The Trump Administration continued its war on the American environment last week with two new sweeping attacks ironically announced by the new administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

First, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on March 11 that the EPA was terminating $20 billion in grant agreements issued by the Biden-Harris Administration for clean energy and climate action projects. The termination targets funding approved by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund implemented as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. 

“Without a shred of evidence, Administrator Zeldin is escalating his unfounded attempts to unilaterally terminate congressionally authorized and contractually obligated funding that would lower household energy costs, spur economic growth and cut pollution,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Whitehouse called Zeldin’s efforts to block the green bank “a blatant giveaway to the fossil fuel megadonors who bankrolled” Trump’s 2024 campaign.

NC Could Lose From These Orders

North Carolina is one of the states which would be severely impacted if this order by Zeldin is upheld in the courts. North Carolina is the recipient of a $156 million grant from the EPA Solar for All fund last year for its EnergizeNC program to help the state’s low-income and disadvantaged communities achieve greater access to solar energy and energy-efficiency projects. 

The administration’s previously announced freeze on funding which included this grant program is already under legal challenge by multiple groups, including the group of state Attorneys General which includes NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson.

Attacks on Clean Water and Air

On Wednesday, Zeldin announced plans by the EPA to gut existing bedrock protections for clean water and air, through a combination of 31 separate administrative actions. These include revoking limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants, toxic emissions from power plants, toxic wastewater discharges from power plants, greenhouse gas reporting requirements, tightened emissions standards on new cars and trucks (the “clean car” and “clean truck” rules), interstate limits on air pollution from power plants (the “good neighbor rule”), and more. 

Environmental Orgs Speak Out

Environment, clean energy, and climate action advocates around the nation swiftly denounced these “horrific” moves. The national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) issued a statement by Vice President of Federal Policy and former EPA Health Scientist Matthew Davis. 

“Our families deserve clean air and water, and corporate profits of the already wealthy shouldn’t be prioritized over the health of our communities. Don’t be fooled: when Lee Zeldin says he will ‘unleash American energy’ he means giving Big Oil and Gas free rein to pollute our communities and abandoning EPA’s mission of protecting public health and the environment. He and President Trump are siding with Big Oil and the polluting coal industry rather than families across the country, eliminating clean energy choices and propping up fossil fuels that will pollute our air and water,” said Davis.

“It is extremely telling that the EPA’s announcement today barely mentions actually protecting the environment. These rollbacks will only increase families’ costs and suffering, diminish clean energy initiatives and result in job loss for thousands of workers across the country. While oil company executives increase their profits, hardworking families will have fewer choices and more toxic chemicals in our air and water. We deserve better.” 

Importance of Courts in Protecting Our Environment

Other groups also condemned the EPA announcement and indicated that legal challenges were already in the works. “With these actions, the Trump EPA is trying to take us back to the days when rivers caught fire, toxic chemicals forced families to abandon their homes, and acid rain ravaged our forests. This won’t make America healthier or greater. It takes us backwards to a dirtier and sicker time of at least a generation ago,” said Alexandra Adams, chief policy officer for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “Much of the Trump administration’s efforts to gut the work of the federal government has run aground in the courts, because they violate the law. Many of these actions will be challenged as well, and we expect that federal judges will continue to block illegal executive actions.”