There is a line The massive 900-page document, known as Project 2025, lays out a plan to eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding meant to protect the country’s most marginalized people from the effects of pollution and global warming.
Project 2025, prepared by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, is widely seen as a blueprint for a potential Trump election, despite the president’s efforts to distance himself from him. The line proposes ending “all subsidies to advocacy groups” and examining “what potential federal investments would lead to real environmental improvements.” It almost certainly targets initiatives passed by President Joe Biden to serve communities disproportionately affected by climate change or legacy pollution, also known as environmental justice communities.
Project 2025 proposes ending “all subsidies to advocacy groups.”
The Inflation Reduction Act earmarked about $1.2 trillion in federal dollars to fund a variety of programs, many of which were focused on climate change. This represents the largest investment in climate action by the United States to date. Additionally, Biden’s Justice 40 initiative aims to ensure that 40% of federal climate-related funding goes to underserved communities.
Some of the IRA’s existing funds are managed through the Environmental Protection Agency and used for advocacy groups. Advocacy groups often work with state and local governments to direct money to those most in need in the country. A subset of advocacy groups that receive federal funding are environmental justice groups that advocate for climate change mitigation and improved access to pollution-free environments for residents of low-income and BIPOC communities, who are often disproportionately located near pollution sources.
If Project 2025’s proposals are followed, the Trump EPA will almost certainly end such programs. As my colleague Isabela Dias wrote earlier this year, the Heritage Foundation has previously targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at public and private institutions. (It is worth noting, however, that race is not a factor the Justice 40 initiative considers when determining what constitutes a marginalized community.)
Mandy Gunasekara, former Trump administration chief of staff He served on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under the late Republican Senator James Inhofe and wrote the environmental policy chapter for Project 2025. She said targeting the grant program to advocacy groups is part of a plan to reevaluate how the agency spends its funds. “Part of the recommendation is to review all pending grants for real environmental improvements, not for political purposes,” she says. When asked how she differentiates between grants that go toward political purposes and those that support environmental purposes, she did not answer.
She has previously accused environmental grantees of being secret Democratic supporters. In 2023, she told RealClear Investigations: “This group is a political front group created to pump billions of taxpayer dollars into Democratic campaigns simply under the guise of doing good.”
An EPA spokesperson says, by contrast, the agency reviews applicants based on their ability to address climate change, environmental justice issues and provide benefits to underserved and low-income communities. “We are meeting the needs of all Americans,” said Zealan Hoover, senior advisor to the EPA Administrator and director of implementation. “Regardless of political, socioeconomic and geographical boundaries.”
Use of solar power It could be a matter of life and death. Alexia Leclercq, policy director at PODER, an environmental justice organization based in East Austin, Texas, saw this with her own eyes a few years ago. “The lack of power during the winter storm caused people to die,” she says, referring to 2021’s Winter Storm Uri, which killed 246 people.
Residents across the state were surprised by a cold snap that dropped Austin’s normally mild temperatures into the single digits. The sudden storm overwhelmed state power companies that were unprepared for this eventuality. As a result, 69% of Texans experienced a power outage at some point during the week of the storm. People using solar energy would not have to rely on the grid to warm their homes.
“People died because of lack of power.”
Unfortunately, solar power is still expensive and difficult to access,” says Leclercq. Her organization was a beneficiary of the IRA’s Solar for All program, which helps community members in East Austin, primarily Latino, install and use solar power.
Like other small environmental justice organizations, PODER didn’t always apply for federal grants because it didn’t have the capacity to handle federal reporting requirements, Leclercq says. However, the hiring of a new contractor hired by EPA to support community groups and increase applicants’ knowledge of the grant process has been a huge help. “Last year was actually the first year we applied for federal funding,” she says.
Leclerq said the Biden administration has tried to correct past oversight of environmental justice communities by ensuring they get the funding and grant support they need, but the IRA’s grants were an imperfect fix. She believes the administration could do more to make the details of the program clearer.
“To be honest, I’m really confused,” says Leclercq. “Many people ask, ‘Where can I find funding?’ How do I know if it matches my program? How do I know what the deadline is?’” She also points out that “insider information” about actual deadlines is often not as widely available compared to published deadlines.
Mijin Cha, a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, says current grant structures are so cumbersome and inefficient that funds are often channeled through multiple groups to benefit underserved populations. Mr. Cha said, “The federal government gives money to a third party, and that third party distributes the money.” “Isn’t it more efficient to just invest directly?”
Despite its shortcomings, many grantees believe the Biden administration’s attempt to account for historical discrimination that has left communities of color vulnerable to legacy pollution or more vulnerable to climate change is a step in the right direction. EPA We have already provided $234 million to environmental justice organizations to help address these issues. Many other groups, like PODER, are benefiting from the $27 billion allocated to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, Solar for All’s comprehensive program.
What about the argument that the beneficiaries could be political front groups? “It is unethical and harmful for people to spread misinformation and lies about Justice40,” says Leclercq. “If you don’t want to fund climate solutions, you should just own them.”
Even if Trump wins Even after the election and implementation of Project 2025’s plan to eliminate these federal subsidies, the flow of funds will not stop any time soon. Hoover says the federal grant system has many safeguards. “Our grant agreements are legally binding contracts between the federal government and grantees with strong legal protections,” he says.
Hoover said most of the IRA money has already been committed, meaning the federal government is legally obligated to pay it up. But the money awarded doesn’t last forever. Most programs last three to five years. President Trump could end these programs as soon as the funding runs out.
Hoover says for the time being, the EPA is focused on documenting the environmental justice benefits of IRAs. “We are confident that the strongest defense for these programs will have a real impact on these communities and people who are healthier and safer today than they were four years ago,” he says.
