The Rollback of Environmental and Climate Policies Under the Trump Administration
Tracking the Trump administration’s rollback of climate and environmental policies feels like stepping back in time. The administration attempted to freeze funding allocated by Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to clean energy initiatives, effectively reverting progress to 2022. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considered rescinding the landmark 2009 finding that greenhouse-gas emissions endanger human health and the environment, a cornerstone of federal climate action. Additionally, the administration barred scientists from contributing to the UN’s benchmark international climate report, a collaboration that had been ongoing since 1990, and dismantled federal efforts on environmental justice, a cause that traces back to the George H.W. Bush administration. As part of its broader purge of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the administration placed 160 EPA employees working on environmental justice on leave, revoked Biden’s executive orders prioritizing this work, and sought to eliminate all environmental justice offices and positions by March 21, 2024.
The Origins and Evolution of Environmental Justice
The concept of environmental justice emerged in the early 1980s when activists in Warren County, North Carolina—a predominantly Black community—fought to block the construction of a toxic waste dump for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Research quickly revealed that nonwhite and low-income communities were disproportionately exposed to hazardous waste sites and pollution. Advocates coined the term “environmental racism” to describe these unequal toxic exposures and “environmental justice” to address the systemic inequities. The first President Bush established the Office of Environmental Equity (later renamed the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice) in the early 1990s, and President Bill Clinton mandated that federal agencies incorporate environmental justice into their work. However, it wasn’t until Biden’s presidency that significant federal funding was allocated to communities disproportionately affected by pollution, such as those surrounded by factories, refineries, and incinerators.
The Human Cost of Environmental Injustice
The consequences of Trump’s rollback of environmental justice initiatives will be felt across the country, particularly by low-income communities and communities of color. However, the harm will not be limited to these groups; it will also affect many of Trump’s supporters living in environmentally stressed areas. Under Trump’s deregulatory policies, the number of communities burdened by pollution and climate hazards is expected to grow. Adam Ortiz, former administrator for EPA Region 3, highlights the stark disparities in environmental health. In places like Ivy City, a historically redlined, segregated community in Washington, D.C., residents suffer from dangerously poor air quality due to industrial sites, highways, and rail yards. Similarly, in rural areas like Richwood, West Virginia, catastrophic flooding has destroyed water-treatment plants, leaving poor, white, and politically conservative residents vulnerable. Many of these communities had received little federal attention for generations, despite their dire environmental challenges.
The Regulatory Chasm in Addressing Pollution
The federal legal framework for addressing pollution is woefully inadequate, as laws like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act regulate only one type of pollution at a time. This creates a significant regulatory gap for communities exposed to multiple pollution sources or toxic cocktails. For example, businesses in Ivy City may comply with individual regulations yet still contribute to dangerously poor air quality. The cumulative impact of pollution is a critical issue that federal environmental justice efforts aimed to address. However, under the Trump administration, these efforts were halted, and projects aimed at mitigating pollution in communities like Ivy City were shelved. Ortiz notes that while some progress had been made in addressing pollution sources, much work remained undone when the administration dismissed or reassigned EPA staff working on these issues.
The Legacy of Environmental Justice Beyond Federal Policy
Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle environmental justice initiatives, the progress made over decades cannot be entirely erased. Paul Mohai, a professor at the University of Michigan and former senior adviser to the EPA’s environmental justice office, emphasizes that one president cannot undo the advancements achieved outside of federal actions. Since the early 1990s, environmental justice has evolved from a marginalized issue to a widely recognized field of research and activism. Today, nonprofits, state governments, and academic institutions continue to address environmental inequities, even as federal support wanes. For instance, New Jersey has enacted laws restricting industrial permits in overburdened communities, while research has documented
