or settling of enforcement cases which are not consistent with the Trump Administration’s focus and goals.
President Trump’s day one executive order “Unleashing American Energy” targeted climate action taken by the Biden Administration, barred agencies from using methodologies such as the social cost of carbon in their environmental analyses, and ordered that the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) be paused, and ending the electric vehicle subsidy specifically. Funds from IRA and IIJA programs remain frozen despite court orders lifting the freeze from U.S. District Court Judges Loren AliKhan from the District of Columbia and John McConnell from the District of Rhode Island. Both judges have now ruled that the Trump Administration has defied the courts’ early orders lifting the spending freeze, but the issue remains unresolved. Companies and projects relying on IRA and IIJA grants, funds, or incentives should continue to watch this space as the legal considerations continue to play out over the upcoming months.
Consistent with general federal employee cuts and the Trump Administration’s goals, the administration has placed 168 employees in the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights on leave and called for the elimination of any office or position involving environmental justice. President Trump also rescinded a number of President Biden’s environmental justice executive orders on January 24, including the rescission of EO 14096 which incorporated environmental justice into all executive branch decision making and EO 14008 which, amongst other things, established the Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool to help to identify disadvantaged communities.
Consistent with the Trump Administration’s disagreement with the Biden Administration’s stance towards climate action and environmental justice, the climate change sections of several government websites have been taken offline, including the White House’s climate change page and climate change section on the Department of State website. In addition, the EPA’s EJScreen tool, a tool to map community vulnerabilities and identify areas experiencing disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards and impacts, has also been taken offline. Companies and organizations relying on climate and environmental justice data for their sustainability work or when conducting due diligence on new projects will need to find alternatives. A number of universities and projects like the Public Environmental Data Project have worked to keep this data available to the public.
The funding freeze has impacted renewable energy and infrastructure projects, and all stakeholders involved in these projects from contractors and construction businesses to renewable energy companies, finance parties, as well as state and local governments and tribes.
The loss of federal resources for environmental justice may impact project developers, but the executive order abolishing environmental justice from federal decision making is likely to result in a net reduction in permitting obligations. Despite the regulatory uncertainty associated with the current in flux status of policies related to environmental justice, the Trump Administration’s clear intent to do away with these assessments will likely reduce the assessments and mitigation required for certain projects.
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