Image of college classroom with wooden seats and a blackboard.

UMass commits to climate leadership as states counter federal inaction

Facing federal rollbacks under President Trump, the University of Massachusetts system is expanding its climate tech and sustainability efforts across its five campuses.

Dennis Pillion reports for Inside Climate News.


In short:

  • UMass President Marty Meehan announced a "whole-university" strategy to align with Massachusetts’ $1.4 billion climate tech development plan, emphasizing education, research, and economic partnerships.
  • Despite federal threats to diversity initiatives and energy policy reversals, UMass leaders plan to continue pushing clean energy, resilience projects, and climate justice initiatives at state and international levels.
  • UMass campuses are launching programs such as the Clean Energy and Environmental Legacy Transition at UMass Lowell, climate change curriculum at its medical school, and nature-based resiliency projects at UMass Boston, while planning major infrastructure upgrades funded by the state’s Bright Act.

Key quote:

"While forces seem determined to drag us backward, UMass and Team Massachusetts are going to continue to work together to move ourselves forward."

— Marty Meehan, president of the University of Massachusetts

Why this matters:

The University of Massachusetts’s aggressive pivot toward climate action highlights a broader trend: As the federal government retreats from environmental leadership, states and institutions are stepping up. Climate tech and sustainability efforts at major research universities can have cascading effects — training a workforce ready for green industries, driving regional innovation, and laying the foundation for community resilience. Energy-efficient building upgrades, climate-focused medical education, and projects like Boston Harbor’s living sea walls also have direct implications for public health and environmental justice, especially as vulnerable populations face disproportionate risks from extreme weather and pollution. Without coordinated federal support, these local and state efforts may become the front line in the fight to slow climate change and protect ecosystems that sustain human life.

Related: Top business schools are shifting MBA programs to focus on climate

Car tailpipe up close.

Republicans push to eliminate fines for carmakers that violate fuel economy rules

Senate Republicans are backing a proposal that would strip penalties from federal fuel economy standards, a move critics say could drive up gasoline use and tailpipe pollution.

Brad Plumer and Jack Ewing report for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
Flooded river with bare trees in distance against a cloudy sky.

Vermont defends landmark climate law as Trump administration and oil industry sue

Vermont is preparing for a drawn-out legal fight after President Trump’s Justice Department joined fossil fuel interests in suing to block the state’s new Climate Superfund law, which seeks to make oil companies pay for decades of greenhouse gas emissions.

Nina Sablan reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
View of the U.S. capitol building
Credit: Jacqui/Pixabay

New tax rules risk choking U.S. clean energy projects over China supply links

A budget bill moving through Congress could block most U.S. clean energy projects from receiving tax credits if any part of their supply chain includes ties to China.

Dan Gearino reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Weight scales on an image of a smokestack.

EPA faces class action lawsuit over canceled environmental justice grants

A coalition of nonprofits, tribes, and local governments is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after it abruptly canceled $3 billion in environmental justice grants awarded under the Biden administration.

Tracy J. Wholf reports for CBS News.

Keep reading...Show less
View of lush rainforest.

Amazon’s slow shift toward savannah threatens global climate and food systems

Up to 70% of the Amazon rainforest could be lost if current trends in deforestation, warming, and land degradation continue, according to Brazilian climate scientist Carlos Nobre.

Jonathan Watts reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
a car that is sitting upside down on top of a pile of debris after a tornado.

FEMA delays and funding cuts leave state emergency programs in limbo

State and local emergency management agencies are facing growing uncertainty as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delays major grant programs and President Trump signals plans to dismantle the agency.

Jennifer Berry Hawes reports for ProPublica.

Keep reading...Show less
a view of a valley with a river and mountains in the background.

Colorado River states inch toward deal as Trump administration signals it may intervene

As negotiations over the future of the Colorado River near a critical deadline, the Trump administration has urged the seven basin states to reach a deal on their own but warned it is ready to step in if they fail.

Sharon Udasin reports for The Hill.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.