Federal Funding Landscape under Trump 2.0 - How to Prepare

After the federal government invested an unprecedented amount of funding in clean energy and infrastructure during the last four years, we are facing potentially unprecedented attacks on these investments—and on the frontline communities, nonprofits, cities, states, and tribes tasked with implementing these investments. 

A recent Republican congressional staff report accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of granting $3 billion to “radical environmental activist groups that attempt to exert political influence, engage in progressive election activities, and are backed by billionaires.” The EPA Chapter of Project 2025 called to disband the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, “[s]top all grants to advocacy groups,” and “[i]nstitute a pause and review for all grants over a certain threshold.” And Trump’s nominee for Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget has promised to put EPA staff “in trauma.” Here is the chilling video.

“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can’t do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth financially to do so. We want to put them in trauma.” – Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee for Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget

There is a small but vocal rallying cry claiming that the far right has a mandate to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, disable EPA’s ability to do its job, and clawback hard-fought-for funds that will improve public health in frontline communities. But the truth is that the Environmental Protection Network (EPN) commissioned a post-election poll to better understand voters’ views on EPA and found overwhelming public support for EPA across all demographics, including Trump voters.

• 76% of Trump voters and 86% of all voters oppose attempts to weaken EPA.
• 81% of Trump voters and 88% of all voters want Congress to increase EPA funding or keep funding steady.
• 72% of Trump voters and 80% of all voters support increasing federal funding to communities disproportionately harmed by air and water pollution.
• 64% of Trump voters and 88% of all voters are concerned that Trump will turn EPA over to someone who will “put the interests of polluting corporations ahead of protecting clean water, clean air, and public health.”
• A majority of Trump voters (54%) and 68% of all voters believe that the president should appoint someone to lead EPA who will “focus on implementing environmental protections” rather than “repealing regulations and cutting EPA’s staff and budgets.”

So, what is a short list of things you can do now to prepare yourself for what’s to come?

1. Sign up to receive EPN’s bimonthly Federal Funding Opportunities & Guidance emails. In partnership with Communities First, Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), Natural Resources Defense Council, and others, we will be rolling out numerous resources and support systems in the new year, and this is the best way to stay in touch.
2. If you have been selected for funding from EPA but you have not received your final award, or if you are unsure of your status, please reach out ASAP. We have retained the services of a private consulting firm to help you get your award before inauguration.
3. If you have legal questions right now about your federal award, please fill out L4GG’s fund protection clinic intake form.
4. Join any number of EPN’s office hours, including: 
   1. Biweekly learning sessions for recipients of Community Change Grants
   2. SAM.gov office hours to get your Unique Entity ID 
   3. Monthly meetings for recipients of Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring for Communities grants
   4. Budget for Beginners Office Hours for potential Grantmakers or other EPA funding applicants
5. Use L4GG’s Clean Energy Tax Navigator to get free guidance (including 1:1 pro bono assistance available for communities on the back-end) on how to access tax credits.
6. Keep going! EPN staff can help folks apply for $75,000-$350,000 in grants via the Thriving Communities Grantmakers program. Get connected to EPN’s regional staff by filling out this intake form.

We don’t know exactly what will happen in the future, but we do know that EPN is not going anywhere, and we are here to see that you realize your goals for your communities.