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A Worldwide Hurdle: How The Trump Administration Has Stunted Climate Justice
- Apr 22
- 3 min read
Writen by Grace Stevens
Edited by Logan Dorton, Francesca Howard, and Annika Lilja
The Trump Administration has halted climate justice initiatives in the United States and worldwide. Since President Donald Trump appointed former Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY-12) as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency has shifted its focus from climate justice to economic growth. Under Zeldin's Leadership, the EPA has removed environmental rules issued by the Biden administration that had set limits on soot emissions, light-duty vehicle gas mileage, and harmful chemical emissions from power plants. The removal of these laws is a part of Zeldin’s initiative titled “The Great American Comeback.” The initiative was announced in February and discloses the five pillars the agency will use to guide its work moving forward.
The pillars are: “(1) Clean Air, Land, and Water for Every American, (2) Restore American Energy Dominance, (3) Permitting Reform, Cooperative Federalism, and Cross-Agency Partnership, (4) Make the United States the Artificial Intelligence Capital of the World, and (5) Protecting and Bringing Back American Auto Jobs.” Pillars 2-5 express Zeldin's goal of boosting the success of the gas, oil, and AI industries, all of which affect air and water pollution. Removing the restrictions placed during the Biden administration will increase this pollution as well as extreme weather and the rate of global warming.
The change in leadership at the EPA only affects policy in the United States, but the election of President Trump affects climate justice initiatives worldwide. In January, the President withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is an international treaty that formalizes countries’ commitments to addressing climate change. President Trump has also announced his intention to remove the US from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Green Climate Fund, and several other organizations. The United States no longer contributing to these organizations has led to funding gaps and significant staff cuts.
Donald Trump’s opinion that Climate Change is a “green scam” has affected countries that are experiencing hardships due to climate change. In July 2025, President Trump dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID was an organization created in the 1960’s under President John F. Kennedy to provide clean water, food, and medical aid to countries experiencing poverty and natural disasters. USAID was working on a 2022-2030 Climate Strategy at the time of its closure. The strategy focused on reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, conserving forests, and helping other countries recover from the extreme weather and pollution brought on by climate change. The US is also affecting countries’ recoveries from the consequences of climate change by no longer contributing to the UN Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. President Trump has gotten away with his repeated disregard for climate change because of the misinformation that has been spread by his administration.
In July 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a report titled “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate Change.” The report was compiled by the DOE’s Secretary Chris Wright. Chris Wright was nominated by PresidentTrump and took office in February 2025. The report discusses data ‘proving’ that climate change is real, but is often “exaggerated.” The report was later disproved in a 434-page rebuttal written by 85 experts, but its contents are still believed by many supporters of the President.
The misinformation spread by the DOE, as well as Trump’s negative remarks about the climate crisis, has impacted the opinion of climate change amongst United States citizens. According to a Pew Research survey, only 44% of Republicans support government policies that encourage renewable energy sources, down 10% from a similar survey in 2022. The data shows that, across all surveyed citizens, there has been an increase in support for coal mining, oil and gas drilling, and nuclear power.
The election of President Trump has resulted in climate justice taking a huge step back due to misinformation and the destruction of organizations and legislation that focused on limiting the effects and worsening of climate change.
Sources:
https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2026/04/03/americans-shifting-views-on-energy-issues/#:~:text=A%20year%20into%20the%20second,energy%20sources%20and%20energy%20policy.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2026/01/trump-impact-on-global-climate-action/#:~:text=This%20is%20the%20second%20time,programmes%20that%20address%20climate%20change.
