Climate programs will struggle for support, attention under Trump, speakers say

Yahoo

26-04-2025

Reflecting on the first 95 days of President Donald Trump's administration, panelists at the opening session of the 2025 Society of Environmental Journalists conference were not hopeful for the future.
Nada Wolff Culver, former principal deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management, said the landscape of climate change and covering the crisis is uncertain.
'(There's been) a lot of undoing. (The Trump administration) is trying to get the word 'climate' out of our vocabulary,' Culver said.
Culver, one of four panelists at the opening session of the conference in Tempe, said the term "climate" is often censored depending on the presidential administration in power.
'We're not going to have the same federal backstop as we have had in the past,' said Anne Hedges, executive director of Montana Environmental Information Center.
The 'federal backstop' she was referring to was a lack of support in the federal government and higher-level judiciary spheres for climate change. This sentiment was echoed by Culver.
'(There is) less certainty that the courts will be able to save and protect us,' Culver said.
On the topic of uncertainty, Lena Gonzalez, majority leader of the California State Senate, said the process of accessing FEMA relief funds in the wake of the Palisades and Eaton fires was 'like a little chess game.'
Gonzalez said her work in the Senate, attempting to pass environmentally minded climate crisis solution bills, has been similar to the chess dichotomy she mentioned. She said Senate Bill 1137, known as the Setbacks Bill, was specifically difficult to pass and implement in the Golden State.
The measure, implemented in June 2024, created a more than 3,000-foot health protection zone around community gathering spaces such as homes and schools.
The bill, Gonzalez said, is an example of legislation the Trump administration is fighting to eradicate.
'We're going to continue to push on this,' she said. 'Multi-state alignment (is necessary) when it comes to energy.'
Emily Fischer, a professor at Colorado State University, spoke passionately about her role as an atmospheric scientist, but also as a mother of two children.
'We cannot afford to lose four years of progress,' she said, referring to the Biden administration's climate work between the first and second Trump administrations.
'Regardless of what's happened over the past 95 days, the science is the same,' Fischer said.
Hedges said for every attempt at forward progress regarding the solutions to and coverage of the climate crisis, there is backward action.
'For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction,' she said to laughter in the audience.
While all four panelists were passionate about the changes made by the current administration in how the climate crisis is addressed and covered, Culver said it is possible for researchers and journalists to 'work with' the Trump administration on climate crisis policy and legislative implementation.
Bella Mazzilli is a reporter at State Press Magazine at Arizona State University, and is part of a student newsroom supported by The Arizona Republic.
Coverage of the Society of Environmental Journalists conference is supported by Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and the Arizona Media Association.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: SEJ conference speakers say climate programs will struggle under Trump