Climate Politics

This is an article we didn’t want to write. Early on, we made the decision to focus our attention on climate change issues that are real, fact-based, and free from hyperbole, outrage, and posturing. Quite naturally, this had us staying away from politics. However, in the popular parlance of diplomacy, “we have been overtaken by events”.

Many unworthy events in the current political arena are worthy of commentary. We are going to restrict ourselves to climate change. In case you have been living in a hole for the last few months, here are some of the significant events you may have missed. 

The US withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord on the day the new President was inaugurated. Approvals for all wind-farm energy projects have been “paused” to review “leasing and permitting practices”. ¹

At NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), layoffs have started and building and facility leases are not being renewed. As the preeminent organization studying climate, weather, and oceans, NOAA's work is critical to our understanding of climate and weather ... but also to advancing science. Every day, all Americans (and many others around the world) benefit from the work of NOAA. Forecasting weather, tracking severe weather events, projecting hurricane paths, and issuing tornado warnings literally save lives. Cuts to staffing and funding are putting the mission of NOAA at risk.^{2, 3}

At the EPA (the Environmental Protection Agency), the Administrator (the title sounds so 1984) said he would cut up to 65% of the budget, including cuts to the workforce. The EPA’s mission is to ensure Americans have clean air, water, and land, to administer and enforce federal laws of congress related to the environment, and to reduce environmental risks based on the best scientific information. While facts about changes at the EPA are at the moment hard to find, we know at least 300 staff have been laid off. Non-profit organizations have filed lawsuits alleging improper freezing of over $7 billion in grants. Without funding, grants, and staffing, the agency will be hard-pressed to continue. Other agencies and departments that have climate change in their missions are all under attack, with cuts in funding, research, and staff.^{4, 5}

Universities receive substantial funding from the Federal government to research in many fields, including climate change. The administration has threatened universities with billions of dollars in funding cuts; universities are responding with hiring freezes, lab closures, and reduction of student admissions. For decades, the federal government and higher-education institutions have partnered to develop and maintain global leadership in research and development. Arguably, this arrangement has fuelled years of unprecedented innovation and business success. All of this is at risk.^{6, 7}

Last week Congress used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to rescind the regulations defining the limits of methane that could be released into the atmosphere by oil and gas companies. Congress also removed the fines that can be levied if those limits are exceeded. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, up to 80 times more potent than CO₂ when it is first released. Methane is also among the easier gases to control, especially since the advent of new technologies to find it. The regulation had called for payments of between $900 and $1500 per released ton. The vote in Congress last week to overturn the rule was passed by both the House and the Senate, eliminating consequences for the largest emitters of methane.⁸

Those of us who have been working in this area for a while are accustomed to the ongoing sniping and misinformation promulgated by organizations and people who don’t want climate change efforts to go forward. Oil and gas companies, which believe climate change mitigation will impact their financial returns, contributed tens of millions of dollars to the current regime's election. In return, this has caused wanton destruction to the government. The massive scale of the attack on all manner of agencies, researchers, and organizations working on climate change is unique.

All of which begs the question – why?

The ostensible reason: spending is wasteful and cuts are necessary.  No doubt many inefficiencies in the government have existed for a while. Proven techniques to get at organizational inefficiencies are not being used here, however. Instead, whole organizational units are being eliminated or drastically reduced, along with their missions. If the administration disagrees with an idea, they are going out of their way to stamp it out. 

The work, research, and progress in reducing the effects of warming are being undermined ... and in fact the opposite is being funded. We liken it to the feeling of losing a loved one: you watch people carrying on with their day-to-day lives and, when they don’t stop to acknowledge your loss, it seems surreal. We have heard survivors of the LA fires describe the same feeling: “how can those people be driving their cars to work as though nothing has happened?” 

Deep breath….

Firstly, many in the industry make the good point that it is too late to stop the work on climate change. The world has made too much progress for these attacks to have a lasting effect. Investments in alternative energy technology, electric vehicles, and better batteries will not be reversed. They may be slowed down in some areas but are still inexorable. 

Secondly, people are starting to speak out and take a stand against some of the more pernicious actions. Witness the widespread protests in support of science and the town hall meetings where government officials increasingly fear to tread.

Lastly, the economy is starting to suffer from accumulated policy errors. For all its ostensible business-savvy focus, this administration makes terrible choices. China, already a leader in clean technology, will have the market to itself as the US retreats into older, dirtier technologies.

Reading

1. The White House. “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects,” January 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/temporary-withdrawal-of-all-areas-on-the-outer-continental-shelf-from-offshore-wind-leasing-and-review-of-the-federal-governments-leasing-and-permitting-practices-for-wind-projects/.
2. Flavelle, Christopher, Austyn Gaffney, Camille Baker, and Ana Swanson. “Mass Layoffs Begin at NOAA, With Hundreds Said to Be Fired in One Day.” The New York Times, February 27, 2025, sec. Climate. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/climate/noaa-layoffs-trump.html.
3. Freedman, Andrew. “DOGE Moves to Cancel NOAA Leases at Critical Forecasting Centers.” Axios, March 3, 2025. https://www.axios.com/2025/03/03/doge-noaa-weather-building-leases-trump.
4. “How Trump Has Undermined U.S. Climate Policy - The New York Times.” Accessed March 2, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/climate/trump-us-climate-policy-changes.html.
5. “Climate: E.P.A. Freezes More Money.” Accessed March 11, 2025. https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/dynamic/render?uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F4d99fadd-5e75-5992-b0be-4f45f2d3b40e&sendId=193154&productCode=CLIM&isViewInBrowser=true.
6. Sainato, Michael. “Chaos on Campuses as Schools Warn Trump Cuts Could Harm US ‘for Decades.’” The Guardian, March 8, 2025, sec. US news. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/08/trump-universities-higher-education-cuts.
7. Zhong, Raymond. “As Trump Targets Research, Scientists Share Grief and Resolve to Fight.” The New York Times, February 16, 2025, sec. Climate. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/16/climate/trump-science-funding-cuts.html.
8. “Climate: The Methane Problem.” Accessed March 4, 2025. https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/dynamic/render?uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F02c68cd8-aa61-56da-89e5-ffb147657160&sendId=192526&productCode=CLIM&isViewInBrowser=true.