Trump's climate assault has only begun
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The Trump administration is unraveling the federal government's capacity to understand and respond to climate change at a remarkable clip. And it's just getting started, writes Scott Waldman.
Since returning to the White House five months ago, President Donald Trump has dismissed hundreds of climate and weather scientists — and cut government ties to hundreds more in the private sector and academia.
The administration has gutted major climate programs, frozen or eliminated grants for climate research, and moved to terminate a federal program that requires industries to track their planet-warming pollution. It has gummed up operations within agencies that work on climate issues, including by slow-walking contracts to service two polar weather satellites. And it's declining to participate in an increasing number of international climate initiatives.
The administration has defended its actions as necessary to cut costs and shrink the size of government. But scientists say the end result will likely be a nation unprepared to handle the surge of climate-fueled disasters already roiling the economy — from monthslong heat waves, fires, storms and floods to disruptions in agricultural growing seasons and the insurance industry.
Scientists also warn that administration actions are making it harder for the United States and the world to track the major sources of heat-trapping gases, including through the burning of fossil fuels.
'This isn't being done to cut costs,' one of the country's best-known climate scientists, the University of Pennsylvania's Michael Mann, told Scott. 'It's being done because climate science — and simply measuring our climate — has proven inconvenient to certain special interests who hold sway today in Washington.'
He added: 'It's humiliating and it debilitates our standing in the world community.'
And it's likely just the beginning. Trump's budget proposal calls for even deeper cuts, including to research programs at NOAA and NASA, widely considered two of the world's top science agencies.
The long-term damage is part of the goal.
'If Democrats ever get back in power, there will be a lot to rebuild,' said Steve Milloy, a member of Trump's first-term transition team who has spent decades battling federal climate science and regulations.
Last month, Trump issued an executive order on a new 'gold standard' for scientific research that effectively blocks federal agencies from using established science on greenhouse gas emissions, human health harms from pollution and environmental degradation.
It's Monday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.
Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Debra Kahn breaks down Trump's revocation of California's ability to enforce its nation-leading clean-car rules.
Power Centers
Slain Minnesota lawmaker remembered as a climate giant Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota state lawmaker assassinated early Saturday morning in her home, was a major power behind the state's landmark climate policies, writes Adam Aton.
Hortman served as state House speaker until early 2025, driving the passage of a slew of progressive legislation. In 2023, she helped pushed through bills that established Minnesota's clean electricity standard, a green bank, subsidies for clean tech and electric vehicles, greater environmental justice provisions in permitting, and a suite of other climate policies.
Trump fires Biden nuclear commission memberTrump has terminated Commissioner Christopher Hanson from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the latest move by the White House to assert control over independent agencies, write Josh Siegel and Kelsey Tamborrino.
Hanson said in a statement Monday that he was removed from the position Friday 'without cause' and 'contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.'
States go big on nuclear billsSurging power demand from artificial intelligence data centers is driving a reinvigorated interest among states' lawmakers in nuclear power, writes Jeffrey Tomich.
From Phoenix to Austin to Indianapolis, statehouses have this year introduced more than 200 nuclear-related bills backed by Democrats and Republicans. Dozens have already been signed into law or are awaiting governors' signatures.
In Other News
Heating up: Alaska just issued its first-ever heat advisory. Here's why.
U.S. cities look to Vienna: Could this city be the model for how to tackle the housing crisis and climate change?
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Cuts, freezes and all-around chaos are jamming up the basic functions of agencies dealing with energy and environmental policy, employees told POLITICO nearly five months into the Trump administration.
The Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on a procedural dispute over which court should decide an oil company's responsibility for Louisiana coastline restoration.
A coalition of young people is seeking an emergency injunction to block Trump's executive orders that call for boosting the production of oil, gas and coal.
That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
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'I'm not worried about that, but I'm absolutely convinced we will do that in a step-by-step approach,' Rutte said then. 'There will be no capability gaps in Europe because of this.' The White House referred questions to the Pentagon. 'The U.S. constantly evaluates force posture to ensure it aligns with America's strategic interests,' a defense official responded. The geopolitical shift is likely to have enormous consequences for the 32-member alliance, which is weathering its greatest challenge since it became the bulwark against Soviet power in the decades after World War II. European militaries long reliant on American hard power will have to fill the gap as Washington scales back. If a troop reduction focuses on efficiency, it would be far less problematic for Europeans than one that hits critical assets and personnel that Europe couldn't replace immediately, according to one European diplomat. 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