"The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division recently changed its name to the Energy and Natural Resources Division and added “unleashing American energy” to its mission."
"Tom Mariani spent nearly 40 years working as an environmental attorney inside the U.S. Department of Justice. But the return of President Donald Trump to office last year marked the end of his government career.
His departure was part of a mass exodus of civil servants across the federal government, including at the DOJ, in the beginning of the second Trump administration. Over the last year and half, thousands of career attorneys have exited the department, and many of its litigating divisions have been drastically downsized. The Civil Rights Division lost 70 percent of its attorneys within the first few months. The Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) lost more than a quarter of its workforce.
In June, the Trump administration announced that it would be dropping the word “environment” and replacing it with “energy” in a renamed Energy and Natural Resources Division with a re-tooled mission, “advancing U.S. energy dominance.” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson, the division’s new head, said in an emailed statement that “faithfully” enforcing environmental laws remains a central part of protecting “clean air, water, and land for all Americans.”
“There’s nothing incompatible about unleashing American energy and making America healthy again. We are achieving both,” he said."
Dana Drugmand reports for Inside Climate News July 28, 2026.
