Over the past four years during the Biden administration, the United States started spending ever-greater sums on efforts to blunt global warming and help communities adapt to a hotter world. Many analysts expected the total tab for this work to exceed $1 trillion over the next decade.
But in a matter of days, President Trump has thrown much of that spending into question, though how much money is affected is unclear. Some funds are frozen. Some projects are paused. And while a portion of that money is already out the door, there is an acute sense of uncertainty among people doing climate-related work that relies on government funding and approvals.
To take just one example of the chaos, consider the aid that the United States sends to foreign countries to deal with climate change. The United States Agency for International Development alone manages appropriations of roughly $40 billion annually, a fraction of which goes to climate-related projects.
Raj Kumar, the chief executive officer of Devex, a media company that tracks foreign aid closely, said he had spent the past week on the phone with the leaders of organizations working on development projects around the world, and even he can’t make sense of this moment.
“There’s no precedent to this,” he told me. “As the recipient of U.S. aid right now, you really don’t know what the state of your program is.”
Even among people who track federal spending closely, there is widespread uncertainty about what the U.S. government is going to fund. The White House and State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
And while the specifics are not all known, it’s already clear that U.S. efforts to address climate change could be affected on a number of fronts.
Federal grants: On Monday, the Office of Management and Budget ordered a pause on almost all federal grants and loans, saying it was necessary to root out “D.E.I., woke gender ideology and the Green New Deal.” There is no such thing as the “Green New Deal,” but that language was clearly meant as a broadside attack on federal support for renewable energy projects. By Wednesday, the White House had rescinded that order, creating more confusion.
But the scope of climate- and energy-related programs that could still be affected by such a freeze is vast, and includes several clean-energy programs and efforts working to limit pollution. Heatmap News compiled an extensive list.
Foreign aid: Last week, after a Trump executive order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a 90-day freeze on almost all foreign aid. The stop-work order affected scores of programs around the world. Some projects have received waivers that will allow them to continue operating. But officials have already warned that programs focused on managing the impact of climate change will be permanently cut.
“It’s astonishing,” said the leader of a climate resilience nonprofit that receives U.S. funding, and declined to speak publicly to avoid possible retribution. “The gut reaction is just bewilderment.”
Already, the nonprofit, which operates in Latin America, Europe and the South Pacific, was making plans to lay off staff and wind down programs aimed at helping the developing world adapt to rising seas and extreme heat.
“We never seen anything like it in 30 years of foreign aid,” the nonprofit leader said. “What are they trying to do? Is it just provoke chaos?”
Fuel economy rules: On Tuesday, the newly confirmed transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, signed an order seeking to roll back fuel economy standards for automakers that had been set by the Biden administration. The move could result in more tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks, and slow the adoption of electric vehicles.
Wind power: Last week, one of President Trump’s first executive orders targeted wind energy. The move brought an immediate halt to all leasing of federal lands and waters for new wind farms, and directed federal agencies to stop issuing permits for all wind farms anywhere in the country for the time being.
Wind projects already under construction are unlikely to be affected for now. But some projects that were far along in the development process but awaiting final approvals may be scuttled.
Electric vehicles: Another executive order signed on Trump’s first day in office targeted electric vehicles. A tax credit for people buying EVs was scrapped, and federal funds intended to help install charging stations were put on hold.
While some funds that have been allocated for charging stations are still expected to be used, the moves are likely to slow the development of the electric vehicle industry in the United States, and help President Trump’s ally, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. While Tesla is the largest EV maker in the country, it has its own network of fast chargers and stands to benefit if rival networks are slow to be built.
Some climate funding could survive: A Trump executive order targeting clean energy investments could affect the Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office, which under the Biden administration awarded $107.6 billion in loans and loan guarantees to help bring new energy technologies to market. But more than $60 billion of that has been finalized and would be hard for the Trump administration to claw back.
Companies that had received loan commitments from the agency say they are unsure when they might start receiving payments, though some pointed out that the agreements are legally binding and can’t simply be abandoned at will.
“We do have a contract with the government,” said Andy Marsh, the chief executive of Plug Power, a company that aims to convert renewable electricity into hydrogen fuels. In January, the Biden administration finalized a $1.66 billion loan guarantee with Plug Power to build a hydrogen facility in Texas and several more after that.
Brad Plumer contributed reporting.
These are the winds that turn wildfires deadly in L.A.
Fierce desert winds turned this month’s wildfires around Los Angeles into raging cauldrons of devastation. They also made the blazes fit a pattern.
Fires driven by Santa Ana winds, the infamous gusts that howl in over the mountains to the city’s north, account for about 90 percent of the area burned by fall and winter wildfires in Southern California since 1950, scientists estimated in a recent study.
Such findings raise a big question for Los Angeles as it rebuilds: How can the area better gird itself against a threat as consistent, and consistently menacing, as severe wind? Scientists say we know enough about Santa Anas to prepare better in several ways. — Raymond Zhong and Zach Levitt
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