"Biden poured billions into helping communities most threatened by pollution. Donald Trump could stop it."

"Over the past four years, the Biden administration said it has funneled hundreds of billions of dollars to help towns and neighborhoods most harmed by pollution. The money, largely through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, paid for electric school buses to replace diesel-burning vehicles, brought solar to tribal lands and funded local groups to clean up their communities.

It all came out of a promise President Joe Biden made to devote 40 percent of money dedicated to cutting pollution to the heavily poor, often non-White areas that shoulder a disproportionate burden. Now, as President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team prepares for a second term, this approach — called Justice40 — could be on the chopping block.

Some of Trump’s allies, including some members of Congress, have targeted environmental justice programs for elimination. Over a dozen Republicans asked the House Appropriations Committee last year to zero out funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice programs. And Project 2025 — a right-leaning policy blueprint for the next administration written by many of Trump’s former aides — calls for the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights to be disbanded and returned to the Office of the Administrator."

Amudalat Ajasa and Anna Phillips report for the Washington Post December 4, 2024. [2]