Climate 411

How the Trump administration is obstructing clean energy – and why it raises your costs

A black and white photograph of solar and wind projects is being torn in half to reveal a coal plant overlaid with an upward trend line to reflect rising costs.

Last updated August 4, 2025.

Electricity prices are rising across the U.S. Demand for electricity is going up for the first time in 20 years. And more extreme weather and heat waves are causing blackouts.

Yet instead of expanding access to low-cost, reliable clean power, the Trump administration is making the problem worse. Since Day One, the administration and its allies in Congress have pushed policies that restrict the supply of affordable, homegrown clean energy – creating a self-inflicted rate hike just as the country needs more power.

Wind and solar offer some of the cheapest – and fastest – ways to provide electric power today. In contrast, the cost to build natural gas plants is at a 10-year high and a shortage of turbines is delaying construction, while coal remains the most expensive and dirtiest way to generate power. To put it simply: Blocking cheap, clean energy while doubling down on outdated fossil fuels makes no economic or environmental sense.

The attacks on clean energy will not only hike up our electricity bills, but they will also unleash more pollution in our water and air, kill thousands of jobs and make our electric grid weaker.

How is this happening? Here are major ways the Trump administration is obstructing clean energy: Read More »

Also posted in Cars and Pollution, Economics, Energy, Green Jobs, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health / Tagged , , , | Authors: / Leave a comment

What to watch in week 2 of COP29, from the finance conversation to critical sectoral action

This blog was authored by Christopher Dekki, Manager, Global Engagement and Partnerships.

Hopefully, COP29 delegates savored every moment of the rest day here in Baku because week 2 is already off to a hectic start. As deep divides within the negotiations remain unbridged, Azerbaijan, the newly minted COP29 Presidency, will need to increase its efforts to ensure consensus within the process and deliver a meaningful outcome.  

Little progress made on the climate finance goal 

The core outcome of this COP, a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on Climate Finance for developing countries, stands on shaky ground as massive disagreements between the Global North and South are making it difficult for negotiations on the substance of the goal to take place in earnest. Nevertheless, the result of this process will have major implications for the ability of developing countries to transform their economies and societies and realize more ambitious climate action. With finance needs estimated to be $2.4 trillion per year by 2030 in developing countries alone, the COP negotiators must urgently step up action in this arena.  

While a great deal of attention has been placed on the quantity of money that should be provided, EDF has entered the finance fray by advocating for greater attention to quality – going beyond the raw numbers and ensuring systems are put in place to make the most of every dollar spent on climate action. It is critical for delegates to work together during week 2 to break the deadlock, and deliver a climate finance goal that is concessional, accessible, and impactful. The good news is that the latest text includes many provisions taking us in this direction, laying out options that can lay the foundation for better finance, and thus better outcomes for the climate. We need negotiators to come together around the best solutions.  

Making moves on carbon credits  Read More »

Also posted in International, Policy, United Nations / Tagged , , | Authors: / Read 1 Response

Understanding how communities are vulnerable to climate change is key to improving equity and justice

Hurricane Harvey dropped more than 60 inches of rain on the greater Houston region.

Hurricane Harvey dropped more than 60 inches of rain on the greater Houston region in 2017.

This blog was co-authored by Dr. Grace Tee Lewis, Senior Health Scientist, Climate and Health

Last month, Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University published a new study that found all states in the U.S. are at risk from the effects of climate change, particularly neighborhoods experiencing disproportionate environmental harms and risks, health disparities and infrastructure problems. We published our research paper, Characterizing vulnerabilities to climate change across the United States, in response to a growing push to identify and address these climate injustices and inequities. This movement is exemplified by the Biden Administration’s executive order to ensure environmental and economic justice are key considerations in how the administration governs on the issue of climate change.  

With the Biden Administration’s recent legislation – including the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act (IRA, BIF and CHIPS) – we have a historic opportunity to tackle decades of systemic neglect in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. We can help level the playing field by directing resources to build resilience and adaptability in the right places across our country.

Read More »

Also posted in Health / Comments are closed

New federal policies can supercharge Virginia’s energy and climate goals

Mom helping young son charge electric car

Photo Credit: Getty Images

It’s the beginning of a new year and this year – despite some opposition – can be the year Virginia turns the corner to embrace a clean energy economy future.

Virginia has already taken critical steps in its clean energy transition to make communities more resilient and to address climate change. Steps like joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – a multistate program under which power companies pay for the pollution they create – passing legislation like the Virginia Clean Economy Act to establish a 100% clean energy standard and commit to a zero-carbon-emissions electricity grid by 2050 and having deployed nearly $100 million in RGGI funds for flood risk reduction from Roanoke to the Eastern Shore in less than two years, with more to come.

Major federal legislation recently passed in the form of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will supercharge those efforts with increased funding for infrastructure projects, clean energy initiatives and tax incentives, climate resilience, and other programs that address the climate crisis and create good jobs. In 2021 there were already 92,315 Virginians employed in clean energy jobs. Clean energy jobs outnumber fossil fuel jobs and young people overwhelmingly want to work in industries that are serious about addressing the climate crisis.

Virginia is only beginning to see the funding opportunities flowing from these unprecedented federal investments. Here are three examples highlighting how the BIL and IRA are having an impact:

Read More »

Also posted in Energy, News, Policy / Comments are closed

Protecting New Mexico’s climate future

Photo of Shiprock in New Mexico

New Mexico is home to one of the most ecologically diverse landscapes in the United States and a rich tapestry of cultures. New Mexicans love their state and take pride in keeping their land, air and water pristine for future generations. However, climate change poses a serious threat to the Land of Enchantment.

Every year, New Mexicans see and feel more and more severe climate impacts across the state. So far in 2022, New Mexico experienced the worst wildfire in its history, which burned more than 340,000 acres and destroyed more than 900 structures. Painful images of the Rio Grande running dry this summer and the devastation from the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon megafire are reminders that climate change continues to wreak havoc on New Mexicans’ livelihoods, cultures, recreational activities and even access to clean drinking water are all under threat. For these reasons, communities will look to our state policymakers for strong leadership on climate policy in the next legislative session. Action that will bring pollution down to safer levels and protect the state’s people, water, and land for generations to come.

Over the past several years, the state has made significant progress on climate change, including through the Energy Transition Act to reduce pollution from power plants, new nationally leading methane rules to reduce pollution from oil and gas production, and zero-emission vehicle standards to increase EV sales in the state and reduce pollution from transportation. While these have been milestone policies, additional policies are still critically needed to achieve science-based pollution reduction targets that will create a safer and more prosperous New Mexico. These additional policies are also necessary to reduce pollution in communities that have been most harmed by air pollution, including in tribal communities, as well as communities of color and people living below the poverty line.

EDF and our partners are fighting for effective and equitable climate solutions in the Land of Enchantment. In the upcoming legislative session, the state’s leaders have an opportunity to combine science-based goals to reduce climate pollution, accelerate a just transition to a healthier, more diversified and resilient economy, and ensure state agencies have the tools and resources necessary to assist communities and hold polluters accountable on the way to net-zero climate pollution by 2050. It’s an essential step forward and will make New Mexico a national leader in the fight against climate change.

Make a plan to vote this November, and sign up to stay connected on opportunities to support climate action in New Mexico here.

Also posted in Cities and states / Comments are closed

The ambition-raising opportunity of reducing methane emissions

This blog was authored by Alice Alpert, Senior Climate Scientist at EDF.

Evening silhouette of oilfield pipeline. Source: Getty Images

Meaningful methane emission reductions are not only possible—such efforts can potentially have a massive impact on warming.

Readily available methods to reduce methane can deliver a whopping 0.25°C of avoided temperature rise by 2050. This year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that reductions of methane emissions would also lower peak warming and reduce the likelihood of overshooting the warming levels described in the Paris Agreement. In pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C, methane is reduced by around 33% in 2030 and 50% in 2050. But not all countries define methane targets or even include methane in their Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs).

The Global Stocktake process, also called the Paris Agreement’s ambition “ratchet,” allows countries to assess collective progress toward the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals on mitigation, adaptation, and finance. A successful stocktake will help countries implement their existing climate commitments and provide the impetus and information necessary for them to raise the ambition of their next NDCs. EDF is collaborating on an extensive project with C2ES to help shape the Global Stocktake process by highlighting opportunities to scale up climate ambition.

As work in the Global Stocktake continues toward its conclusion at next year’s COP28, it’s important for all NDCs to include methane-specific targets, and policies and strategies to achieve those targets. Read More »

Also posted in Energy, International, Policy, Science, United Nations / Comments are closed