State of the Union Reminds Us Trump Works for Big Oil and Coal, Ignores Climate Change
During his record-length State of the Union speech last week, Donald Trump maintained his “perfect” record on climate change – he didn’t acknowledge it with even a single reference. As in each of his four State of the Unions, climate change was the silent elephant in the room of Trump’s address.
Instead, he bragged about increased drilling for gas and oil, ignoring the devastating impacts underway from climate change fed by growing carbon emissions into our heating atmosphere.
He even framed his assault on Venezuela as an economic boon. After bombing the country’s capital, he called the country his “friend and partner.” He then boasted he and his oil industry cronies stole more than 80,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil.
Rising Energy Costs
On the topic of soaring electric bills – up as much as 13% nationally over the last year alone – he asserted without evidence that he had solved the problem. In reality, he has fed the problem through his insane attacks on clean energy sources (especially wind energy), removing renewable energy options from the equation while energy demands rise sharply.
Under the Trump reality, the cost of producing electricity from gas has jumped by nearly 50%. This is just one of the causes driving utility companies to raise electric bills by nearly $85.8 billion on American families.
Economic Losses
In the meantime, Trump’s economic crisis from stunted clean energy growth has arrived. As of 2/16/26, his attacks on clean energy have cost 172,988 jobs lost or delayed, 354 projects cancelled, delayed, or laying off staff, and $61.41 billion in lost or delayed private investment. Combined with the continuing trade instabilities caused by his ever-shifted tariffs, he has driven the healthy economy he inherited to the brink of recession.
Those with the patience to listen to two hours of meandering, insult-filled speech heard the Trump fantasy of endless “winning.” The rest of us are living the Trump reality of rising electric prices, falling jobs, and growing impacts from climate change-driven extreme weather events.
Take Action: Fund FEMA, not ICE!
The good news is that we have ways to fight back. This week, we’re encouraging concerned citizens to call on our representatives to shift spending priorities in the right direction: Fund FEMA, not ICE.
Over the last few months, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency has torn families apart, violently abused communities, and even killed migrants and citizens. To fund this violent program, the leaders of DHS have been illegally draining resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Here in North Carolina, we desperately need recovery funding as families and communities still recover from Hurricane Helene.
Learn more and tell your lawmakers: Fund FEMA, not ICE!
