Here’s how the incoming administration’s policies could set back climate protections – but activists are determined to fight.
by Adam Mahoney
While President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign fanned the flames of culture wars and economic propaganda, his return to D.C. could roll back climate progress and put Black communities even more at risk.
Joe Biden’s presidency had its climate-related missteps, but it also delivered historic wins that are slowly easing the burden of pollution and severe weather. Trump promises to reverse these victories, as his environmental agenda most aligns with the desires of fossil fuel companies. Big business’ calls for an increase in climate change-causing carbon pollution by billions of tons will have untold impacts on temperatures, storms, and the health of our soil, water, air, and bodies, climate justice advocates told Capital B.
But they’re ready to fight.
“We have known the hope of promises made, the joy of promises kept, and the bitterness of promises broken,” said Beverly Wright, the founder of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, one of the oldest Black environmental groups in the nation. “Our commitment is unwavering.”
“One bad election result doesn’t stop the need for climate action,” added Quentin Scott, a policy director with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
On the campaign trail, Trump declared that his environmental and energy goals would lower fuel prices while also curbing inflation and somehow cutting grocery prices. Trump’s new policy appointees have the power to destroy the country and world’s climate goals by weakening environmental protections, tossing out climate mandates, and unleashing more oil and gas production. Recent clean energy investments and more than a million new energy-related jobs along with it are also at risk.
The incoming administration is a reminder, Scott said, that “the most vulnerable communities to climate change should be at the forefront of our minds as we shield ourselves from Trump’s looming climate rollbacks.”
What’s on the chopping block?
The next Trump administration won’t be doing any favors for Black Americans living in communities hit hardest by hurricanes, industrial pollution, and contaminated water — places like Adel, Georgia; Beaumont, Texas; Donaldsonville, Louisiana; and Jackson, Mississippi. These majority-Black “sacrifice zones” are already facing some of the worst environmental and public health crises, and advocates worry that under Trump, key tools for protection — like civil rights complaints or pollution regulations — could disappear altogether.
Trump’s policies signal a clear prioritization of fossil fuels over reducing emissions and addressing climate change. Take Biden’s Justice40 initiative, for example, which aims to direct 40% of climate investments to underserved communities. Trump has dismissed it as “woke” overreach, and it’s all but guaranteed to be scrapped.
Other environmental protections are also on the chopping block. Trump is expected to weaken endangered species protections in favor of industrial interests and ramp up liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects along the Gulf Coast, disproportionately affecting Black communities. These projects would expand fossil fuel infrastructure, lock in decades of emissions, and further cement the U.S.’s status as the world’s largest LNG exporter.
Additionally, corporate climate disclosure rules requiring companies to report risks related to climate change may be eliminated, signaling a broader deregulatory push. Federal mandates for auto emissions and clean energy spending for government buildings and fleets are also on Trump’s rollback agenda. Subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act for electric vehicles and solar panels have also been put on the chopping block, despite their benefits reaching red states at a rate higher than in blue states.
Even national monuments might shrink, opening protected lands to mining and development, while Trump revives his “Drill, Baby, Drill” mantra for federal lands and waters, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Biden-era methane fee, which penalizes companies for leaking the potent greenhouse gas, is also at risk. This fee was designed to address methane’s massive environmental impact — 80 times worse than carbon dioxide — but industry trade groups are already backing its elimination.
Simultaneously, Trump plans to eliminate Biden-era emissions rules for gas and coal plants, despite EPA analyses showing these regulations could significantly cut pollution and save lives. (Black Americans are exposed to the most pollution from power plants.)
Trump also plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, revisiting his first-term decision.
During his first term, Trump rolled back over 100 environmental and climate rules, though nearly 85% of those attempts were struck down in court for failing to follow the proper legal process. Experts believe a second Trump administration will be more efficient in dismantling these protections, having learned from earlier missteps.
“With the election of Donald Trump, we know environmental justice policies and hard-fought wins brought about by our movements over decades are on the chopping block,” said KD Chavez, executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance. “We also know things will most likely move a lot faster this time around.”
While each appointee must be ultimately approved by Congress, these are the figures who Trump has tapped before inauguration.
Environmental Protection Agency: Lee Zeldin, a former congressman from New York who routinely voted against climate legislation. The EPA regulates pollution from cars, trucks, power plants, and oil and gas infrastructure. Under the Biden administration, it was the lead administrator of funds that were spent to clean up Black communities. An exodus of staff is expected from the agency: Employees have already raised fears that their work to protect communities from toxic contamination will be derailed.
The agency has already faced two major blows to its regulatory power from the conservative U.S. Supreme Court this year, but Zeldin is poised to roll back even more of that power. After his appointment, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.”
His inclusion of artificial intelligence as a main focal point of the environmental agency is unique and spells trouble for Black communities across the South, where a pollution and water crisis is brewing because of the growth of supercomputers used for AI.
Department of the Interior: Doug Burgum of North Dakota, a billionaire Republican with deep ties to fossil-fuel executives and skepticism of climate change. The Interior Department is in charge of leasing millions of acres of public lands and waters for oil and gas drilling. Burgum may also serve as Trump’s “energy czar,” a role that Trump plans to create, giving Burgum authority to coordinate energy policy across the entire federal government. On the campaign trail, Burgum was a lead organizer of a dinner where Trump solicited $1 billion in campaign donations from oil and gas executives.
“If confirmed to this position, he will surely continue Donald Trump’s efforts to sell out our public lands to his polluter pals,” said Ben Jealous, the executive director of the Sierra Club and former president of the NAACP.
Department of Energy: Chris Wright, the CEO of the fracking company Liberty Energy. (Across the country, Black people are most likely to live next to fracking wells, which are connected to health issues, including several cancers and respiratory illnesses.) The Energy Department is the main federal agency tasked with ensuring that the lights stay on for Americans, and in recent years, it has helped supercharge a shift toward renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Wright has been a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, and has said, “There is no climate crisis.” It is a goal of Trump that the agency will increase new export terminals for shipping U.S. gas overseas and wipe out billions of dollars’ worth of loans and grants accelerating the U.S. transition to renewable energy.
Will Trump’s policies lower prices?
Trump’s promise to reduce gas prices by boosting U.S. oil production is unlikely to succeed. Oil is a globally traded commodity influenced by actions from countries like Saudi Arabia, which can lower their supply to maintain high prices. Additionally, ramping up domestic production could lead to an oversupply, which would ultimately harm U.S. oil companies’ profitability so they, as they have done before, will choose not to lower prices to maintain their profits.
The irony of American climate change policies lies in the role markets have played: They once incentivized the widespread burning of fossil fuels, driving the Industrial Revolution and creating today’s climate crisis. Now, those same market forces are accelerating a shift to renewable energy. Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas are finite resources with fixed qualities — there’s no “better” version of these products to be engineered. In contrast, renewable technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and energy-efficient appliances only improve with time, becoming cheaper and more efficient.
This shift is already reshaping the energy landscape. Over the past decade, solar power costs have dropped by 90%, and the U.S. is now installing solar capacity at three times the rate of natural gas. Heat pumps, which are more efficient than traditional gas furnaces, now outsell them nationwide, thanks in part to state and federal incentives.
So, even if a Trump administration rolls back funding for renewable energy and energy-efficient appliances under the Inflation Reduction Act, state governments may step in to sustain momentum. The progress is hard to ignore.
In a statement to Capital B, the Green New Deal Network, a progressive climate legislative organization, laid out the current reality simply: “Trump can’t change the fact that the majority of Americans overwhelmingly prefer affordable clean energy over fossil fuels.”
“Solar and wind are already cheaper than oil and generate more power than coal,” the group added. “Trump’s highest performing states benefit the most from the massive investments and millions of jobs from the Inflation Reduction Act, so he’d be a fool to reverse course.”
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