President Donald Trump has put a halt to many federal efforts to tackle climate change, support renewable energy projects, and advance environmental justice for underserved communities. Advocates for clean energy and environmental justice said this week that the work will continue with or without the federal government.
In January 2021, then-President Joe Biden announced Justice40, which mandated that at least 40% of the benefits of certain federal investments must flow to disadvantaged communities. It was jointly led by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Office of Management and Budget, and the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, along with the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council that is convened by CEQ, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Justice40 was among the first executive orders cancelled by President Trump.
Former Biden officials gathered this week to look at what people can do as the White House ends many federal government efforts for improving the environment and the lives of people affected by pollution and other environmental issues.
“It took three days, three days for that match to get struck and then burn it down,” said Shalanda Baker. She was the director of the Office of Energy Justice and Equity in the U.S. Department of Energy.
She said members of Trump’s staff have been organizing this effort for years.
“The only way something like that can happen so expeditiously and with such force is through a plan. And so, we need to be as organized. And we need to be as unapologetic and unashamed to do the good work.”
Baker was one of four panelists at a University of Michigan seminar looking at the aftermath of the federal government stepping away from environmental justice and clean energy and turning instead to fossil fuels for energy.
Her current position is as the university’s first vice-provost for sustainability and climate action.
Another former Biden administration official is also at the University of Michigan. Tony Reames is an associate professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability after working for energy justice in the U.S. Department of Energy. He told the audience that he understood their concerns, their fears, and their frustrations about the Trump administration abandoning many environmental efforts.
“We may be sick to our stomach with what we're seeing. We may be in despair. Like right now, like I have a frog in my throat because thinking about, you know, our colleagues that are still in the federal government being laid off, not because they've done anything wrong, no performance issues, but because of the work they're doing for the American people. And so in this moment, we all must think about the small things, the large things that we can do. But more importantly, let’s lock arms and do it together.”
The Trump administration sees environmental justice as part of the “woke” agenda, and not something America should be pursuing.
“Environmental justice didn’t start with the federal government and it won’t end with the federal government.”
The White House Council on Environmental Quality, one of the offices that was leading the Justice40 program, has been in place since the Nixon administration. President Trump has revoked its rulemaking authority.
Jalonne White-Newsome was the first federal chief environmental justice officer with the CEQ.
“Environmental justice didn’t start with the federal government and it won’t end with the federal government. So, it is up to everyone to make sure that you are using your power and privilege for good,” she said to the audience.
She added that a shift in the presidential administration doesn’t mean there needs to be a shift in the work.
“So, we have to make sure that we adapt those previous federal tools to the work that we’re doing on the ground,” she said.
A panelist who was not part of the Biden administration saw another aspect of environmental justice issues. Carla Walker-Miller is the CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services. She said the clean energy industry was not all that welcoming to a small business run by a woman of color. That didn’t stop her. She said she had to stand up for herself and her business and challenge the kind of attitudes large corporations had toward her.
She told the audience that if they believed in tackling climate change, supporting renewable energy and standing up for environmental justice, they have to be brave.
“Courage is a renewable resource. And the reason I say that is we all have times where it's just too much, it's just too hard and we don't do the courageous thing. But for me, there is nothing worse than being in that room and not doing the courageous thing and then having to deal with myself later because I could have made a difference.”
Walker-Miller added there is reason to stay positive. She said there is more activity, more engagement, and a larger number of people involved in environmental justice and decarbonization than ever before.
