In what amounts to a wholesale reordering of America’s environmental landscape, the Trump administration has launched a blitz of regulatory rollbacks that has left environmental organizations financially strained, internally divided, and struggling to mount an effective response during a critical period for the planet.
In a triple blow to the environmental movement, three major organizations are reeling from crises that threaten their stability and mission.
The Sierra Club has fired its executive director following internal turmoil, mass layoffs, and bitter clashes with staff. Greenpeace faces potential extinction from a crushing $670 million legal verdict. And Rewiring America, a key advocate for building electrification, has cut nearly a third of its workforce.
The environmental movement, already battling a hostile political climate, now finds itself dangerously adrift at a critical juncture in history.
The administration initiated 145 actions to undo environmental protections in its first 100 days alone—more rollbacks than were completed in Trump’s entire first term—targeting everything from clean air standards and wildlife protections to climate initiatives and pollution controls.
Experts describe this as an unprecedented assault on the nation’s foundational environmental laws.
“What we’ve seen in this first 100 days is unprecedented—the deregulatory ambition of this administration is mind-blowing,” said Michael Burger, an expert in climate law at Columbia University. “They are doing things faster and with less process than last time, often disregarding the law. The intent is to shock, overwhelm, and overcome resistance through sheer force of numbers.”
The administration’s approach has explicitly favored fossil fuel interests.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum declared that America is “sitting on a treasure trove of energy, and under President Trump’s leadership, we’re unlocking it.”
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin described one barrage of 31 actions as “driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.”
Legal Battles and Organizational Disarray
With the federal government now hostile to their mission, environmental groups have shifted strategy toward the courts, but they are doing so while grappling with internal crises that have hampered their effectiveness.
Earthjustice has initiated 96 legal actions against the Trump administration this year—nearly three times the number filed during the first six months of Trump’s first term.
Other organizations, like the Natural Resources Defense Council, are redoubling efforts in state courts and expanding advocacy at both the state and international levels.
“Trump has it exactly backward. The economic case for clean energy is undeniable. Solar, wind, and storage are the cheapest and quickest ways to meet our growing energy demand. They lower household energy costs and create jobs,” said Manish Bapna, president of the NRDC.
But these legal efforts come at a time when major environmental organizations face devastating internal challenges.
The Sierra Club, one of the nation’s oldest environmental groups, fired its executive director, Ben Jealous, after a turbulent tenure marked by staff layoffs and clashes with the organization’s union.
The organization had already been rocked by leadership crises and substantial budget deficits.
“The morale is destroyed,” said a Sierra Club insider. “I won’t try to sugarcoat it. This is a generational loss.”
Financial Strains and Strategic Divisions
The movement’s challenges have been compounded by severe financial pressures.
The Trump administration has canceled billions of dollars in grants for clean energy projects, including $490 million that had been slated for Rewiring America, leading the organization to cut 28% of its staff.
Greenpeace faces a potentially existential threat from a $670 million legal verdict after being sued by Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, whose chairman was a major donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“With one election and one bill, most of the signature climate work that organizations, advocates, and movements have been working toward is largely undone,” said Ruthy Gourevitch, a policy director at the Climate and Community Institute.
The environmental movement now finds itself deeply divided on strategy. Some advocate for a broad, progressive grassroots movement focused on climate justice, while others believe traditional legal and legislative actions remain the most effective path.
Billionaire climate donor Tom Steyer argues the movement needs a “fundamental recalibration,” writing, “Climate can no longer be a separate cause. It must be the context for making people’s lives better. It has to feel like relief. Like opportunity.”
A Movement in Search of Itself
As the Trump administration continues its assault on environmental regulations—coupled with a government shutdown that has led to mass layoffs of federal workers and the cancellation of renewable energy projects—the environmental movement appears to be at a crossroads, searching for new strategies and leadership.
The administration’s approach has extended to systematically dismantling government oversight itself.
The Federal Election Commission, for example, has been left without a quorum to enforce campaign finance laws, while thousands of federal workers have received layoff notices.
Despite the challenges, some groups are finding ways to adapt. Along with increased legal challenges, there’s a growing focus on state-level initiatives and building what remains of the environmental movement into a potent political force.
Yet with the Trump administration showing no signs of slowing its environmental rollbacks, and key environmental organizations grappling with internal crises, the nation finds itself in a moment of profound uncertainty—one where the environmental protections Americans have taken for granted for generations are being systematically dismantled faster than the opposition can organize to defend them.
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