While Trump Made Us More Vulnerable To Extreme Weather, President Biden Has Taken Major Action On Climate

June 20, 2024

Trump ignored climate science and opened our public lands to oil and gas – making us more vulnerable to extreme weather

Trump Delivered For His Big Oil Donors By Opening Up Public Lands To Fossil Fuel Drilling

In 2020, the Trump administration moved forward with the “consideration of a ConocoPhillips oil and gas project in the Alaska wilderness and on a development plan for land surrounding New Mexico’s Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a World Heritage site at the center of a long debate over oil and gas development, among other projects.”
In 2020, the Trump administration gave “energy companies temporary breaks on royalties and rent they pay to extract oil and gas from leases on public lands.”
In 2017, Trump reduced the size of two national monuments by about two million acres in a giveaway to fossil fuel companies.
- The New York Times obtained documents from the Department of Interior showing that oil was central in the Trump administration’s decision to shrink one of the monuments.
- In 2020, the Trump administration finalized plans to expand drilling and other forms of development on the formerly protected land in Utah.
In December 2017, Trump’s Interior Department rescinded President Obama’s limits on fracking on public lands.

Trump Rescinded Obama-Era Climate Actions

In 2018, Trump withdrew Obama-era policies designed to maintain and improve natural resources affected by federal projects.
In 2018, Trump revoked an Obama-era executive order designed to preserve the ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters.
In 2017, Trump withdrew an Obama-era order to consider climate change in the management of natural resources in national parks.
In 2017, Trump issued an executive order requiring the EPA to formally review what waters fell under the jurisdiction of the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers according to the 1972 Clean Water Act. The proposed change narrowed the definition of what’s considered a federally protected river or wetland.

Trump Permitted The Release Of Toxic Pollution Into Our Air And Water

The Trump administration has rolled back more than 100 environmental rules, including those governing clean air, water, and toxic chemicals.
Trump threatened to veto legislation that sought to establish a national drinking water standard for “forever chemicals.”

Trump Revoked Critical Flood Standards That Protected Americans

In 2017, Trump revoked Obama-era flood standards for federal infrastructure projects that required the government to account for sea level rise and other climate change effects. During Trump’s presidency, the U.S. saw five billion-dollar flooding events that caused $28.5 billion in damages and killed 37 people.

Trump Botched Hurricane Recovery Efforts (And Re-Drew Hurricane Maps)

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria – which hit Puerto Rico in 2017 – Trump botched recovery efforts, delayed over $20 billion in aid, and diminished Puerto Rico’s suffering.
- Trump famously threw paper towels into a crowd in San Juan after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. According to the NOAA, Hurricane Maria caused $114.3 in damages and killed 2,981 people.
- Twenty-seven days after Hurricane Maria hit, only 13.7% of Puerto Rico had electricity.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey – which hit Texas in 2017 – Trump’s response was apathetic and insensitive; he made jokes about Texans and claimed Texas made a fortune from the hurricane. According to NOAA, Hurricane Harvey caused $158.8 billion in damages and killed 89 people.
In 2019, Trump redrew the trajectory of Hurricane Dorian to include Alabama in an official NOAA map. Trump aggressively defended his false claim that Hurricane Dorian was likely to hit Alabama, even after the National Weather Service stressed that “no impacts from Hurricane Dorian will be felt across Alabama.”
In 2019, the Trump administration diverted Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to increase immigration enforcement, less than a week after Hurricane Dorian approached the Southern coast.

Trump Exploited Deadly Wildfires

In August 2023, Trump dismissed the impact of climate change on Hawaii’s wildfires and criticized Hawaii’s Governor for “wanting to do nothing but blame it on global warming.”
In 2020, Trump rejected the California government’s request for federal disaster relief funds to help the state recover from devastating wildfires. In 2020, western wildfires caused $19.7 billion in damages and killed 46 people. That year, the number of acres burned in California more than doubled its previous record set in 2018.
In 2018, Trump threatened to withhold funding to fight wildfires in California if the state didn’t remove more “old trees” from forests.
In 2018, Trump exploited the devastating California wildfires to promote the logging industry’s agenda.

Trump Dismissed Drought Impacts

In 2023, at the California GOP Convention, Trump blamed Democrats and Gov. Newsom for the “man-made” drought.
In 2016, Trump claimed there was no drought in California. The megadrought in the American Southwest has become so severe that it’s now the driest two decades in the region in at least 1,200 years.

Trump Stalled Climate Resilience Efforts

In 2017, Trump revoked an Obama-era executive order promoting climate resilience in the northern Bering Sea region of Alaska. The order withdrew local waters from oil and gas leasing and established a tribal advisory council to consult on local environmental issues.

Trump Cut Environmental Programs And Funding

In 2020, Trump sought to cut the EPA’s funding by 26% and eliminate 50 of the agency’s programs.
In 2020, Trump’s budget proposed cutting the Superfund program by 10%, despite data showing the agency has the largest backlog of toxic waste cleanups in 15 years.
In 2020, Trump’s budget proposal would have cut research and development funding at the EPA nearly in half, lowering funding from $500 million to $281 million.
The Trump administration attempted to eliminate the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice in its fiscal year 2018 proposed spending bill.
In 2017, Trump’s proposed budget slashed the EPA’s funding by 31%.

Trump Cut Funding To Mitigate And Respond To Extreme Weather Events

During Trump’s Presidency, FEMA’s budget was cut by more than half from $12.3 billion in 2018 to $5.3 billion in 2019.
In 2017, Trump proposed cutting the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program by more than 60%.
In 2017, Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate the HUD Fund, which helped communities damaged by natural disasters move on after FEMA left.
In 2017, Trump’s proposed budget would have cut the National Weather Service’s funding by 6%. This cut included $62 million to update weather models and enable the agency to predict changing weather further out.

Trump Suppressed Climate Science And Repeatedly Promoted Climate Misinformation

While in office, Trump made 1,065 false or misleading claims on the environment.

In 2020, NOAA contradicted its own meteorologists to support the Trump Administration’s false claims about Hurricane Dorian’s path threatening Alabama.
In the first two years of the Trump administration, more than 1,600 federal scientists left the government.
In March 2019, the Trump Administration censored climate change references in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) press release.
During his presidency, Trump scrubbed reports of climate change from government websites, including the EPA, DOE, and the State Department.

Trump Was Slow To Staff Agencies Dealing With Extreme Weather And Appointed Climate Change Deniers To Key Posts

Early in his administration, Trump was unable to staff critical positions in NOAA and FEMA.
In late September 2017, Trump still had not nominated a National Hurricane Center Director.
Trump’s nominee to lead NOAA sat unconfirmed for over two years. Their family ran a private forecasting company that relied on NOAA data, and he wanted to privatize the agency. NOAA is responsible for predicting changes in climate and creating severe weather forecasts.
In September 2017, the National Weather Service had over 200 vacant positions it could not fill due to a government-wide hiring freeze imposed by the Trump administration.
Trump selected Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general and a close ally of the fossil fuel industry, to run the EPA. In 2017, Pruitt claimed he didn’t believe CO2 emissions were the main cause of climate change.
In 2017, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said man’s influence on climate was “still unsettled.” After Zinke resigned amid numerous investigations into his behavior and management of the agency, former oil and gas lobbyist David Bernhardt was confirmed to lead the Interior Department.

President Biden has acted to combat climate change and to make us more resilient to its impacts

Biden Took Action To Mitigate The Impacts Of Extreme Heat

In May 2024, the Biden administration released the Heat and Health Index, which identifies heat-related risks and illnesses at the zip code level. This tool will help local and state governments protect people from soaring temperatures driven by climate change.
Under President Biden, OSHA has initiated the rulemaking process toward the first-ever national heat standard to ensure protections in indoor and outdoor workplaces across the country.
In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a National Emphasis Program to protect millions of workers from heat illness and injuries. Through the program, OSHA will conduct heat-related workplace inspections before workers suffer completely preventable injuries, illnesses, and even fatalities.
In July 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the winners of the $195,000 Cooling Solutions Challenge prize competition that sought climate-friendly cooling solutions to protect people in extreme heat conditions.
In April 2022, the Biden Administration released $385 million through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), including to reduce summer cooling costs.

Biden Funded Projects To Make Communities More Resilient To Drought Impacts

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $8.3 billion over five years in Reclamation water infrastructure projects to advance drought resilience and expand access to clean water for families, farmers, and wildlife.
The Inflation Reduction Act invests nearly $4.6 billion to advance system conservation and mitigate drought impacts.
In 2021, the Biden administration launched the Drought Relief Working Group to address the urgency of the western water crisis.

Biden Acted To Mitigate The Impacts Of Wildfires

In January 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of nine grant applicants to receive an expected $10.67 million in funding to enhance wildfire smoke preparedness and protection in communities throughout the West.
In January 2022, the U.S. Forest Service launched a robust, 10-year strategy called “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests” to address the wildfire crisis in the places where it poses the most immediate threats to communities.
The Biden-Harris Administration also launched a new Community Wildfire Defense Grant program that helps local communities develop and implement wildfire preparedness plans.

Biden Acted To Mitigate Sea Level Rise And Make Coastal Communities More Resilient

In 2024, the Biden administration announced a $2.6 billion framework to protect coastal communities and restore marine resources, including nearly $400 million for Tribal priorities.
In 2023, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce launched the Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerators program, a $60 million investment in coastal resilience and American small businesses through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
In June 2023, the USGS released the Coastal Science Navigator, a tool created to ensure that partners and other stakeholders can easily locate USGS Coastal Change Hazards resources and identify which products may be of use to them.
In October 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration awarded $6.7 million for sea level rise and coastal resilience research.
As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its first-ever Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, which will provide $575 million in funding to help coastal and Great Lakes communities, including tribal communities, become more resilient to extreme weather and other climate impacts.
In March 2023, President Biden announced the Ocean Climate Action Plan to mobilize the Federal Government and civil society to take effective and innovative ocean climate action.

Biden Prioritized Climate Resilience And Environmental Conservation

In April 2024, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released its final Public Lands Rule, which will help conserve wildlife habitat, restore places impacted by wildfire and drought, expand outdoor recreation, and guide thoughtful development.
With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and the fiscal year 2023 annual appropriations, the DOI announced the availability of $120 million in funding to help Tribal communities plan for the most severe climate-related environmental threats to their homelands.
Through funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department Of Agriculture (USDA) invested more than $1 billion in competitive grants for the Urban and Community Forestry Program, which will combat climate change, expand access to green spaces, and create healthier communities.
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Department of Energy (DOE) invested $3.5 billion in its Weatherization Assistance Program to help make low-income households more comfortable and safer in extreme weather.
Over five years, the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants will distribute a total of $2.3 billion to states, territories, and federally recognized Tribes to help modernize the electric grid to reduce the impacts of extreme weather, including extreme heat. More than $125 million in grants through this program have been announced in 2023.
In April 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced nearly $830 million in grant awards for the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program that will strengthen surface-transportation systems and make them more resilient to extreme weather events worsened by the climate crisis, flooding, sea-level rise, heat waves, and other disasters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program has received billions in boosted funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This funding will help communities increase resilience to heat waves, drought, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and other hazards by preparing before disaster strikes.

President Biden launched the American Climate Corps to train more than 20,000 young people in clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience skills, create good-paying jobs, and tackle the climate crisis.