In his first hundred days in office, President Donald Trump took 145 actions undoing clean air, water and climate laws. He has since ordered Environmental Protection Agency scientists to stop publishing their research, fired climate experts in droves and has subjected meteorologists to political loyalty tests. His Interior Department, once a hallmark of American environmentalism, has stripped protections from over 245 million acres of public land, while implementing new rules allowing the removal of endangered species’ habitat. These rollbacks are not isolated policies; they represent a coordinated attack on science, conservation, and the very idea that the government should safeguard public health. The Trump administration is waging a silent war on environmentalism and is actively dismantling decades of bipartisan progress. Urgent action is needed to reverse this trend.
In just a few years, Washington D.C. has shifted from a protector of environmental policy to an obstacle. Trump’s dismantling of American environmentalism has been swift and unprecedented. On his inauguration day, Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, making it the only country to have ever done so. He has abandoned clean energy projects on public land and threatened to block any on private land. In the past few weeks, he and his administration have fired thousands of employees from the EPA, the Interior Department, the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
These shifts in policy are so shocking because of how sharply they depart from previously bipartisan environmental policy. While the current political cycle in the United States encourages partisan thinking when it comes to environmentalism and public health, preserving our lands and pursuing public health was not always a ballot box issue. The EPA, created to protect both human health and the environment, was established by both Democrats and Republicans and signed into law by Richard Nixon. Similarly, the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act both had bipartisan support, and both were signed by Republican presidents (George W. Bush and Gerald Ford, respectively).
Beyond public health, America’s modern day conservation movement was also once bipartisan. Theodore Roosevelt, one of the Republican Party’s great figures, created the modern-day National Park system, following in fellow Republican Ulysses S. Grant’s legacy. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, for its part, includes numerous conservation benefits, such as the Klamath Basin, Delaware River Basin and Lake Tahoe restorations. These examples make Trump’s reversal of policy even more jarring; they contradict not only established environmental science, but his own party’s tradition of stewardship.
Hope is not lost, however. Despite these reversals in policy, the American people remain ahead of their leaders. In a recent poll, 60% of Republicans, 59% of Independents and 86% of Democrats suggested they would have a more favorable impression towards their member of Congress if they pursued natural climate solutions. The same poll found a 91% consensus across parties to provide a financial incentive to converse natural areas, while 89% approved of building a year-round workforce to restore coastlines, forests, farmlands and other natural areas.
Grassroot support for bipartisan environmentalism already exists. Americans want to take pride in their wild spaces and live clean, safe lives. Across party lines, Americans agree that they want a nation that they can be environmentally proud of. This makes Trump’s policies not only reckless, but a betrayal of his party’s and his voters’ values. Environmentalism aligns perfectly with conservative ideals of stewardship, responsibility, and national pride.
Even fiscally, pro-environmental policy advances Republican goals. In 2023, the National Parks Service contributed $55.6 billion dollars to the American economy and supported over 415,000 jobs. This number has decreased after Trump’s recent mass firings of NPS’s staff. Worldwide, nations with stronger environmental policies have also been found to have stronger economies and efficient industries.
If the United States is to reclaim its legacy as a global leader in conservation and global health, it cannot afford to let environmentalism continue to be a casualty of partisanship. Trump’s rollbacks reveal not just an assault on policy, but a denial of shared values that once united Americans across the aisle. Protecting clean air, safe water, and public lands is not a Republican or Democratic issue – it is an American issue. The public already acknowledges this; it is time for American leaders to act accordingly. It is time for them to reach across the aisle to protect not only our public lands and health, but also our American values. Rebuilding environmental bipartisanship is not optional – it is the only way to safeguard America’s health, land and values from reckless leadership.