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Welcome back to ESCN’s March BADness, where we’re pitting the 64 worst environmental actions Donald Trump has taken to see which comes out as the worst of the worst.
These policies are fueling an existential crisis for our expert bracketologists, but that’s not the only crisis they’re causing – these rollbacks are making the climate crisis even worse! So let’s take a deeper dive into the Rollbacks Region of our tournament bracket.
In a different year, Repealing the Endangerment Finding or Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would be easy favorites to win the whole tournament. Under Trump 2.0, they’re competing against each other.
But watch out for Revoking the Public Lands Rule to surprise in this competition. It’s not as flashy as making it harder for the federal government to fight climate change, but this rollback could seriously damage our public lands while lining the pockets of corporate polluters – it’s our upset pick. Head over to https://sc.org/MarchBadness to see the full bracket.
It doesn’t take a professional bracketologist to recognize how bad these actions have been for the environment. That’s why it’s more important than ever to make your voice heard and stand up for our communities, our air and water, and our lands and wildlife! Learn more about each action and add your name to protect what matters for the next generation.
Rollbacks Regional
- Repealing the Endangerment finding. Take action, tell Congress: Make the EPA do its job to protect our environment!
- (WINS) Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement
- (WINS) Revoking the Roadless Rule, opening up nearly 60 million acres of national forests to logging
- Revoking protections for offshore waters and coastlines to enable more offshore drilling
- Dismantling the EPA’s environmental justice office and initiatives
- (WINS) Revoking the Public Lands Rule to prioritize corporate drilling, mining, and logging on public lands. Take action, Protect Public Lands from Corporate Polluters and Billionaires!
- (WINS) Revoking decades-old protections for 2 million acres of northern Alaska to benefit the oil and gas industry
- Cutting funding for climate research and censoring information on government websites. Take action, Save Disaster Relief & Weather Services!
Executive (Dis)orders
- (WINS) Empowering Elon Musk and DOGE to fire thousands of federal workers and throw the federal government into chaos
- Censoring history at national park sites, whitewashing the story of our country and the people who call its landscapes home. Take action, Congress must stop the erasure of our history!
- (WINS) Militarizing public lands to stage ICE raids in Los Angeles
- Slow-walking disaster recovery aid for victims of Hurricane Helene
- (WINS) Abusing an obscure law to cut out public input and overturn public lands protections. Take action, Congress: Protect the Boundary Waters Wilderness from Toxic Mining!
- Nominating another tech billionaire to run an agency he filed lawsuits against
- (WINS) Firing wildfire firefighters before fire season and downsizing federal wildfire management to a single office
- Doubling down on failed wildfire strategies like suppression and logging. Take action, Tell the Senate: Stand Up For Our Forests!
Energy Vampires
- (WINS) Illegally extending the operational lives of coal plants
- Blocking funding for IRA programs that support clean energy and clean manufacturing
- Freezing funds for the national network of EV charging stations
- (WINS) Exempting coal plants from toxic mercury pollution standards
- Illegally cancelling offshore wind leases and putting the industry and thousands of jobs at risk
- (WINS) Excluding solar and wind from the definition of energy under its phony energy emergency
- (WINS) Reinstating illegal oil and gas leases in the Arctic Refuge
- Cozying up with Big Oil CEOs. Take action, How We Can Make Polluters Pay!
Corporate Giveaways
- (WINS) Pushing to privatize millions of acres of public lands, locking out the public from the great outdoors
- Offering concierge white glove service for fossil fuel companies. Take action, Urge Public Pensions: Invest in a Clean Energy Future!
- (WINS) Removing the public from public lands management by cutting NEPA requirements at the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management
- Forcing taxpayers to clean up oil and gas messes corporations leave behind
- (WINS) Trying to open Boundary Waters, one of the most popular recreation areas in the country, to toxic sulfide mining. Take action, Congress: Protect the Boundary Waters Wilderness from Toxic Mining!
- Increasing corporate logging quotas on millions of acres of national forests
- Extending offshore drilling off the coasts of seven states
- (WINS) Delaying protections against methane and other harmful pollution