Climate Actions Worth Defending
We must prepare for the incoming Trump administration and all that it can mean for everything and everyone we care about. We know there will be attacks, rollbacks, and repeals, but we also know that we can and must resist these and that we can stop some of the most critical rollbacks.
The first thing targeted by Trump will be the funding contained in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the premiere climate law passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by President Biden. The main target will be the funding that helps to expedite the transition to clean energy and cleaner transportation. Importantly, funds that are already expended or encumbered will not be at risk, and other funds, such as tax credits for wind and solar or electric vehicles may not be so easy to get eliminated as they provide benefits in states that are heavily Republican.
As noted, some of these dollars have already been spent. Arizona has seen enormous benefits from the IRA since its passage in 2022. According to the Department of Treasury, “In 2023, more than 88,000 Arizona families saved more than $285 million on clean energy and energy efficiency investments.” These benefits are for residential solar, solar water heating, and energy efficiency measures that help people reduce their energy bills. Tribal Nations have also benefited extensively from the IRA, including for distributed solar and some battery storage on Hopi lands and the Navajo Nation. This past year we celebrated the Department of Energy, Navajo Power Home, and QCells partnership. This will result in hundreds of homes on the Navajo Nation, many of which are currently powered by polluting generators that do not provide even enough electricity for a refrigerator, now having clean solar energy with storage and a way to keep fresh food cold. Hear more about the program here.
The IRA has also provided jobs, apprenticeship programs, and important clean transportation benefits in our state, such as clean electric school buses and an infrastructure law. This means lower climate emissions, but also less exposure for the children to harmful unhealthy pollutants.
The Trump administration cannot wave a wand or just repeal most of the rules, but must instead go through a public rule-making process to repeal most of them. Rules that passed late in the administration could, however, be susceptible to the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to introduce legislation to repeal rules that were enacted within 60 congressional days. If a CRA is successful, that rule cannot be advanced again unless Congress authorizes it, so this is a dangerous and impactful action. Any rules finalized after August may be subject to this under the new Congress and President.
One rule that would normally be at risk is the methane rule that charges oil and gas companies for emitting waste methane, thus providing an incentive for reducing the methane emissions. Because developing this rule was mandated by the IRA, it may not be as easy to eliminate.
Some important rules that will not be subject to the CRA, but that may be the subject of repeal actions, include a rule to limit carbon emissions from coal plants and any new base-load gas-fired plants. While this rule was not nearly strong enough – it should have included all gas-fired power plants – it is another important step for reducing emissions. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule for coal-fired plants further limits these harmful pollutants could be at risk too. Also finalized earlier in 2024 and targeting coal-fired power plants, is a rule that would reduce wastewater pollution by 660 million pounds per year, having a positive environmental justice impact. There are already discussions about whether the rule to require better management of coal ash, something that pollutes ground and surface waters alike, will be weakened or rolled back. The Good Neighbor Rule that requires limits on pollutants that contribute to cross-state ozone pollution will most certainly be the subject of a rollback. Cumulatively, rollbacks of these and other rules will not only mean more climate pollution, but other pollutants that harm our health and shorten our life spans.
One thing that the new administration can repeal right away are the executive orders issued by President Biden, including the Justice40 Initiative that requires that 40 percent of the benefits from federal climate and other federal environmental actions flow to communities that have and many of which continue to be overburdened by pollution and the negative impacts of a changing climate. We cannot let this important executive order go quietly and must continue to advocate for climate justice and resist the dystopian future that Trump and his appointees would create.
Take Action Now and Ask Congress to Stand Strong for Climate!
Sandy Bahr is director of the Grand Canyon Chapter and a long-time climate activist.