Policy Shifts

A number of federal environmental programs are facing cuts or disruption under the current administration. The EPA is drafting a rule that would shrink its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which has tracked emissions from about 8,000 facilities a year since 2010, down to roughly 2,300 oil and gas facilities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration faces a proposed 25% overall budget cut, including a 75% reduction to its research arm and cuts to satellite programs. The National Science Foundation has ended funding tied to diversity efforts and misinformation research, with vague new rules about what work can still be funded. EPA staff working on environmental justice issues have been told layoffs will hit by July 31.

The next National Climate Assessment, a report that maps how climate change is affecting specific communities and has informed planning for heat, flooding, wildfire smoke, and sea-level rise, has also been disrupted. The roughly 400 volunteer authors working on the 2027 edition were dismissed in late April, following the widely used 2023 edition.

Not all cuts are sticking. A federal judge ordered Citibank to release $14 billion of $20 billion in frozen Biden-era climate grants, ruling the EPA could not cancel them while a legal challenge continues.

None of this changes current home rebate programs directly, but it signals broader uncertainty in federal climate and environmental data and funding that homeowners may want to watch, especially since rebate and grant programs can vary by state and may shift depending on how these federal changes play out.