Trump era chaos: A timeline of government climate moves since Jan. 20

It’s not just you: It’s almost impossible to keep up with the tumult and chaos issuing from Washington, D.C. Under the second Trump administration, funding freezes, regulatory rollbacks and sweeping executive orders are unfolding at record speed. 

This ongoing tracker runs down the latest moves that affect the business of sustainability, since Trump inked a battery of executive orders the day he was inaugurated, including six that immediately changed the federal stance on energy, climate and sustainability. We will be updating and republishing this guide in the weeks and months ahead. Buckle up. 

April 23, 2025

Interior Department curtails environmental reviews for fossil fuel projects on public lands

The U.S. Department of the Interior will implement “emergency permitting procedures” to speed the approval of mining and other projects relating to the production of energy and critical materials on public lands. The new procedures “will take a multi-year process down to just 28 days at most,” the department said. The changes effectively reduce environmental review to a “formality,” the Sierra Club noted in response to the news. 

April 17, 2025

Trump sanctions commercial fishing in vast marine preserve

The White House proclaimed the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, a 400,000 square mile ocean reserve west of Hawaii, open for commercial fishing for the first time in more than a decade. Similar moves can be expected, as a separate executive order called for a review of all protected ocean reserves. Blame trade imbalances (again): The U.S. imports more than 90 percent of its seafood, which, not surprisingly, did not sit well with the President.

April 15, 2025

Judge tells EPA to pony up

EPA to In agreeing with Climate United’s claim that the EPA illegally terminated the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), a U.S. district court judge ordered the immediate unfreezing of all green bank funds, requiring the agency to distribute all withheld payments and, moving forward, maintaining regular access to the GGRF’s $20 billion.

April 14, 2025

USDA kills “climate slush fund”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins cited “sky-high” administrative costs as the rationale for canceling the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities, a Biden-era program that rewarded farmers for growing crops that reduce or sequester carbon dioxide. In reincarnating the program as the Advancing Markets for Producers initiative, the USDA planned to review existing climate-smart grants from a more “cost-conscious” perspective, possibly preserving them if at least one producer was enrolled and paid by Dec. 31, 2024, and at least 65 percent of funds were designated for producers.

Letter defends threatened Loan Programs Office

The Clean Energy Buyers Association, Nuclear Energy Institute and Direct Air Capture Coalition were among the 30 clean-tech companies, nonprofits and think tanks that signed a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, arguing against the closing of his department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO). Should the LPO be closed, the letter said, it would undercut the administration’s goal of pursuing domestic “energy dominance” by ending funding to  “commercial-scale infrastructure efforts that reduce electricity costs, bolster domestic production, and rebuild American industry.”

House Energy & Commerce committee set to investigate GGRF

Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce, announced his intentions to investigate the embattled Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the congressionally allocated $20 billion provided to “green banks” in support of decarbonization projects across the country. The announcement came as one green bank, Climate United, awaited an imminent decision in its case against the EPA, in which it sued the agency for illegally blocking grantees from accessing GGRF monies already promised to them. 

April 10, 2025

GOP senators argue for energy tax credits 

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, four Republican senators — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Curtis (Utah), Thom Tillis (North Carolina) and Jerry Moran (Kansas) — expressed their support for energy tax credits passed under former President Joe Biden. “While we support fiscal responsibility and prudent efforts to streamline the tax code, we caution against the full-scale repeal of current credits, which could lead to significant disruptions for the American people and weaken our position as a global energy leader,” the senators wrote. If they vote their principles, the “clean energy four” would be enough to block the budget reconciliation bill.

April 9, 2025

Trump mandates expiration dates for dozens of energy and environmental rules

A confusingly named executive order — “Zero-based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy” — required agency heads at the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and Department of Interior (and others) to set “sunset” dates for legacy rules that get in the way of the President’s obsession with expanding fossil fuels production. The order targeted dozens of policies that protect endangered species and federal lands, keep air and water clean, regulate nuclear waste and more.   

Democrats blast Zeldin in letter

One hundred eighty congressional Democrats, nearly two-thirds of the party’s representation in the House and Senate, sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin excoriating his policies and management of the agency. “In just two months as EPA Administrator, you have demonstrated a complete disregard for the central mission of the agency you were appointed to lead,” the letter said. “Instead of protecting the environment – as the agency name directs – you are protecting the special interests of big polluters. We urge you to halt your egregious attacks on the public health and well-being of the American people.”

Outlook dims for the nation’s premier climate report

NASA cut funding to the consultancy in charge of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which produces the nation’s signature climate report. Every four years, the U.S. National Climate Assessment, as mandated by Congress, offers actionable intelligence for businesses about climate risks to supply chains, operations and infrastructure. The next version of the report, however, which is expected 2026 or 2027, looks like the latest casualty in the administration’s war on climate science.

U.S jumps ship on international maritime decarbonization talks

Trump administration officials abruptly abandoned an international negotiation on cutting emissions associated with maritime trade. They did, however, leave behind a goodbye note on their way out the door of the London meeting. It threatened retaliatory charges should U.S. shipping incur any future fees, but still. In any case, a relatively small fleet of commercial ships sails under the U.S. flag.

April 8, 2025

Trump aims to kill states’ advances of renewables

A new executive order, “Protecting American Energy From State Overreach,” called for the removal of “illegitimate impediments” to energy derived from fossil fuels, hydropower, nuclear, geothermal and critical minerals. This latest attempted imposition of federal power over local authority came as electricity generated by wind and solar —17 percent of the country’s energy total — surpassed the amount produced by coal for the first time. 

Executive order supports ultimate oxymoron: “beautiful clean coal”

President Trump’s “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241” which also incorrectly classified the fossil fuel as a “mineral,” would designate new federal lands for future mining. 

April 4, 2025

Administration cites wildfire risk to justify logging in national forests

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins adopted a plan that would open up almost 113 million acres in the National Forestry System to logging, following up on President Trump’s March 1 executive order to boost American timber production by 25 percent. Her memo eliminated environmental regulations that could slow permitting and applies to more than half of all national forest land. 

California governor announces plan to avoid Trump’s tariffs

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced in a short video that he is working on a plan to insulate California from President Trump’s tariffs. Newsom touted California’s global position of 5th highest GDP as part of his reason to exclude California from the trade and consumer-prices burdens the tariffs will inflict. 

April 2, 2025

Trump fires TVA board chair

President Trump fired the board chair of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), lowering its board count to four, one person shy of the mandatory bodies to make decisions. Funded by the federal government, TVA is the largest public utility in the country, providing low-cost power, economic development and environmental management to 10 million people across the Southeast.

April 1, 2025

Entire federal department providing power to low-income households eliminated

The Trump administration cut the entire staff of the Department of Health’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provided electricity, heat and cooling to millions of low-income families in an era of increasingly extreme temperatures. The administration has provided no guidance on how these people will keep the lights and the air conditioning on this summer.

March 29, 2025

Trump defies 1944 treaty with Mexico to provide water, endangering future of U.S. agriculture

Ignoring the 1944 Utilization of Waters Treaty, President Trump denied Mexico’s request for water from the Colorado River. Refusing to uphold the treaty for the first time it was signed 81 years ago, Trump’s State Department justified the decision by accusing Mexico of failing to uphold its end of the bargain, which is to deliver water from the Rio Grande river to the U.S. Trump’s unprecedented move to antagonize Mexico puts Texas-based agriculture at risk, as it relies upon Mexico’s water delivery system.

March 26, 2025

Trump announces hefty tariff on auto imports

As of April 3, all imported vehicles will be slapped with a 25 percent tariff; auto components get the same treatment a month later. Trump claimed the move would raise $100 billion a year. American-based automakers, though, immediately saw drops in their share prices.

March 25, 2025

Clean energy advocates storm the Hill — for tax credits

Representatives of the clean energy industry took to Capitol Hill this week to lobby for the survival of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits. Many Republican representatives are open to hearing their constituents explain why those credits, created to spur economic growth, are actually necessary for their businesses’ success.

March 24, 2025

NIH to cease climate-related health funding

Although natural disasters are more prevalent than ever, the National Institutes of Health will no longer be funding research on the public health effects of climate change, according to a review of its internal records by ProPublica. The consequences of the decision will be “devastating” and “catastrophic,” Dr. Lisa Patel, executive director of The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, told ProPublica.

March 21, 2025

Hegseth cuts Pentagon climate plans, but not extreme weather prevention measures

Furthering the Administration’s goal of gutting all federal climate planning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to cancel its Climate Adaptation Plan. Although he gave assurances that the military’s extreme weather preparation would continue, critics pointed out that such preparation – military buildings, for instance, are designed to last 50 years – is dependent on just the kind of climate prediction the Pentagon will no longer be doing.

March 20, 2025

EPA employees’ anonymous letter calls out Administration

Following the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze congressionally approved funds already distributed by the Environmental Protection Agency, current agency employees published an anonymous letter that accused the administration of illegal actions while exposing the real harm these actions cause. These harms include ending a George H.W. Bush-era environmental equity and justice program and shutting down projects midstream, causing the cancellation of contracts with local businesses and small companies. 

Trump orders faster mining to boost critical minerals production

Moving one executive order closer to his 100-order goal — 93 and counting! — President Trump  authorized the faster issuance of mining permits on federal lands for copper, potash, gold and “any other element, compound or material” that protects the U.S. from “hostile foreign powers.” Currently, the U.S. is almost 100 percent reliant on imports — especially from China — for many of these materials.

March 18, 2025

Judge disallows termination of $14 billion “green bank”

In an unsurprising turn, U.S. District Court Judge Tonya Chutkan prevented the EPA from squashing the Congressionally approved $14 billion earmarked for America’s “green bank,” a Biden-Era fund created by the Inflation Reduction Act. The judge, citing “vague and unsubstantiated assertions of fraud,” blocked Citibank – the private entity holding the funds – from moving the money to the government or anywhere else. 

Judge blocks dismantling of U.S.A.I.D.

U.S. District Court Judge Theodore D. Chuang ruled that DOGE’s attempted elimination of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which promotes sustainable development in poorer countries, likely violated the Constitution “in multiple ways.” Chuang said Musk and his team usurped Congress’s authority over an agency it created and ordered them to cease all activity related to its shutdown.

Leaked memo reveals plan to gut most of EPA research arm

House Democrats reportedly saw plans to eliminate up to three-quarters of the EPA’s 1,540-person Office of Research and Development. These employees investigate a range of safety issues some of which have been deemed to be matters of “homeland security.” An agency spokeswoman described it all as “exciting steps as we enter the next phase of organizational improvements,” according to The New York Times.

March 14, 2025

Republicans announce bill to thwart EU disclosure requirements

 The “PROTECT USA” Act, introduced by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), would absolve U.S. companies from complying with the European Union’s disclosure requirements on corporate sustainability due diligence, which Haggerty called “ideologically motivated regulatory overreach.” Exactly how Congress intends to invalidate other countries’ requirements is unclear.

Patagonia, REI, others protest ranger firings

Patagonia and REI Co-op joined 120 businesses and organizations in signing a letter calling on the federal government to rehire thousands of employees of the Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. The collection of contributors to the $1.2 trillion outdoor economy warned about weakened disaster response and wildfire management capabilities. 

March 13, 2025

Judge orders Trump to rehire laid-off workers

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the thousands of government employees laid off due to their probationary status. Notably, the judge referred to the justification for the firings as a “sham.”

March 12, 2025

Gates-funded climate group reduces staff, shutters policy arm

Breakthrough Energy, the climate organization launched and bankrolled by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, slashed its staff and effectively eliminated its U.S. policy operation, according to a report in The New York Times. A spokesperson did say the organization’s “work in this area will continue and is focused on helping drive reliable affordable, clean energy solutions that will enable people everywhere to thrive.” 

EPA launches massive deregulation campaign

In announcing, the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” EPA chief Lee Zeldin bragged that the overhaul would “roll back trillions in regulatory costs and hidden taxes on U.S. families.”  That is debatable. What is not is that this undoing of many Obama- and Biden-Era regulations designed to improve air and water quality effectively renders moot the “P” in EPA. 

March 11, 2025

Democrats blast Department of Defense for canceling climate studies

A quartet of senior Democratic senators responded to the Defense Department’s March 9 cancellation of 91 climate-impact studies — and Secretary Pete Hegseth’s X post declaring the DoD “does not do climate change crap”  — with a letter calling the actions a threat to national security that put thousands of lives and billions of dollars at risk.

EPA shutters “environmental justice” offices

EPA chief Lee Zeldin directed his agency to close Environmental Justice Divisions in 10 regional offices. (The Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights in D.C. was already closed.) Zeldin described as “forced discrimination” federal efforts to support environmental justice, which target communities such as Louisiana’s petrochemical “cancer alley.” He said the agency would “remediate these environmental issues directly” — but did not provide any details.

EPA spending is up to DOGE’s discretion

Going forward, the EPA will have to await a pat on the head from DOGE before distributing funding that exceeds $50,000. The edict furthers EPA head Lee Zeldin’s goal of slashing more than 65 percent of his agency’s spending. The announcement followed news of the reinstatement of dozens of laid-off EPA workers once Musk’s crew realized their programs were vital to American prosperity.

Trump doubles aluminum and steel tariffs, then backs away

After Ontario imposed 25 percent tariffs on electricity it sends to northern U.S. states, Trump said he would double to 50 percent the tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel (which are critical to the energy transition) set to go into effect March 12. (Later the same day, after Ontario backed down on power price hikes, Trump reversed himself, although the 25-percent duties remain.) He also reiterated his demand that Canada become the 51st state.

March 10, 2025

America’s “green bank” sues EPA and Citibank for freezing funding

Climate United, one of the three coalitions selected by Biden’s EPA to lend $20 billion to local decarbonization projects — aka America’s “green bank” — sued Trump’s EPA head Lee Zeldin and Citibank for freezing the funds. According to Climate United, neither the EPA nor Citi produced evidence to justify suspending the accounts.

China imposes retaliatory tariffs

Beijing announced 15 percent duties on chicken, wheat and corn, and 10 percent on soybeans, pork, beef and fruit, in response to Trump’s extra 10 percent blanket tariff on Chinese goods.

March 7, 2025

U.S. backs out of Just Energy Transition Partnership 

The $45 billion deal with EU and other nations helped Vietnam, South Africa and Indonesia forgo fossil fuels. The U.S. exit is another crack in the global climate policy environment.

March 06, 2025

Tariffs delayed again

Trump’s on-again tariffs went off again — for a month, at least — for goods from Mexico and Canada. For the moment, North American supply chains for auto parts, dairy, steel, aluminum, machinery may proceed apace.

Judge unlocks funding for solar panels, grid upgrades and heat pumps

A second federal judge blocked as unconstitutional Trump’s Jan. 27 funding freeze, of potentially trillions of dollars, including for clean energy projects under the Inflation Reduction Act in 22 states. The U.S. has appealed. 

Fired civil servants file suit

Thousands of fired federal employees filed class action appeals to reinstate their roles. As job cuts rose by 245 percent in February, Trump put his cabinet leaders, rather than Musk, in charge of reductions in force. Musk’s DOGE team has cut more than 101,000 positions across the EPA, Department of Energy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies.

EPA seeks to loosen safety rules

The agency asked a federal court to undo 2024 rules that required hazardous chemical plants to shore up safety in case of fires, floods and other weather extremes.

March 4, 2025

North American tariffs announced

Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada (10 percent on Canadian oil), rocking companies’ supply chains and threatening clean-energy projects.

March 1, 2025

Trump dramatically expands US timber production

An executive order called upon the U.S. Forest Service, now headed by lumber industry veteran Tom Schulz, and the Bureau of Land Management to speed permitting processes, limit exemptions under endangered species law and review forest management practices, aiming to “improve the speed of forestry projects.”

Feb. 28, 2025

Trump berates Zelensky, at least in part to secure mineral rights

The dramatic confrontation in the Oval Office scuttled a deal to continue U.S. support for Ukraine’s war effort. The administration is trying to strike favorable deals on Ukraine’s mineral resources, which are critical to clean tech such as solar panels and batteries..

Feb. 26, 2025

EPA reconsiders climate pollution stance

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin moved to end the agency’s endangerment finding, which has enabled regulation of climate pollutants under the Clean Air Act since 2009. 

Feb. 25, 2025

Trump targets fundamental environmental law

The White House Council on Environmental Quality issued a rule that would remove implementing regulations for the National Environmental Policy Act, considered the “Magna Carta” of environmental law. Public comments will close March 27.

Feb. 22, 2025

Government erases thousands of public datasets

Business-critical information was lost after some 3,400 out of 308,000 datasets were wiped from Data.gov. Included in the erasure was demographic data used by energy companies to predict demand, historical weather data that helps insurers assess risk and climate patterns considered by developers in building infrastructure.

Feb. 21, 2025

Feds shut off EV chargers

The U.S. General Services Administration disconnected electric vehicle chargers in federal buildings. Its charging guide for federal workers also went dark, as part of Trump’s efforts to slow EV adoption, following the revocation of $7,500 consumer EV tax credits a month earlier.

Feb. 20, 2025

U.S. cancels support for next IPCC report

The fate of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2029 report looks uncertain after the Trump administration blocked State Department officials from visiting China to work on it. 

Feb. 18, 2025

Businesses unite in support of clean hydrogen incentive

Airbus, Dow and General Motors were among 100 signers of a letter to Congress asking to keep the 45V tax credit, which helps fund development of hydrogen technologies.

Trump issues executive order to grab policy power

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was among agencies targeted by “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies,” which effectively grants White House greater control over policymaking, undermining Congress’ original intent to shield independent agencies from political influence.

Feb. 11, 2025

SEC abandons federal climate disclosures

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate disclosure rule, passed in March 2024, would have forced corporations to report their greenhouse gas emissions. Amid legal challenges by Big Oil, acting Chair Mark Uyeda ordered staff not to defend the rule.

Feb. 7, 2025

Duties proceed for Chinese imports

Trump changed his mind about ending a duty-free loophole on sub-$800 imports, stressing out fast fashion brands. Three days earlier, 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports proceeded on top of 25 percent from the president’s first administration. The trade war leaves circular economy advocates mulling the consequences for domestic supply chains. 

Feb. 6, 2025

Federal agencies scrub mentions of climate change 

Websites of the EPA, USDA and FEMA were among those affected. Anxious researchers have backed up databases, and the Wayback Machine preserves trails of crumbs. 

Feb. 4, 2025

DOGE overruns NOAA office

Members of Musk’s DOGE team barged into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Maryland headquarters and took control of its databases.

Jan. 27, 2025

Climate-Smart farming uprooted

Farmers adopting practices to stash carbon in the soil and lower methane emissions were left holding the bag as Washington froze the USDA’s $3.1 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Also iced: grants and loans for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which helped farmers install solar panels and energy efficiency measures.

Jan. 21, 2025

Trump issues order to roll back equality and diversity measures

An executive order barred companies with federal contracts from using DEI and affirmative action programs, reversing 60 years of Equal Employment Opportunity efforts. Many corporations fold DEI efforts — or mute talk of them. Holdouts include Apple, Costco and Patagonia.

Jan. 20, 2025

Trump Sharpies a battery of executive orders

On Day 1, Trump inked 26 executive orders. Below are six that immediately change the environment for sustainability professionals.

Unleashing American Energy, which fast-tracked fossil fuel projects.

Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements, once again ditched U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement, which many corporations continue to support.

Declaring a National Energy Emergency, which prioritized development of new fossil fuel sources.

Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing, which, among other things, put “environmental justice,” “climate crisis” and “chief diversity officer” on the list of phrases anyone who wants to do business with the federal government should avoid.

Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, which revoked Biden’s executive orders, include erasing Justice40 efforts to help low-income communities. Also up in smoke: The White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy and the National Climate Task Force.

Establishing and Implementing the President’s Department of Government Efficiency, which rebrands and retasks U.S. Digital Service. 

Bonus memo: “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California”. The secretaries of Commerce and the Interior must move water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to southern California, even if it reduces supplies for Central Valley farmers, threatens salmon and smelt, and overrides state policy.