Year In Review: Trump’s Environmental Policy

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

News, Daily News, Politics

4.5 • 24.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As we approach 2026, the NPR Politics Podcast is taking a look back at the year that was in different political areas. Today, we look at how America’s stance on environmental policy has shifted under the second Trump administration and what the potential impacts could be.

This episode: voting correspondent Ashley Lopez, senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, climate correspondent Michael Copley, and automotive and energy correspondent Camila Domonoske.

This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.

Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover voting. And I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. And joining us today is Michael Copley, who covers climate for NPR. Good to have you with us, Michael. Hey, thanks for having me.
0:16.0	And today on the show, we're taking a look at what steps the Trump administration has been taking, or rather not taking, towards tackling climate change, which is caused by mainly burning fossil fuels like oil and coal.
0:26.9	But first, let's hear what the president has to say this year about renewable energy.
0:32.1	We're getting rid of the falsely named renewables.
0:35.6	Fossil fuels.
0:38.7	What works?
0:42.5	The windmills are driving the whales crazy, obviously.
0:45.0	Coal is back with this country, too, by the way.
0:46.8	You know, there's a reason they use it because it's good.
0:49.0	You know, it used to be global cooling.
0:54.7	If you look back, it's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion.
0:56.1	Wow, all over the place.
0:59.4	Well, I do want a table set a little bit with both you, Tam, and Michael.
1:04.6	Where did America stand on climate change before Trump came back into office?
1:09.0	And how does this compare to like the previous administration?
1:09.9	Yeah.
1:13.0	So as you heard, President Trump has basically a vendetta against green energy. He called the Green New Deal, the Green New Slam, even though
1:18.3	the Green New Deal never actually did get passed by Congress or signed into law. But what was
1:24.3	signed into law was the Inflation Reduction Act. That was one of President
1:30.2	Biden's big initiatives. And despite the name, it actually included investments in a lot of
1:36.5	things aimed at climate change, aimed at making green energy more affordable and readily
1:43.5	available, aimed at promoting electric vehicles.
	...

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