Cuts, chaos and consequences

The Climate, Health & Equity Brief is GMMB’s take on the latest news on the current impacts of climate change. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so by clicking here.

Hot Topic: A blind eye. As the nation endures another summer of scorching heat and reels from the loss of life in deadly floods in Texas, New Mexico and North Carolina, Mr. Trump’s sweeping new law, signed July 4, is set to make things worse. It guts climate action and boosts fossil fuel expansion as Americans are increasingly forced to reckon with the escalating toll of a warming world.

Framed by the GOP as a win for “freedom” and “energy dominance,” the law:

• Rescinds up to $30 billion in IRA-authorized climate funds from the EPA
• Mandates new oil and gas lease sales on U.S. public lands
• Phases out tax credits for wind and solar starting in 2026, potentially cutting renewable growth by up to 50%
• Ends the $7,500 EV tax credit after September 2025
• Eliminates home energy efficiency credits after 2025
• Extends ethanol and crop-based fuel subsidies while loosening their emissions standards
• Lowers the fees that coal companies have to pay to mine on public land
• Adds new tax breaks for oil, gas, and metallurgical coal producers
• Delays methane leak penalties by 10 years

Taken together, these changes lock in fossil fuel dependence, gut clean energy support, and weaken the very agency tasked with protecting Americans from environmental harm. And all of this comes as devastating flash floods have taken at least 130 lives in recent days—the latest urgent warnings from a climate already in crisis.

Yet more than a third of FEMA’s full-time staff have been cut, weakening the federal backbone for disaster preparedness and recovery. More than 600 NOAA and National Weather Service positions were eliminated under DOGE, hollowing out our front line for weather forecasting and emergency alerts. And the White House has proposed an additional $1.8 billion in cuts to NOAA in the FY26 budget, including the elimination of the labs responsible for tracking hurricanes, heatwaves, and long-range forecasts—cuts that will blind us in an era of escalating risk.

As these decisions accumulate, Americans are left with a federal government less willing or able to respond to emergencies that are becoming the new normal. This is not just negligence, it’s a willful failure of leadership. And when future disasters destroy American communities and there is little federal support for their recovery, the results won’t just be tragic. They will be indefensible.

Human Health

At least 120 people are confirmed dead and 173 remain missing after record, rapid rainfall caused catastrophic flooding across Central Texas, prompting intense scrutiny over delayed warnings and disaster preparedness. (The New York Times)

A new review of 42 studies conducted between 1985 and 2024 across 14 countries found that climate-related environmental factors such as air pollution and extreme weather may be increasing the frequency and severity of eczema in adults. (Air Quality News)

Europe reported 304 cases of dengue fever in 2024—more than the previous 15 years combined—driven by warming that extends disease seasons, expands the range of mosquitoes, and risks reviving ancient pathogens from melting permafrost. (France24)

In a groundbreaking NIH study, scientists have linked air pollution to DNA-level mutations in the lung tumors of non-smokers, providing the strongest genomic evidence yet that polluted air directly drives lung cancer and may be more damaging than secondhand smoke. (Inside Climate News)

Beryllium, which is linked to cancer and deadly lung disease even at minuscule concentrations in the air, was found in dozens of homes in the Palisades and Eaton fire zones in Los Angeles, marking its first detection in homes at scale. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Planetary Health

A recent study examining Earth’s energy imbalance has found that our planet has trapped more energy than it has released over the past 20 years, outpacing climate model projections and indicating that global warming may be accelerating faster than previously understood. (The Conversation)

Melting glaciers triggered by climate change may be setting off more volcanic eruptions, scientists warn, creating a dangerous feedback loop in which ice loss unleashes magma, eruptions release more greenhouse gases, and warming accelerates even further. (Fast Company)

Equity

A sweeping new analysis of over 50,000 studies finds that climate research on cities is overwhelmingly focused on large, wealthy cities in the Global North, leaving rapidly growing urban centers in Africa and Asia vastly underrepresented despite facing some of the world’s highest climate risks. (Carbon Brief)

More than a third of Tuvalu’s 11,000 residents have applied for Australia’s new climate visa as rising seas threaten to submerge much of the Pacific island nation within decades. (NBC News)

Politics & Economy

Administration Watch:

• President Trump has directed the Treasury Department to limit eligibility for wind and solar tax credits and ordered the Interior Department to rescind policies favoring renewable energy. (The Hill)
• The U.S. Department of Defense announced it will stop sharing satellite data used to track polar sea ice at the end of this month. (The Guardian)
• The Trump administration has begun moves to reopen over 2,600 square miles of public land in Montana and Wyoming to coal leasing. (AP News)
• The EPA placed 144 employees on paid leave and opened an investigation after they signed a letter accusing the Trump administration of politicizing the agency. (The New York Times)
• The administration shut down the U.S. Global Change Research Program website, removing public access to key congressionally mandated climate reports. (The Los Angeles Times)
• The U.S. Energy Department has hired at least three scientists known for rejecting mainstream climate science, according to internal records. (The New York Times)

The Big Bill passed by Congress and now signed into law repeals tax credits for wind, solar, EVs and home energy efficiency; removes incentives for U.S. clean energy manufacturing; expands oil and gas leasing; delays methane penalties for a decade, and offers new tax breaks for coal and fossil fuel drilling. (The New York Times)

MethaneSAT, the Environmental Defense Fund’s satellite designed to measure methane emissions from oil and gas sites worldwide, has been lost in space just one year into its expected five-year lifespan. (The New York Times)

As catastrophic flooding hit Texas, staff shortages at key Weather Service offices and sweeping federal cuts under the Trump administration, including layoffs at NOAA and plans to phase out FEMA, left communities with fewer tools to forecast, warn, or recover from the disaster. (The New York Times, San Antonio Current)

More than 20 nonprofits, Tribes, and municipalities are suing the EPA in D.C. federal court, alleging the Trump administration unlawfully canceled $3 billion in congressionally approved climate and environmental justice grants, violating the separation of powers and jeopardizing local resilience projects. (Inside Climate News)

Breaking with years of precedent that kept extremists from powerful roles, the European Parliament has handed the far-right Patriots for Europe control of negotiations on the EU’s 2040 climate target, giving Green Deal opponents significant new influence over the bloc’s emissions strategy. (EuroNews)

Action

Japan has launched its third Greenhouse Gas and Water Cycle satellite to aid climate monitoring and support the UN’s Global Greenhouse Gas Watch. (AP News)

Atlanta is the most recent U.S. city to mandate reflective “cool roofs” on all new buildings, a cost-effective measure projected to lower city temperatures, reduce energy bills, and improve public health, especially in the most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods. (Grist)

Life as We Know It

New research from Dalhousie University in Halifax has found that climate change skeptics tend to rank higher on scales of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, suggesting that personality may play a key role in shaping people’s climate beliefs. (CBC News)

As climate change fuels stronger hurricanes, coastal homeowners across the U.S. are turning to hurricane-resistant designs, such as aerodynamic homes that are equipped with flood vents and can withstand winds up to 190 miles per hour. (CBS News)

Kicker

Worried about the impact of recent legislation on your wallet? Check out some ways to put climate-friendly tax credits to use before they’re fully rescinded.

“This bill is a big, ugly betrayal.”

-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

The GMMB Climate, Health & Equity Brief would not be possible without the contributions of the larger GMMB team—Catherine Ahmad, Stefana Hendronetto, Nikki Melamed, Sharde Olabanji, Kenzie Perrow and Marci Welford. Feedback on the Brief is welcome and encouraged and should be sent to [email protected].