Trump 2.0: A strategic assault on U.S. climate ambitions
Climate, Health and Equity Brief

Trump 2.0: A strategic assault on U.S. climate ambitions

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: Here we go. While Donald Trump has been president for just a few days, his administration has wasted no time signaling a hard pivot from the era of environmental protection and climate action to a federal ethos of “drill, baby, drill.”

Among Trump’s first actions were several that took immediate effect: Declaring an “energy emergency” to accelerate fossil fuel production, halting spending under climate legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, suspending offshore wind development, resuming approvals for new natural gas exports, and revoking restrictions on offshore drilling in federal waters.

While Trump’s executive order that federal agencies terminate environmental justice offices and initiatives takes effect immediately, its implementation will depend on the administrative processes within each agency. And his executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement—signed within hours of his inauguration—requires a mandatory one-year waiting period before the withdrawal takes effect.

The administration and/or Congress must take further action to cement Trump’s efforts to weaken environmental protections on federal land, curb clean energy and EV adoption initiatives, and roll back renewable energy policies. However, in many cases, implementation is only a matter of time.

This litany of actions points to a shift in Trump’s second administration—one that appears more methodical, sweeping, and organized than last time. This fact—coupled with the reality that conservatives control all branches of government and oil executives and climate skeptics hold the most significant environmental positions in the administration—underscores the gravity of the challenges ahead on the environmental front.

At the same time, there are rays of hope. Many U.S. states and cities have and will continue to implement their own climate policies, independent of federal directives. The U.S. Climate Alliance, comprised of 24 governors representing 55% of the U.S. population and nearly 60% of the U.S. economy, has pledged to “continue America’s work to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and slash climate pollution.” And even as Trump remains determined to hitch America’s fortunes to fossil-fuel-driven manufacturing, the clean energy revolution has a global, market-driven momentum that will be difficult to slow.

It is these things we must remember as we endure the onslaught of daily headlines and continue this critical fight.


Human Health

As wildfires increasingly ravage urban areas, firefighters face heightened cancer risks from toxic chemical exposure in smoke, with outdated respiratory protections failing to meet the demands of intensifying blazes and effective solutions still years away. (E&E News)

Scientists exploring the relationship between climate change and neurological health found that neurological diseases disproportionately impact low-income countries with environmental extremes, which they say can disrupt brain systems and increase vulnerability to conditions such as stroke and epilepsy. (News-medical.net)

Planetary Health

Driven by a housing boom and lower costs of living, millions of Americans are migrating to “wildland-urban interface” areas—fire-prone yet rapidly growing exurban communities that border forests, grasslands, and shrublands—resulting in a significant increase in wildfire risk. (The New York Times)

A new analysis published in Nature highlights the exponential rise of climate “whiplash”—rapid transitions between extreme wet and dry conditions—which are intensifying disasters and straining water systems, disaster management, emergency response, and public health infrastructure ill-equipped for such volatile extremes. (The Guardian)

Scientists say the Mediterranean is warming 20% faster than the global average, fueling record-breaking floods like those in Libya last year, where extreme rainfall driven by warming seas claimed more than 13,200 lives. (The New York Times)

Equity

President Trump issued executive orders instructing federal agencies to terminate environmental justice offices and positions and end the Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative, which prioritized equity in federal programs related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, public transit and clean water infrastructure. (Axios, Grist)

The unprecedented global heat of 2024 fueled severe health crises in the Global South, including deadly air pollution in India, wildfire smoke in Brazil, and rising meningitis cases in Nigeria, all exacerbated by climate-driven heat domes and extreme weather patterns. (Mongabay)

Politics & Economy

Within his first few hours in office, Donald Trump announced executive actions to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, expand fossil fuel production, reverse clean energy initiatives and repeal electric vehicle mandates despite scientific consensus on climate change. (CNN)

In contrast to Donald Trump’s dismantling of climate initiatives and withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, China hit its 2030 renewables target six years early and continues to position itself as the next global renewable energy leader. (Bloomberg)

Southern California’s ongoing wildfires, with damages exceeding $250 billion, are pushing up electricity bills across the state as utilities pass on costs to consumers, highlighting the broad financial toll of climate disasters and sparking calls for fossil fuel companies to share responsibility. (POLITICO)

Congressional Republicans are considering making federal emergency aid for California’s wildfire relief contingent upon “vague” state policy changes on reservoirs and forest management, sparking backlash from Democrats who accuse them of playing politics with disaster assistance. (POLITICO)

The Federal Reserve announced its withdrawal from an international climate-focused central banking group, citing concerns about scope creep beyond its mandate, reflecting pressures from Republican critics and the Trump Administration. (AP)

Climate change continues to upend home insurance norms in the U.S., causing rates to skyrocket, prompting multiple insurers to cancel renewals and refuse to issue new policies, and leaving many Americans without coverage, exposing them to financial ruin. (NPR, The New York Times)

new report finds that the global economy could lose 50% of its GDP between 2070 and 2090 due to catastrophic climate impacts like extreme weather and ecosystem degradation, warning that current economic models used by political leaders underestimate the risks of “planetary insolvency.” (The Guardian)

The American Conservation Coalition, a young conservative climate advocacy group, is showing a growing influence on the GOP by promoting market-driven climate solutions while maintaining support for, and ties with, the fossil fuel industry. (Grist)

An investigation revealed that The Heartland Institute, a U.S. think tank with ties to the Trump administration and ExxonMobil, has been working with far-right European parties in the past two years to coordinate the efforts of climate skeptics and cast doubt on climate science. (The Guardian)

Action

A new study found that once scaled up, the carbon dioxide removal industry could introduce up to 135,000 jobs in the U.S. annually and have a broad range of positive impacts, including improving soil health and crop productivity and reducing wildfire risks. (Carbon Herald)

Studies show that efforts to protect surf breaks worldwide safeguard ecosystems that store carbon, sustain biodiversity, and support coastal livelihoods while promoting sustainable tourism and environmental stewardship in vulnerable communities. (Grist)

Google has signed a contract with carbon removal startup Charm Industrial to remove 100,000 tons of CO2 by 2030 using biochar, a material produced from biomass, highlighting a growing interest in innovative climate change mitigation methods. (Axios)

The San Francisco Environment Department unveiled a new Healthy Resilient Homes Project to electrify affordable housing, improve energy efficiency and reduce costs for low-income renters while providing a model for equitable access to clean energy resources. (Inside Climate News)

Life as We Know It

Unseasonably warm winters are shortening beloved ice fishing seasons across the Upper Midwest and disrupting winter tourism, endangering safety on thinner ice, and threatening the economies of communities reliant on cold-weather recreation. (Inside Climate News)

Kicker

Want to better understand the Southern California wildfires? In charts, graphs and powerful photos, The Washington Post details how a new kind of urban Firestorm came to be.

If you don’t believe in science, believe your own damn eyes.”
– California Governor Gavin Newsom

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