EPA’s rollback of powerplant emissions standards and USDA’s cancellation of climate-smart agriculture grants threaten to undo years of progress on clean air, climate resilience, and sustainable agriculture.

WASHINGTON, DC –The Trump Administration took further actions this week to erode historic pollution and sustainability policies implemented by the Biden Administration. In two major moves, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed repealing pollution standards for power plants finalized just last year, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) canceled grants awarded to farmers, ranchers, and landowners for conservation projects through the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The EPA’s announcement on Wednesday is further evidence that this Administration is more focused on corporate handouts to utility companies and not on protecting the health of the American people. Last year, the Biden Administration finalized the first-ever standard to reduce pollution coming from the power sector. And yet, through this repeal proposal, EPA is now claiming that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution. This is an absurd claim. In the same announcement, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said that EPA plans also to weaken standards on mercury pollution from coal plants. These standards credited with reducing mercury emissions by over 85% and are projected to prevent tens of thousands of deaths annually. If these repeals are finalized, this would be a major blow to communities suffering from unabated pollution.

In addition, Politico reported that the USDA sent grant cancellation notifications on Wednesday to some farmers, ranchers, and landowners who received awards through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) for conservation projects to reduce carbon pollution and increase sustainability. It is unclear how many grants were cancelled with no explanation; however, RCPP was authorized by Congress to receive $1.4 billion of IRA money this fiscal year. Agriculture is a foundational sector of our economy, and without resources to assist farmers and ranchers in transitioning their operations to more sustainable practices, our food supplies will be vulnerable to the increasing impacts of climate change. RCPP is a popular program amongst farmers but is typically underfunded so the IRA attempted to close that funding gap.  

“The hostility this Administration has towards any climate or environmental policy, even at the expense of rural communities they claim to be fighting for, is absolutely astonishing,” said Quentin Scott, Federal Policy Director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund. “One would think that billions of dollars flowing to farmers and ranchers would be something this Administration would not touch, but clearly that’s not the case. Again and again, Trump has proven he does not care about his voters and only thinks of those who can do something for him. In terms of pollution standards for power plants, I’m not sure Administrator Zeldin understands his job description. His job is not to represent the interests of big polluters but to represent the interests of communities impacted by pollution. Finalizing pollution standards for power plants was a hard fought battle for over a decade, and we won’t go quietly.” 

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund is dedicated to driving change in public policies at the local, state, and national levels to address the climate crisis. Through voter education, lobbying, and participation in the electoral process, we seek to advance our country’s leadership in the global movement toward clean energy solutions, focusing our efforts primarily in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. We know that a vibrant democracy is central to our success, so we work to defend democratic integrity wherever we can.