Trump signals crackdown on environmental nonprofits by targeting their tax-exempt status

Environmental organizations across the country are bracing for executive orders from President Trump that may challenge their tax-exempt status and chill legal and advocacy work.

Marianne Lavelle and Lee Hedgepeth report for Inside Climate News.

In short:

• Sources say the Trump administration is preparing executive orders that may revoke the tax-exempt status of environmental nonprofits, especially those engaged in litigation or environmental justice advocacy.
• Some organizations are preemptively scrubbing language like “climate resilience” from their public communications and strengthening ties with groups in conservative regions to reduce risk.
• Tax law and constitutional experts argue the administration has limited legal grounds to revoke nonprofit status for political reasons, and environmental groups vow to fight any such efforts in court.

Key quote:

“We never dreamed that, with us operating at a super local level, that we would have to worry about what somebody hundreds of miles away thinks about certain words that are used or about our work.”

— Warren Tidwell, Alabama Center for Rural Organizing and Systemic Solutions

Why this matters:

Nonprofit environmental groups play a key role in enforcing environmental protections, especially through litigation that holds governments and corporations accountable. Many of these organizations serve low-income or rural communities that are already vulnerable to pollution and climate hazards. If the federal government successfully strips these groups of their tax-exempt status, it could limit their ability to fundraise, erode their credibility, and reduce their capacity to defend communities most at risk. Even the threat of such action may cause groups to self-censor or scale back their advocacy. This move also signals a shift toward using the IRS as a political tool and raises alarm about the long-term impact on civil society, especially those advocating for clean air, water, and equitable environmental policy in marginalized communities.

Related: Former White House official says legal resistance will blunt Trump’s rollback of environmental justice