Over the summer, President Trump implemented a series of environmental policies that appear to target the efficacy of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is taking shape through a campaign against current EPA projects, regulations, funding and changing the objectives of the EPA. 

Trump has reduced federal focus on environmental protection, starting with the removal of the environmental section on the White House website. Currently, the only mention of environmental issues is a section labeled “Make America Affordable and Energy Dominant Again”, which references a cancellation of all “regulations that impose undue burdens on energy production and use.” 

The EPA’s endangerment finding

In late July, the Trump administration proposed a revocation of the “endangerment finding.” This is a 2009 EPA declaration that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health, and are resulting from new motor vehicles. The removal of this finding from federal legislation will reduce regulations on the oil and gas industry, on power plants and on gas-powered vehicles for the purposes of decreasing “hidden costs” on U.S. families. 

The new EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, was nominated by Donald Trump, and has been serving since January of this year. 

Zeldin commented on the revocation of the “endangerment finding”, stating, “Today is the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen. We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down the cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more.” 

Crystal Dixon, an associate professor in the Environment & Sustainability program at Wake Forest, said this revocation will be harmful to public health, particularly for marginalized communities.

“The endangerment finding was groundbreaking and created the connection between greenhouse gases and public health outcomes,” Dixon said, “and dismantling that is going to wreak havoc on the lives and outcomes of many people—particularly those who are in low-income, black, brown and indigenous communities.”

Renewable energy production

The Trump administration has also targeted efforts towards renewable energy production. In early August, the EPA announced that it would be terminating the $7 billion “Solar for All” program, which was designed to work with programs around the country that bring solar energy to underprivileged communities. 

The dissolution of this program is due, in part, to the passing of the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, which is also responsible for funding cuts to the National Forest System, reducing restrictions on oil and gas extraction, and rescinding funding for the Inflation Reduction Act—a 2022 law that invested in clean energy initiatives. 

These are only some of the recent changes to environmental policy at the federal level. It has been a summer of revisions in legislation concerning emissions, renewable energy, microplastics and water quality. 

Gutting the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP)

The EPA is also moving to end the GHGRP, which is responsible for collecting information about greenhouse emissions from power plants and industrial facilities. Ending this program would halt reporting obligations for these facilities, which provide information that helps guide the development of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The EPA called the program “burdensome” and claims that its removal will save American businesses up to $2.4 billion in regulatory costs. 

“The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality,” said EPA Administrator Zeldin. 

A continued path of deregulation

The deregulation of environmental policy through efforts like these will not be inconsequential. 

Dixon believes that if the Trump administration and the EPA continue to reverse environmental policy and remove an emphasis on climate change efforts, our country’s political, social and public health processes will continue to decline. With that, in particular, systematic injustices will continue to be reinforced. 

“Systematic racism isn’t about bigotry or individuals,” Dixon said. “It is about systems, policies, institutions and practices disproportionately impacting those that are low income, black and brown, indigenous communities… it is your decision-making power that creates a disparity in the inequality, which is what creates the outcome.”

The Trump administration has been clear about its goals concerning climate change and environmental policy: it is something that creates sensationalism and works against American job security. Thus far, the EPA has been on a path of deregulation, and it is unclear what the future holds for environmental policy in this country. 

“Science is being discredited. People who were once thinkers and leaders in thought are being questioned,” Dixon said. “The CDC has been dismantled. The EPA has been dismantled. We are questioning higher education now. Offices of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are being shut down. These are all things that are happening, and they are directly affecting the climate and the culture of universities and other organizational settings.”

We are nine months into President Trump’s second term in office, and the country is under new management of the EPA. It remains to be seen just how far environmental policy deregulation will go.