LeRoy Woodson/Black Perspectives
LeRoy Woodson/Black Perspectives
Trump’s Recent Environmental Project Cuts Leave Southern Communities Wondering Where They Will Turn Next
Trump’s Recent Environmental Project Cuts Leave Southern Communities Wondering Where They Will Turn Next
The Trump administration has halted over 20 environmental protection projects and the grants that funded them, framing it as a financial redirection on the governmental level. Conversely, environmental justice organizations and affected community members describe it as a devastating setback, erasing years of progress.
The project cuts span a variety of locations and initiatives. The funding was to be used for restoration projects in communities throughout the country, with grants reaching up to $20 million. The funds would have addressed many environmental issues within majority-Black and poor communities, like lead poisoning, air pollution and climate disaster destruction.
“A lot of these grants were for small community-based organizations who, for the first time, decided to apply for federal funding," Ella Mendonsa, a senior manager with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said.
In 2022, under the Biden administration, the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, setting aside $2.8 billion for efforts toward climate and environmental justice. The funds prioritized community-led groups and low-income neighborhoods.
As Mendonsa explained, this was the first time that many community-based organizations applied for grants of this size. Most organizations were inspired by the prioritization that was being given to their causes.
Headed by Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Lee Zeldin, these grants were ended. These environmental programs are what administrator Zeldin described as “discrimination programs”.
“‘Environmental justice’ has been used primarily as an excuse to fund left-wing activists instead of actually spending those dollars to directly remediate environmental issues for those communities,” Zeldin said.
From a community member’s perspective, the environmental protection programs and their grants provided a never-before-seen sense of hope. Shelton Tucker grew up in Hampton, Virginia, in the late 1960s and still has memories of a childhood in which there was abundant green space and he could spend time in nature.
Lately, the increasingly extreme climate has left Tucker’s city in knee-high water after almost every rainfall. The community believed the issue would be addressed when $20 million was awarded to the neighborhood to be used toward infrastructure remediation. In March of this year, the grant was cancelled, as the effort did not align with the parameters of the Trump Administration’s new EPA guidelines.
Tucker and many community members alike responded with disappointment. “It’s putting politics over the safety of human beings,” Tucker said.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is considered a “Grantmaking Program” through the EPA. This means the organization receives federal funds that can then be dispersed to communities and organizations in need. With the recent fund freezes, the SELC has concerns that impacted communities will not receive the financial support that is still needed for storm recovery in places like Hampton, Virginia.
“If these funds are withheld, even for a short period of time, communities and businesses in our region will be unnecessarily and irreparably harmed,” SELC Program Director Geoff Gisler said.
Dr. Nataki Osborne Jelks, an Assistant Professor in the Environmental and Health Department at Spelman College, conducts research that focuses on the built environment and health. This includes infrastructure, policy and climate change, and the way these processes impact the well-being and quality of life of vulnerable populations. In an interview with Dr. Jelks, she explained her opinion on the recent cuts.
“Government funding is very important to meeting the needs of communities that have long been overlooked,”Jelks said.
She went on to explain that environmental issues targeting low-income communities of color have endured for centuries, but governmental support is relatively new. The cuts are what many see as a political move, rather than one that is in the interest of environmental protection.
“Folks in these organizations are not being heard. They are being demonized by the agency [EPA],” Jelks said. “With respect to the environmental justice concerns that are squarely within the scope of what the agency should be working on, for [EPA] to completely dismantle work on environmental justice means that the EPA is not carrying out its congressional mandate.”
The Trump administration has halted over 20 environmental protection projects and the grants that funded them, framing it as a financial redirection on the governmental level. Conversely, environmental justice organizations and affected community members describe it as a devastating setback, erasing years of progress.
The project cuts span a variety of locations and initiatives. The funding was to be used for restoration projects in communities throughout the country, with grants reaching up to $20 million. The funds would have addressed many environmental issues within majority-Black and poor communities, like lead poisoning, air pollution and climate disaster destruction.
“A lot of these grants were for small community-based organizations who, for the first time, decided to apply for federal funding," Ella Mendonsa, a senior manager with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said.
In 2022, under the Biden administration, the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, setting aside $2.8 billion for efforts toward climate and environmental justice. The funds prioritized community-led groups and low-income neighborhoods.
As Mendonsa explained, this was the first time that many community-based organizations applied for grants of this size. Most organizations were inspired by the prioritization that was being given to their causes.
Headed by Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Lee Zeldin, these grants were ended. These environmental programs are what administrator Zeldin described as “discrimination programs”.
“‘Environmental justice’ has been used primarily as an excuse to fund left-wing activists instead of actually spending those dollars to directly remediate environmental issues for those communities,” Zeldin said.
From a community member’s perspective, the environmental protection programs and their grants provided a never-before-seen sense of hope. Shelton Tucker grew up in Hampton, Virginia, in the late 1960s and still has memories of a childhood in which there was abundant green space and he could spend time in nature.
Lately, the increasingly extreme climate has left Tucker’s city in knee-high water after almost every rainfall. The community believed the issue would be addressed when $20 million was awarded to the neighborhood to be used toward infrastructure remediation. In March of this year, the grant was cancelled, as the effort did not align with the parameters of the Trump Administration’s new EPA guidelines.
Tucker and many community members alike responded with disappointment. “It’s putting politics over the safety of human beings,” Tucker said.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is considered a “Grantmaking Program” through the EPA. This means the organization receives federal funds that can then be dispersed to communities and organizations in need. With the recent fund freezes, the SELC has concerns that impacted communities will not receive the financial support that is still needed for storm recovery in places like Hampton, Virginia.
“If these funds are withheld, even for a short period of time, communities and businesses in our region will be unnecessarily and irreparably harmed,” SELC Program Director Geoff Gisler said.
Dr. Nataki Osborne Jelks, an Assistant Professor in the Environmental and Health Department at Spelman College, conducts research that focuses on the built environment and health. This includes infrastructure, policy and climate change, and the way these processes impact the well-being and quality of life of vulnerable populations. In an interview with Dr. Jelks, she explained her opinion on the recent cuts.
“Government funding is very important to meeting the needs of communities that have long been overlooked,”Jelks said.
She went on to explain that environmental issues targeting low-income communities of color have endured for centuries, but governmental support is relatively new. The cuts are what many see as a political move, rather than one that is in the interest of environmental protection.
“Folks in these organizations are not being heard. They are being demonized by the agency [EPA],” Jelks said. “With respect to the environmental justice concerns that are squarely within the scope of what the agency should be working on, for [EPA] to completely dismantle work on environmental justice means that the EPA is not carrying out its congressional mandate.”