Taking stock: Project 2025's progress on reversing climate actions and protections.

As promised, Trump has relied on executive orders to slash Biden climate policies and give oil and gas companies carte blanche to frack and drill away. Sally O'Driscoll reports.

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UPDATES: PROJECT 2025’s IMPACT ON CLIMATE ISSUES

By Sally O’Driscoll

Editorial Team, Resisting Project 2025

In the spring of 2024, we posted summaries of how Project 2025 would affect seventeen different groups of people and the issues they’re most concerned about. Now that Project 2025’s Key Proposals are almost 80% implemented, per our recent assessment (see our story “How far along are we with Project 2025?”), it’s time to take another look at the fallout.

Below we assess the implementation of Project 2025’s agenda so far as it relates to the environment and climate change, an issue that Trump and many of the far-right conservative authors of Project 20205 deny is real. As we noted in our 100-day round-up, Trump is so far ruling by fiat: the vast majority of all the policy changes his team are by Executive Orders (EOs). Despite Project 2025’s explicit promise to govern through Congress, the president’s pen has been the weapon used to radically change policy. Many of these EOs have been challenged in court, and a growing number have been ruled as unconstitutional. But Trump continues to defy Congress and is railing against the courts.

The use of the autocrat’s pen reveals a central hypocrisy within Project 2025. It strongly advocates consolidating power in the executive branch, and giving the president unprecedented powers (referred to as “executive unitary theory”). But here and there, it gives lip service to Congress having oversight on the president’s power:

Stopping executive overreach. Congress should set policy—not Presidents through pen- and-phone executive orders, and not agencies through regulations and guidance. National emergency declarations should expire absent express congressional authorization within 60 days after the date of the declaration” (pg. 323).

The attacks and reversals to date:

The summary in our original 2024 article focused on these key proposals in Project 2025:

• All Biden climate policies should be reversed.

• Climate change is a myth, not a problem, and any claims otherwise are “fear-based rhetoric” propagated by “environmental extremists” and “climate fanatics.”

• The concept of climate change is an “unprovoked war on fossil fuels” (pg. 286) that will kill the US economy (pg. 270); it is an excuse for over-regulation and for restricting the freedom of Americans to make their own choices.

• The EPA should dismantle all attempts to address climate change and challenge the accepted scientific position on the effect of human activities on the climate.

• There should be more fracking and drilling, and an end to subsidies for electric vehicles or alternative energy.

• The US should withdraw from all international climate treaties and negotiations.

12 DIRECT ATTACKS:

Up to May 22, 2025, Trump has signed 12 Executive Orders (EOs) that have a direct, major impact on climate change (other important EOs rescind Biden policies). These EOs are being challenged in court, but if they are implemented the end result will be a “Blitzkrieg” that will destroy “protections in place for land, oceans, forests and wildlife, and will worsen the climate crisis.”

1. Creating an “energy emergency”

• EO 14156: “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” claims that “an affordable and reliable domestic supply of energy is a fundamental requirement for the national and economic security of any nation.” The EO claims to lower energy prices for consumers by using emergency powers to increase production, including possible exemptions from the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In this definition, “The term `energy’ or `energy resources’ means crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals.” The definition does not include wind, solar, or other alternative energy sources.

• On April 3, Brooke Rollins added another emergency in a memorandum (an addition to EO 14225, below) in which she claims that the National Forest Service is in a crisis due to wildfires; her declaration of an emergency situation allows her agency, the Department of Agriculture, to bypass rules controlling logging. Her justification has been refuted by some environmentalists.

Results of the first Executive Order: specific harms

• Declaring an “emergency” allows the administration to bypass current legislation without referring to Congress. The Brennan Center for Justice outlines 150 statutory powers that become available to the president once an emergency has been declared. The second category of EOs (below) rely on this initial declaration of emergency.

2. Deregulation and expansion of energy sources

The second set of EOs use the rationale of the “energy emergency” to focus on deregulation and the expansion of all forms of energy production, making the claim that regulations and restrictions have damaged the economy and raised prices for Americans. The EOs specifically target state and federal lands to be opened up to drilling and fracking, and use emergency powers to bypass the Endangered Species Act.

• EO 14013 reverses all Biden climate policies; Trump also removed top Biden officials at the Environmental Protection Agency and in other climate-related positions.

• EO 14236 rescinds a Biden policy encouraging renewable energy.

• EO 14153: “Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential” calls for developing Alaska’s resources (energy, mineral, timber, and seafood) “to the fullest extent possible.”

• EO 14154: “Unleashing American Energy” is designed to get rid of “burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations” that have “impeded the development of these resources.” The policy designated in this EO adds waters to the expansion of drilling and fracking, in particular the Outer Continental Shelf.

• EO 14213: Establishes the National Energy Dominance Council, whose goal is to “expand all forms of reliable and affordable energy production.”

• EO 14225: “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production.” In order to bypass the Endangered Species Act, “Agencies are directed to use, to the maximum extent permissible under applicable law, the ESA regulations on consultations in emergencies to facilitate the Nation's timber production.”

• EO 14260: “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach” aims at ending enforcement of state laws and policies that address climate change, environmental justice, and climate pollution.

• EO 14261: “Reinvigorating America's Beautiful Clean Coal Industry” deregulates environmental curbs on coal production, including on federal lands.

• EO 14270: “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy” deregulates all forms of energy production, including nuclear reactor development.

• EO 14285: “Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources” pushes for mining of minerals from the sea floor, including beyond national boundaries.

  

Results of the second set of Executive Orders: specific harms:

• End of data collection: On May 5, 2025, the Trump administration directed all federal agencies to stop calculating the economic effects of climate change when writing regulations (“the social cost of carbon”). Policy makers will no longer have access that information to include in their calculations. The American Petroleum Institute is one group that has lobbied against measuring economic effects.

• Climate change is no longer considered a security risk: US intelligence agencies’ annual threat assessment omitted mention of climate change for the first time in more than a decade. Military and intelligence agencies were among the first executive branch bodies to formally recognize climate change as a "threat multiplier," in 2007, noting that extreme weather and climate impacts are destabilizing and can exacerbate security risks. Staff cuts across agencies: EO 14251: “Exclusions for Federal Labor-Management Programs” allows the Trump administration to make major staff cuts at many agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where hundreds of workers have been fired. NOAA’s research on climate modeling is critical to the US defense systems. Cutting NOAA will make the US less safe.

• NOAA will no longer track severe weather occurrences that have become more common as the earth warms.

• The Trump budget currently under consideration would eliminate NOOA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and the research labs associated with it. This would put an end to important weather, climate, and air quality research, including improved ability to forecast hurricanes. Anyone living in a coastal area that is subject to hurricanes will be affected. Without accurate forecasts, more loss of life will be likely. With scientific research halted, there will be no more data collection of CO2 levels (a major indicator of climate change).

• NOAA has stopped providing translations for weather forecasts in 30 major cities; Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, etc. translations will no longer be provided.

• Renewable energy will no longer be funded: Trump rescinded a Biden-era proclamation encouraging the development of renewable energy (e.g., ended all wind energy permits). The current Trump budget bill would cut “billions of dollars” from projects on renewable energy, electric vehicles, and programs that address climate change.

• Climate justice will no longer be considered: Trump has dismantled the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC). Environmental justice, as defined by the EPA, is “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, culture, national origin, income, or educational levels, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of protective environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” The contaminated water of Flint, Michigan, is an illustration of the importance of environmental justice.

• Opening up pristine lands for energy production and development, including the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

• Oil drilling will be deregulated (but that will not lower oil prices): Expansion of oil drilling is moving quickly. As the New York Post put it approvingly, “The Interior Department is helping to increase oil production in the newly renamed Gulf of America by 100,000 barrels per day under a new policy following President Trump’s executive order aimed at `Unleashing American Energy.’” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that “all offshore oil drilling in the Gulf will now be able to tap multiple reservoirs at the same time – and at far higher pressure than previously allowed – to immediately boost output by around 10%.”

  • However, despite the opening of previously protected federal lands to drilling, few believe this will achieve its stated goal of lowering the price of oil. (Before the election, Trump claimed he would “cut your energy prices in half within 12 months.”) However, increased production would actually drive prices down so that oil companies may not ramp up production because they would not be able to cover the costs of new drilling.

3. A third category of Executive Orders focuses on US withdrawal from international environmental agreements and policies:

• EO 14162: “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements” withdraws the US from international agreements such as the Paris Accords because they “do not reflect our country's values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives.” They also supposedly direct US taxpayer dollars to countries that do not need them. Iran, Libya, and Yemen also withdrew.

Results of the third set of Executive Orders: specific harms:

• Greenhouse gas emissions: In 2018, the US had the highest per capita production of greenhouse gas emissions; international agreements are aimed at lowering emissions, but the US will no longer work on reduction. In fact, it was announced that the EPA will no longer document the US level of greenhouses gases produced by refineries and industrial plants or report them to the global monitoring group that tallies international levels. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the reporting was “burdensome,” and bad for the US economy.

• Reverse Biden policy: rescind all climate policies from US foreign aid programs that advocate what Project 2025 calls “climate fanaticism.” USAID has canceled more than 150 climate and clean energy contracts and grants valued at $1.2 billion. Those programs helped many countries to improve their resilience to severe weather; without this help, many more people will be forced to migrate as environmental disasters become more common.

NOTE: As of 5/22/25, the Departments of Energy and Agriculture have not updated their websites, which still argue that climate change is real and should be addressed. The USDA site says: “Effective beginning 5/20/2025: Please note this site is under review and content may change.”

FIGHTING BACK

An image from the Sun Day campaign – that invites people to create images to complete their template of a Sun….

Image: Sun Day campaign

Long before Trump resumed office on January 20^th, environmental activists ramped up protests to counter Project 2025’s planned reversals of climate treaties, laws and other initiatives to safeguard our planet and its natural resources. Below are a selection of recent protests and ongoing campaigns, and further below, a list of some key groups leading this US climate resistance. Of note, longtime climate activist and journalist Bill McKibben continues to closely track Trump’s environmental policies at his Substack. Highly recommended.

• A celebration of Sun Day to show that the world can now be powered by renewable energy instead of fossil fuels: September 20-21 (autumnal equinox).*

• Arguing against exporting LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) – which Japan is now importing despite its high pollution levels.*

• Checking in on the banks: a new tool to follow which banks are investing in clean, renewable energy.* Environmental Advocates is also making plans to hold the banks responsible for their carbon emissions.

• In April, Climate Group held its fifth international conference on climate change, including nonprofits, governments, and business joining discussion on how to address climate change.

Hundreds of people lined the street with signs in protest of Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the Mad River Valley in Waitsfield on March 1. Cars driving past honked in support or showcased signage of their own.

Photo by Evan L’Roy/VTDigger

In Vermont, a seasonal employee at Sugarbush whose job is to give updates on snow conditions used her platform to call out JD Vance when he showed up to ski: she listed all the things he (as part of the administration) has done to ruin Sugarbush and the people who love it. Brave!*

And here’s a win! Farmers sue to get climate data restored. The farmers argued that they needed the data (on federal funding and loans, clean energy, and forest conservations) in order to plan their farming. As of May 21, the data was being restored.

*Thanks to Bill McKibben

Wes Gillingham, shown here working at the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, is a plaintiff in the farmers' lawsuit and raises livestock in Livingston Manor, NY.

Photo: Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

Earth Day 2025 (April 22) saw global demonstrations.

Extinction Rebellion organized a protest at the British Insurance Brokers’ Association Conference on May 14.

Resources for reading about protests and ways to take action:

Climate Protest Tracker

Earth Day 2025

Extinction Rebellion

Greenpeace

Hands Off!

League of Conservation Voters

350.org

Rainforest Trust

Ocean Conservancy

The Climate Initiative

EarthJustice

Sierra Club

More resources:

You can also find other groups and initiatives taking action on climate and other planet protections, as well as https://resistingproject2025.org/toolkits-climate-earth-justice-green-energyy at our campaign website.

New Videos:

We also have several short videos from recent interviews and conversations related to Project 2025’s implementation and the resistance to it.

• Sally O’Driscoll talks to veteran grassroots organizer L.A. Kauffman about the state of nationwide mobilization against Trump 2.0. and the importance of big-tent strategic organizing. On our You Tube channel.

• Anne-christine d’Adesky talks to Dean Obeidallah )at The Dean Obeidallah Show) about Project 2025’s progress to date and reviews key resistance and victories.

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