United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Monday delivered a blunt critique of the energy and climate policies of the Biden administration to a group of oil and gas executives, promising a “180 degree pivot.”

The former fracking executive is fully behind President Donald Trump’s plan to expand fossil fuel production in the U.S. while doing away with federal policies to mitigate global heating.

“I wanted to play a role in reversing what I believe has been a very poor direction in energy policy,” Wright said during the kickoff to the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference in Houston, as The New York Times reported. “The previous administration’s policy was focused myopically on climate change, with people as simply collateral damage.”

Wright has been dismissive of renewable energy, saying it makes up a small portion of the global energy mix. He pointed out that a quarter of the world’s energy is supplied by natural gas, with solar and wind producing roughly three percent.

“Beyond the obvious scale and cost problems, there is simply no physical way wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas,” Wright said.

Wright argued that fossil fuels are important for the alleviation of poverty worldwide, saying reducing emissions too quickly could drive up global energy prices.

He called countries’ efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury a “sinister goal.”

Wright’s comments did not address the adverse effects of fossil fuels and global heating on the planet.

“One of the transformations caused by American fossil fuels was destroying our previously well-balanced climate and plunging some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in Africa into a life dealing with extreme weather and lost homes and livelihoods,” said Mohamed Adow, founding director of NGO Power Shift Africa, a think tank based in Nairobi, as reported by The Guardian.

Oil and gas executives at the conference expressed agreement with Wright’s comments, saying fossil fuels are the best way to help people in the world’s developing nations.

“There are billions of people on this planet that still live sad, short, difficult lives because they live in energy poverty, and that’s a shame,” said Michael Wirth, Chevron’s chief executive, as The New York Times reported.

Many countries have been investing in renewable energy in recent years. In 2024, approximately $1.2 trillion was invested by nations in solar, wind, electric grids and batteries — more than the $1.1 trillion spent on gas, oil and coal infrastructure, the International Energy Agency said.

Calling himself a “climate realist,” Wright said that, while he didn’t deny global warming, rising greenhouse gas emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels were a “side effect of the modern world.”

“We have indeed raised global atmospheric CO2 concentration by 50 percent in the process of more than doubling human life expectancy, lifting almost all of the world’s citizens out of grinding poverty, launching modern medicine,” Wright said, as reported by The New York Times. “Everything in life involves trade-offs.”

Wright said he supports advanced geothermal and nuclear power, but that the Trump administration’s “all-of-the-above” energy approach was not likely to include wind farms, saying they were opposed by some communities.

“Wind has been singled out because it’s had a singularly poor record of driving up prices and getting increasing citizen outrage, whether you’re a farm or you’re in a coastal community,” Wright said.

Wright’s CERAWeek speech was not made available via livestream to the public, angering climate activists.

“As energy secretary, Chris Wright is supposed to serve the American people, not the fossil fuel industry,” said Allie Rosenbluth, campaign manager with nonprofit Oil Change International, as The Guardian reported. “It’s unacceptable, though not surprising, that this former fracking CEO is depriving the public of the chance to see what he’s saying to fossil fuel executives.”

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The Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed to drop an environmental justice case against the Denka petrochemical plant in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley.”

The Biden-era lawsuit sought to curb chloroprene emissions that are harming surrounding majority-Black communities like Reserve, Louisiana.

Filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the lawsuit stated that Denka’s chloroprene emissions posed “an imminent and substantial endangerment” to public health, reported The Hill.

“The endangerment is imminent because Denka emits chloroprene at levels that are producing unacceptably high risks of cancer to the people, including children, that are regularly exposed to the Facility’s emissions,” the lawsuit said. “Hundreds of children attend school near the Facility and currently breathe the air there.”

The administration of former President Joe Biden filed the litigation in February of 2023, The Guardian reported. The lawsuit targeted Japanese company Denka Performance Elastomer — whose rubber is used to make products such as wetsuits and laptop sleeves — as well as the firm’s previous owner, American chemical giant DuPont.

The action was a central part of the Biden EPA’s efforts to tackle environmental justice issues impacting disadvantaged communities. After long delays, a trial had been set to begin next month.

Trump’s efforts to cut EPA and DOJ staff sent waves of doubt through the Reserve community, who had been hoping the lawsuit would help reduce residents’ exposure to toxic pollution coming from the plant.

“It’s obvious that the Trump administration doesn’t care anything for the poor Black folk in Cancer Alley,” said 84-year-old Robert Taylor, a Reserve resident who has lost multiple family members to cancer, as reported by The Guardian. “[Trump’s] administration has taken away what protections we had, what little hope we had.”

According to filings made available Friday, the DOJ met with lawyers for both defendants, with all agreeing to dismissal of the case.

The DOJ said the dismissal complied with an executive order targeting “wasteful government” and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs with the purpose of eliminating “ideological overreach” and restoring “impartial enforcement of federal laws.”

The department claimed overreach by the Biden EPA for using the emergency powers authority of the Clean Air Act without alleging Denka had violated “any regulatory air quality standard.”

“The Trump Administration’s plan to dismiss this case should raise alarm bells for communities across the country and is a clear signal that the administration is not serious about enforcing the laws on the books that ensure we have access to clean and safe air and water,” Jen Duggan, Environmental Integrity Project’s executive director, said in a written statement, as The Hill reported.

The chloroprene long-term exposure limit set by the EPA is 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter, but air quality monitoring surrounding the Denka plant has shown readings that are frequently dozens of times higher than that threshold.

The lawsuit emphasized the risk posed to children who live near the plant, as well as those attending a nearby elementary school. It said average air monitor readings near the school from April of 2018 to January of 2023 showed that children under the age of 16 could surpass EPA’s excess risk rate for cancer within two years of exposure.

“We are going to fight them and prepare ourselves to keep going. We were preparing for the worst, and I don’t know how it could get any worse now that the government has totally abandoned us, it seems,” Taylor said.

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In 2024, the U.S. National Parks received a record-high visitor turnout, even higher than the previous record set in 2016. But based on an internal memo shared by the group Resistance Rangers, which is made up of current and former National Park Service (NPS) workers, NPS staff have been told not to share external communications about the record number of visits.

The information is publicly available on the NPS Visitation Statistics Dashboard, which shared that there were 331.9 million visits to National Parks sites in 2024, up from the previous record of 330,971,689 set in 2016. This number also increased by 6.36 million visits, or 2%, compared to visits in 2023.

Yet according to the internal memo shared by Resistance Rangers, NPS workers were advised that there would be no external communications rollout. The internal memo noted that parks could share the visitor number info on their websites if “that is the park’s standard process (e.g. parks that post monthly visitation reports), but should not issue a press release or other proactive communications, including social media posts.”

Further, staff was advised to respond to reporters by simply stating the numbers and redirecting them to the Integrated Resource Management Applications (IRMA) website. As SFGATE reported, this memo was different from previous years, when NPS has put out both reports on the number of visitors and on how these visits can economically benefit the areas surrounding national park sites.

Kati Schmidt, communications director for National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), told SFGATE that the annual visitor reports typically involve a lot of external outreach for NPS and individual parks.

“The silence is a little weird,” Schmidt wrote in an email to SFGATE.

As the parks reach record-high attendance, both Resistance Rangers and NPCA have pointed out that NPS is under threat with recent mass firings and planned NPS office closings.

“At the same time, 1,000 probationary employees were fired last month and have not been reinstated, despite a federal court ruling finding the firings illegal. At least 700 employees have taken the deferred resignation (‘fork’) option,” Resistance Rangers wrote in a press release. “Phase 1 Reduction in Force plans are due on March 13, despite the NPS being critically understaffed even before the recent cuts. This leaves national parks critically understaffed as they approach the busiest time of year, despite being more popular than ever.”

As NPCA reported, the current administration has planned to close at least 34 NPS facilities, including eight visitor centers, climate-controlled facilities with sensitive artifacts and emergency facilities.

“These moves by the administration are pushing our parks past the point of no return,” said Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of NPCA. “For over a century, Americans have loved and fought to protect our national parks. This administration’s actions are a betrayal of that legacy. The American people expect leaders to protect our parks, not dismantle them.”

As SFGATE reported, the memo to not share record visitor statistics externally raises concerns over directives coming from the administration, not NPS, amid the recent firings and planned facility closures.

“The suppression of this data would not be coming from anyone in the NPS, which proudly displays the numbers every year (just look back at the last 20 years!),” Jonathan Jarvis, former director of NPS, told SFGATE. “This decision would be forced on NPS by the DOI politicals or DOGE, worried about the high visitation numbers, the economic value, and the bad press coming from firing so many NPS employees.”  

According to NPS data, 2024 visits expanded across the board, with new visitation records set at 28 parks and more visitors coming to park sites throughout the year (not just during peak seasons). Thirty-eight parks also had visitor numbers higher than the 10-year average for every single month of 2024.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area had the highest number of visits, nearly 17.2 million, of any NPS site, while the Great Smoky Mountains was the most-visited National Park with 12.2 million visits. Other top-visited National Parks included Zion (4.94 million visits), Grand Canyon (4.91 million), Yellowstone (4.74 million) and Rocky Mountain (4.15 million).

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In London, the implementation and expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has reduced air pollution by decreasing amounts of nitrogen dioxide, fine particulate matter and carbon emissions, according to new data by City Hall reviewed by independent air quality experts.

In total, air quality in London is improving at a faster rate compared to the rest of England, and the ULEZ has reduced enough carbon emissions to equal the impact of removing 3 million one-way passenger trips from Heathrow Airport to New York City, according to the report.

The Ultra-Low Emission Zone was first implemented in 2019, when it became the first low-emission zone to operate 24/7. In February 2023, a peer-reviewed study by the London mayor’s office showed that the zone was working after an initial expansion to include inner London. At that point, the zone had led to a 21% decrease in nitrogen dioxide levels in inner London and a 46% reduction in these emissions in central London. That report also found a decline in fine particulate matter and carbon emissions both inside the ULEZ and across London entirely.

In August 2023, the ULEZ was expanded again to cover the entire city, with expectations that this move would improve air quality for 5 million more people living in London’s outer boroughs. The ULEZ is now the largest low-emission zone globally.

Now, new data proves the expanded low-emission zone has made serious improvements to the air quality in and around the city, including a 27% decline in nitrogen dioxide levels, across London.

“When I was first elected, evidence showed it would take 193 years to bring London’s air pollution within legal limits if the current efforts continued. However, due to our transformative policies we are now close to achieving it this year,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement. “Today’s report shows that ULEZ works, driving down levels of pollution, taking old polluting cars off our roads and bringing cleaner air to millions more Londoners.”

The report revealed that fine particulate matter levels were 31% lower in the outer boroughs of London than they would have been without the expansion, and air quality has improved at 99% of city-wide air quality monitoring sites since 2019.

According to data from Transport for London (TfL), the number of ULEZ-compliant vehicles in London is now 96.7%, compared to just 39% in February 2017 and 91.6% in June 2023. There are about 100,000 fewer non-compliant vehicles per day on average in London as of September 2024 compared to June 2023, just before the ULEZ was expanded to cover the entire city. 

Officials noted the transition to cleaner vehicles is in part thanks to the ULEZ scrappage program, which offered a total of £200 million ($258.37 million) in grants for people who wanted to either retrofit non-compliant vehicles, scrap them with goals of buying a cleaner vehicle, or donate the older vehicles to Ukraine. The program received over 54,000 applications.

For critics concerned over economic impacts of the ULEZ on local tourism and businesses, officials noted that retail and leisure spending weren’t impacted by the expansion, and visitor footfall even increased nearly 2% since the zone was expanded to cover the outer boroughs.

To further improve London’s air quality, the city is also adding more “zero-emission” buses, offering free and discounted public transportation opportunities, expanding cycling networks and installing more EV charging infrastructure. The mayor has set a target for at least 80% of trips in the city to be made by walking, cycling or riding public transportation by 2041.

“Improving air quality through initiatives like the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London is crucial for protecting public health and reducing the burden of disease,” Dr. Maria Neira, director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization (WHO), said in a statement. “Cleaner air leads to healthier communities, lower rates of respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, and a better quality of life for all residents.”

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Environmentalists are urging the Trump administration to reverse a decision to freeze funding for important conservation work aimed at protecting iconic at-risk species, which includes anti-poaching patrols for vulnerable elephants and rhinos.

The Center for Biological Diversity sent a notice of intent to sue to the administration on Wednesday over the funding cuts.

“The Trump administration’s funding freeze for anti-poaching patrols and other international conservation work is maddening, heartbreaking, and very illegal,” said Sarah Uhlemann, the Center for Biological Diversity’s international program director, in a press release from the nonprofit environmental organization. “These Fish and Wildlife Service funds help protect elephants, rhinos and other animals across the globe that Americans love. No one voted to sacrifice the world’s most iconic wildlife to satisfy some unelected billionaire’s reckless power trip.”

The funds, administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), support projects like scientific research on the decline of elephants, anti-poaching patrols for rhinos and fighting trafficking of threatened turtle populations in countries without the resources to protect them. The funds are provided by Americans through the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) with the intent of keeping the animals from going extinct.

“This insanity has to stop or some of the world’s most endangered animals will die,” Uhlemann said.

USFWS has stopped the flow of tens of millions in foreign conservation funding, in addition to ordering grant recipients to halt work under their contracts.

The abrupt funding freeze has left a number of nonprofits in disarray globally, forced to lay off staff members and not knowing how they will keep up their vital conservation work.

The legal notice makes it clear that the suspension of funds by USFWS without consideration of the harm it would cause threatened species violates the ESA. It also violates laws that require rational decision-making by agencies, as well as the constitutional separation of powers.

A similar freeze of USAID funds by the Trump administration was found to be illegal by several courts, which ordered the restart of payments. When funding was not resumed by the administration, an order for compliance was set by one court last week. However, that deadline has since been paused by the Supreme Court, which is considering the matter.

“Trump and his unelected cronies are gleefully tearing apart the federal government without care for whom or what it harms. It’s careless, callous, and a violation of the laws that protect us all,” Uhlemann said.

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