President-elect Donald Trump’s transition plans suggest potential cuts to environmental justice programs, threatening gains made under the Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative to combat pollution in vulnerable communities.
Amudalat Ajasa and Anna Phillips report for The Washington Post.
In short:
- Biden directed 40% of pollution-reduction funding to disadvantaged areas through the Justice40 initiative, boosting projects like solar installations and clean buses.
- Trump’s allies propose eliminating EPA’s environmental justice programs, questioning their necessity and focusing on deregulation.
- Advocates fear reduced pollution enforcement and halted community grants, particularly in areas like Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley.”
Key quote:
“Environmental justice and civil rights is not something [Trump’s] administration wants to support or further or advance. They want to obliterate it.”
— Matthew Tejada, former EPA official
Why this matters:
Pollution disproportionately harms low-income and non-white communities, increasing health risks like premature death from air pollution. Rolling back environmental justice efforts could worsen inequities, leaving vulnerable populations with less protection against industrial pollution.
Related: California's environmental justice protections may weaken under Trump
