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2025
The Trump Administration informs NOAA it will cancel leases on key buildings
Agency: NOAA
Status: Announced

According to media reports, the Trump administration informed officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that it would be canceling leases on buildings that house critical forecasting services. On the lease-cancelation list is the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction in College Park, MD, which provides the public with weather, climate, and water forecasts.

Hundreds fired as layoffs begin at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Agency: NOAA
Status: In Effect
Via: Guidance

On Thursday, February 27, about 800 employees at NOAA, the agency responsible for the nation’s bedrock weather, climate, fisheries, and marine research, were fired in the latest round of Trump administration-led layoffs. The layoffs could jeopardize NOAA’s ability to provide life-saving severe weather forecasts, long-term climate monitoring, deep-sea research and fisheries management, and other essential research and policy.

Trump expects to cut 65% of EPA staff

At the first Cabinet meeting of his second term, Trump said EPA Administrator Zeldin planned to cut more than half the agency’s workforce: "[Zeldin] thinks he’s going to be cutting 65 or so percent of the people from environmental."

GGRF Director Placed on Administrative Leave
Agency: EPA
Status: In Effect
Via: Guidance

According to media reports, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has put the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) director on administrative leave. The GGRF is a $27 billion federal financing program that addresses the climate crisis and is injecting billions of dollars in local economic development projects to lower energy prices and reduce pollution especially in the rural, urban, and Indigenous communities most impacted by climate change and frequently left behind by mainstream finance. Climate Action Campaign Director Margie Alt released this statement.

FEMA staff advised to scrub "changing climate" and other climate terms from documents
Agency: FEMA
Status: Announced
Via: Memorandum

A Federal Emergency Management Agency memo listed 10 climate-related words and phrases, including "changing climate," “climate resilience,” and “net zero," to be removed from FEMA documents. The memo comes after USDA workers were ordered to scrub mentions of climate change from websites.

Trump directs agencies to make deregulation recommendations to DOGE
Agency: White House
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Trump issues executive order directing agencies to work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to make recommendations that will accelerate Trump’s efforts to dismantle regulations across the federal government as part of his 10 out, 1 in policy. Among the protections likely to be in DOGE’s crosshairs are those that keep polluters from ignoring environmental laws and protect clean air and water.

Zeldin recommends striking endangerment finding
Agency: EPA
Status: Announced
Via: Memorandum

After Trump’s "Unleashing American Energy" executive order, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has told the White House he would recommend rescinding the bedrock justification defining six climate pollutants – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride – as air pollution to be regulated by the Clean Air Act.

Trump administration moves to rescind all CEQ regulatory authority
Agency: CEQ
Status: In Effect
Via: Rulemaking

The Trump administration has moved to rescind the Council on Environmental Quality’s role in crafting and implementing environmental regulations, revoking all CEQ orders since 1977 that shape how federal agencies comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which requires the government to consider and disclose environmental impacts of its actions.

Trump issues order stripping independent agencies of independence
Agency: FERC, SEC, White House
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Trump signed an executive order stripping independent regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of their independence, moving them to submit proposed rules and final regulations for review by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and granting the attorney general exclusive authority over legal interpretations of rules. The order is likely to be challenged as Congress created these agencies specifically to be insulated from White House interference.

Trump creates White House energy "dominance" council
Agency: White House
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

An executive order forming a council of top government officials to be chaired by two staunch fossil fuel executives proponents: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a noted clean energy skeptic, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, formerly a fracking executive. While its stated goal is to "expand all forms of reliable and affordable" energy, it notably does not name two of the most abundant, affordable, and fastest growing forms of energy – wind and solar – on the lengthy and fossil-fuel dominated list of energy sources the council is instructed to promote.

EPA fires hundreds of staff
Agency: EPA
Status: In Effect
Via: Memorandum

The Trump administration’s relentless assault on science and career expertise at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continued today with the firing of almost 400 staff who had ‘probationary’ status.

DOE issues the first LNG export authorization under new Trump administration
Agency: Energy
Status: In Effect
Via: Authorization

DOE Secretary Wright issued an export authorization for the Commonwealth LNG project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, despite a 2024 DOE report finding that unfettered LNG exports increase energy bills and climate pollution.

Fossil fuel lobbyists tapped for key roles
Agency: Energy, EPA, Interior
Status: Announced
Via: Nomination

Trump nominated fossil fuel industry insiders for positions overseeing energy development and land use. Kathleen Sgamma, the nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management leads a Denver-based oil and gas industry trade group that has strongly opposed regulations on oil and gas on public lands. Jessica Kramer, tapped to lead the EPA’s Office of Water, previously represented major energy companies, mining companies, and water trade group working against regulations under the Clean Water Act. Audrey Robertson, Trump’s pick to oversee energy efficiency and renewable energy at DOE, is the co-founder of an oil producer and served on the board of Liberty Energy, founded by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

SEC starts process to kill climate disclosure rule
Agency: SEC
Status: In Effect
Via: Memorandum

The acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission paused the government’s legal defense of a rule requiring companies to identify the impact of their business on climate in regulatory findings. The rule was challenged in court by 19 Republican state attorneys general and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s Liberty Energy, among others.

Transportation Department orders freeze of EV charging infrastructure program
Agency: Transportation
Status: In Effect
Via: Memorandum

A Transportation Department memo ordered the suspension of $5 billion in federal funding, authorized by Congress under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, for states to build electric vehicle chargers.

EPA plans closure of environmental justice office
Agency: EPA
Status: In Effect
Via: Memorandum

Trump appointees announced the planned closer of EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights and placed 168 employees who work on implementing environmental justice and civil rights initiatives on leave.

Army Corps of Engineers halts approval of renewables
Agency: Defense
Status: In Effect
Via: Guidance

The Army Corps of Engineers singled out 168 projects – those that focused on renewable energy projects – out of about 11,000 pending permits for projects on private land. Though the hold was lifted, it was not immediately clear if permitting had resumed.

Energy secretary announces review of appliance efficiency standards
Agency: Energy
Status: Announced
Via: Sec Order

Energy Secretary Wright ordered a review of appliance standards following Trump’s Day One order attacking rules improving the efficiency of household appliances such as toilets, showerheads, and lightbulbs as part of a secretarial order intended to increase the extraction and use of fossil fuels.

Interior secretary weakens public lands protections in favor of fossil fuel development
Agency: Interior
Status: In Effect
Via: Sec Order

After Trump’s "Unleashing American Energy" executive order, Interior Secretary Burgum ordered the reinstatement of fossil fuel leases, opened more land for drilling, and issued orders weakening protections of public lands, national monuments and endangered species, and overturned advanced clean energy and climate mitigation strategies.

EPA plans to fire 1,100+ staff
Agency: EPA
Status: Announced
Via: Memorandum

More than a thousand Environmental Protection Agency employees received a letter saying they could be fired at any time. These EPA staff work on climate change, air pollution, and environmental enforcement programs, many of which were created by Congress in the past two years, to help clean up toxic sites, replace lead pipes, and fund clean energy projects – and will likely have an outsize impact on employees working on environmental justice programs.

Trump requires removal 10 existing rules for every new rule
Agency: Executive Branch
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

The order requires that when an agency finalizes a new regulation or guidance they identify 10 existing rules to be cut. This gift for polluters threatens public safety, health, and the environment.

Trump orders tariffs against trading partners
Agency: White House
Status: Announced
Via: Executive Order

Trump imposed tariffs on several key trading partners, with severe implications for the supply chains for wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles. Though the some of the tariffs, on Canada and Mexico, were delayed one month, the unstable trade environment could nevertheless hurt the economy and U.S. workers.

Trump administration scrubs "climate change" from federal websites
Agency: Agriculture, EPA
Status: In Effect
Via: Memorandum

Mentions of climate change have been removed from federal websites such the Department of Agriculture,
which includes the Forest Service and climate-smart agriculture programs, and the EPA. The move appears to be part of a broader effort to remove content and pages on issues such as climate change, gun violence, accessibility, reproductive rights, and more.

EPA Illegally Suspends Solar For All Grants
Agency: EPA
Status: In Effect
Via: Memorandum

The EPA halted $7 billion in contractually obligated grants for Solar For All, an Inflation Reduction Act program that delivers clean energy and lower prices to vulnerable communities

EPA’s Science Advisory Panel Members Fired
Agency: EPA
Status: In Effect
Via: Memorandum

Acting EPA administrator James Payne dismisses members of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and Science Advisory Board, which provides independent expertise to the agency on air quality standards and sources of air pollution.

Illegal freeze of all federal grants and loans
Agency: OMB
Status: Rescinded
Via: Memorandum

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issues illegal freeze of all federal loans and grants, risking programs providing heating assistance to low-income families, creating clean energy jobs, aiding climate disaster victims, and more. The order was rescinded after significant public outcry.

Attack on federal workers
Agency: Personnel Manangement
Status: Announced
Via: Memorandum

Reclassifies tens of thousands of federal employees as at-will workers, making them easier to fire. This action politicizes essential government functions and the federal workers who support them, sidelining or silencing experts in charge of making decisions that impact the health of communities across the nation.

Trump threatens to hold California wildfire aid hostage unless the state changes water management policy to benefit his golf course and passes restrictive voting laws.

Trump announces plans to eliminate or overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

"FEMA has turned out to be a disaster … I think we recommend that FEMA go away."

Expands Offshore Oil Drilling
Agency: Interior
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Reopens U.S. coastlines to offshore drilling.

Terminate American Climate Corps
Agency: White House
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Ends all programs of the American Climate Corps, which created thousands of jobs combatting climate change and protecting and restoring public lands.

Freezes New Wind Energy Leases
Agency: Interior
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Withdraws wind energy leasing from U.S. waters and federal lands.

Open Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other Alaska Lands for Drilling
Agency: Interior
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Reopens sensitive federal lands and waters in Alaska to drilling.

Attacks NEPA Protections
Agency: CEQ
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Rescinds order requiring White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to assess environmental and community impacts and allow community input into federal infrastructure projects.

Attacks Climate and Clean Energy Investments
Agency: EPA, OMB
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order
Trump’s Action: Freezes unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and directs agencies to reassess.
Resumes LNG Permitting
Agency: Energy
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order
Trump’s Action: Expedites LNG export terminal approval over analysis finding exports raises energy costs for consumers.
Attacks on Clean Car Standards
Agency: EPA, Highway Safety
Status: Announced
Via: Executive Order
Trump’s Action: Clean car standards require automakers to reduce tailpipe pollution from vehicles beginning in 2027.
Revokes Biden Climate Crisis and Environmental Justice Executive Actions
Agency: White House
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Reverses U.S. commitment to fight climate change and its impacts, and protect overburdened communities.

Withdrawal from Paris Climate Agreement
Agency: White House
Status: In Effect
Trump’s Action: Reverses the US' international commitment to tackling climate change and reducing pollution.
Energy Emergency Declaration
Agency: White House
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Authorizes federal government to expedite permitting and approval of fossil fuel, infrastructure, and mining projects and circumvent Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act requirements.

Freeze All In Progress Standards
Agency: White House
Status: In Effect
Via: Executive Order

Freezes in-progress climate, clean air and consumer protections.

No More Windmills

“We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built,"

Trump said during a wide-ranging press conference at Mar-a-Lago.

2024
Pay to Play

Trump promises expedited permits and environmental reviews for companies who pay $1 billion