Attorneys try to sort out what Trump’s policies will mean for the environment

Efforts to combat climate change, spur electric vehicle production through incentives and enforce existing environmental laws were staples of former President Joe Biden’s one term in office.

President Donald Trump wasted no time in signaling his priorities with the nation’s environmental and energy policies were a sharp contrast to his predecessor’s.

One of his first executive orders revoked dozens of Biden’s executive orders related to energy, climate change, electric vehicles, environmental justice and continental shelf oil or natural gas leasing, with Trump declaring “climate extremism has exploded inflation and overburdened businesses with regulation.”

The president also ordered the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations to immediately submit formal written notification of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. And he is pushing to boost development of fossil fuels.

Attorneys, business leaders and environmental advocates are keeping a close eye on how these orders as well as other federal agency actions, like a proposed Office of Management and Budget funding freeze, may impact the state’s environment and energy-linked businesses like EV battery manufacturers.

Sam Carpenter, the Hoosier Environmental Council’s executive director, noted the state has attracted approximately $8 billion in private investment geared toward clean energy projects through the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hailed the law as the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history.

“We as a state have really benefitted from that investment,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter said the federal government has driven a lot of the progress the state’s seen with renewable energy and conservation efforts.

Trump’s executive orders and uncertainty regarding federal funding and staffing of environmental regulatory agencies.

Carpenter said all of the legislation and federal level funding awarded to states prior to Trump’s return to office was driven around the need to address climate change.

“That’s something the current administration is not addressing,” Carpenter said.

Executive orders

Howard Learner, executive director of the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center, said Trump overreached with his energy and environment-related executive orders, with no president able to override laws created by Congress.

Learner, whose organization’s coverage area includes Indiana, noted that some federal district courts and judges have already begun pushing back on the president’s executive orders.

Trump’s orders could impact contracts entered into between energy and auto manufacturers and federal agencies.

Learner said that impacts jobs and economic growth in Indiana, as well as environmental progress in general.

He said if Trump doesn’t want tax credits for solar energy development or EV-battery manufacturing plants, he can go to Congress and ask for legislation to end those credits.

“But the president should not do that by executive order,” Learner said.

Learner said he’s very concerned about possible funding and workforce cuts to the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, which oversees Great Lakes protection.

He noted that Indiana Dunes National Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan, is among the most visited national parks in the U.S. The National Park Service reported in 2021 that Indiana Dunes received more than 3 million visitors, with 60% of those people coming from outside Indiana.

Michael Nelson, president of Indianapolis-based Nelson Law Group LLC and an environmental law attorney, said clients want to know how things will be different with any orders or possible funding freezes.

Nelson said it’s not clear at the moment how any changes are going to affect businesses or organizations.

Less funding could result in reduced workforces at federal environmental regulatory agencies, Nelson said.

He said what’s unknown is whether there will be actual changes to regulations already in place, even if there is less enforcement of environmental laws.

Nelson cited the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act — otherwise known as CERCLA or Superfund – as one example of a law that may or may not be changed by Congress.

As far as Trump’s executive orders, Nelson said he thought the biggest changes so far had centered around social issues.

“I don’t think yet we’ve seen how these changes will affect things in the environmental realm,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the number of inquiries from his clients have been slightly elevated since Trump took office.

One question that keeps coming up with those clients is how federal spending could be affected in regards to ongoing cleanup at Superfund sites.

“I’ve gotten several questions about that, and I’ve got no answers at this point,” Nelson said.

He said the process of cleanup and dealing with Superfund sites is long and exhausting.

Whether Superfund sites are cleaned up, and how soon mitigation is completed, has a big impact on the health of people living near those sites and whether redevelopment will happen on those affected locations, Nelson said.

More questions for attorneys

Frank Deveau, Indianapolis-based chairman of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP’s environmental practice group, said he’s fielded questions from clients concerned about brownfields grants possibly being frozen, as well as inquiries about PFAS chemical regulations.

Deveau said there are also concerns about EPA staff being non-responsive and in some cases, refusing to meet.

“In my experience, this is a little unusual. You just get the sense that the folks at EPA are afraid to get fired if they have a meeting. That’s a little unusual,” Deveau said.

In his view, Deveau said he sees the president’s executive orders as trial balloons, with Congress still needing to take action.

Deveau said Taft attorneys posted two law bulletins for clients related to Trump’s energy and environmental executive orders and EPA communications during the transition between presidential administrations.

In Taft’s executive orders’ bulletin, the firm concluded by stressing that not all of the orders will have immediate effect.

“Many environmental and energy regulatory changes will likely require some form of rulemaking. Litigation surrounding many of these federal regulatory adjustments is expected to increase in the coming months, with some suits already being filed,” the bulletin said. “Despite likely rulemaking and litigation challenges, these EOs adjust policy objectives that will impact the federal regulatory landscape for traditional domestic energy production and infrastructure development.”

Environmental group prepares for future, looks to state for help

In Indiana, the Hoosier Environmental Council has focus goals, with reducing emissions and combating climate change as top priorities, said David Van Gilder, the council’s senior policy director.

“All that has been thrown under the bus by the federal executive orders,” Van Gilder said.

Van Gilder said on a state level, he was slightly more hopeful about Gov. Mike Braun and his commitment to some environmental issues.

Carpenter said Braun had served as co-chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Climate Solutions Caucus during his time in Congress and is known as an avid outdoorsman and conservationist.

He said the council hoped to find a partnership with Braun on some environmental issues.

Van Gilder said the state’s President Benjamin Harrison Conservation Trust Fund has generated millions of dollars toward the purchase of land for future parks, nature preserves, fishing and hunting areas.

State legislators are generally in favor of conservation, Van Gilder insisted, but are also looking at overall budget issues when considering money for the trust fund.

Carpenter pointed out that the state had been awarded $100 million in federal funding to build new EV charging stations across Indiana.

He said every state in the U.S. is struggling with having enough charging infrastructure.

While Carpenter pointed out that he could charge his two plug-in hybrid vehicles in his garage, he said not everybody can do that.

“I hope that $100 million is secure,” Carpenter said.•