The $67 million in Bay Area grants targeted by the EPA closely mirrors survey results of Bay Area climate nonprofits, public agencies and tribes by Together Bay Area. The group found that at least $60 million in federal funding for climate projects across the region is at risk, potentially stalling wildfire prevention efforts, trail building and more.
“I really think that’s just the beginning,” said Annie Burke, executive director of Together Bay Area, which represents many affected organizations and agencies. “Every day, I’m getting emails saying there’s another million-dollar project that just got paused, and those million-dollar projects are things like catastrophic wildfire prevention.“
Administration officials have also targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling them wasteful spending that needs to be cut to align with orders from President Donald Trump. The agency shuttered its environmental justice offices nationwide, including in San Francisco.
In a statement, EPA Administrator Zeldin said 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.”
President Donald Trump shakes hands with former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-New York, during a roundtable at the Drexelbrook Catering & Event Center on Oct. 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
Zeldin also announced 31 actions meant to assign more authority to the states and relax federal regulations. The administration argued that this would lower the cost of living while supporting the energy and automobile industries.
“We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more,” Zeldin said.
The Environmental Protection Network, made up of over 600 EPA alumni across the country who volunteer their time to protect the integrity of the agency, condemned the rollbacks.
The group analyzed data from the EPA and found that for every million dollars “in favors handed to corporate polluters,” Americans “will suffer” around $6 million in health-related costs. It said the consequences of “these rollbacks will disproportionately harm vulnerable communities, exacerbating existing health inequities and accelerating environmental degradation at a time when climate disasters are becoming more frequent and severe.”
“The EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment, yet these rollbacks do the exact opposite,” said Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network. “The agency is endangering lives, worsening pollution and undermining decades of progress protecting the air we breathe and the water we drink. Congress, the courts, and the public must stand up to these reckless rollbacks.”
