Environmental Groups Face ‘Generational' Setbacks Under Trump
But in just months, President Trump has attacked much of that work.
The Biden-era climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, is in tatters. The White House is trying to revive coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, while boosting oil and gas and hindering solar and wind power. And it is weakening or trying to scrap environmental policies and regulations, some dating to 1970.
The abrupt reversal in fortunes has led to a moment of crisis for the environmental community. 'The morale is destroyed,' said Ramon Cruz, a former president of the Sierra Club. 'I won't try to sugar coat it. This is a generational loss.'
After a series of stinging defeats and other challenges, some prominent environmental groups are adrift. This week, the Sierra Club's executive director was fired after a rocky tenure in which he oversaw several rounds of layoffs and clashed with employees. Greenpeace is facing a $670 million legal verdict that could put its future at risk. Rewiring America, a nonprofit group that works to electrify buildings, has slashed nearly a third of its staff.
Actions by the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress have set the environmental movement back years, activists said. Chief among them has been the passage Mr. Trump's domestic policy bill, which curtailed many of the core elements of the Inflation Reduction Act.
'With one election and one bill, most of the signature climate work that organizations, advocates and movements have been working toward is largely undone,' said Ruthy Gourevitch, a policy director at the Climate and Communities Institute, a progressive research organization.
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