Former White House official says legal resistance will blunt Trump’s rollback of environmental justice
A former top environmental justice adviser in the Biden administration says President Trump’s efforts to dismantle federal programs targeting pollution and health disparities will face strong legal and political resistance.
Willy Blackmore reports for Word In Black.
In short:
- Ryan Hathaway, who led environmental justice work in the Biden White House, says the Trump administration is trying to erase these initiatives but lacks the power to fully succeed.
- Hathaway lost his role when Trump signed an executive order dismantling diversity and environmental justice programs on his first day in office.
- Now at Lawyers for Good Government, Hathaway is helping nonprofits defend federal grants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to rescind, many aimed at marginalized communities.
Key quote:
“They’re holding up money that’s going to save people’s lives. A lot of this money in environmental justice work is just reducing future suffering.”
— Ryan Hathaway, director of environment and climate justice at Lawyers for Good Government
Why this matters:
Environmental justice, a movement rooted in civil rights and public health, has long fought to correct the deep inequities in how pollution and environmental hazards are distributed across American communities. During the Biden administration, the federal government acknowledged this legacy through billions in Justice40 investments and EPA enforcement crackdowns. But now, with President Trump’s return to office, much of that momentum appears at risk. Funding for frontline organizations is already in jeopardy, and federal agencies face pressure to scale back climate and pollution efforts in the name of deregulation. Advocates fear a chilling effect, not only on environmental protections but on the foundational principle that all Americans deserve clean air and water — regardless of their ZIP code.
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