This article is created by Green the Church

In his first 100 days, President Trump enacted over 100 actions to dismantle environmental protections, including revoking executive orders on environmental justice and closing Environmental Protection Agency regional offices focused on pollution in vulnerable communities. These actions threaten over 30 years of progress in environmental justice, particularly for Black communities already burdened by pollution.

“We are living through a crisis of cruelty—where profit is prized over people, and policy rolls back not just protections, but compassion,” said Rev. Ambrose Carroll, founder of the national Black church organization Green the Church. ”But just as Black churches stood strong in the face of segregation, suppression, and silence, we must rise and resist the rollbacks and revive the moral conscience of this nation.”

On day one, Trump canceled environmental justice initiatives across federal agencies. Shortly after, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin ordered the immediate closure of environmental justice offices, resulting in the cancellation of over 400 EPA environmental justice grants, totaling $1.7 billion for projects like lead poisoning prevention and clean energy investments.

“They promised more but delivered less,” said Amanda Leland, Executive Director of Environmental Defense Fund. “They’ve taken actions that have made life more expensive, more dangerousness, less prosperous, and less secure.”

According to the Climate Action Campaign’s “Trump’s 100 days, 100 harms Tracker,” Trump’s first 100 days in office have been the most harmful 100 days of any administration for climate, clean energy, public health, and communities – especially our most vulnerable communities.” The numbers tell a story, but the real impact is measured in the air children breathe and the water families drink.

In Philadelphia, Trump’s environmental rollbacks jeopardize hard-won progress. Local officials and EPA employees have protested federal cuts that threaten crucial city programs at risk, including protections against extreme heat in schools. Research by the American Economic Association indicates that rising classroom temperatures primarily impact Black and Latino students, especially in buildings lacking adequate air conditioning. Last year, 57 Philadelphia schools struggled to keep classrooms cool as temperatures exceeded 85 degrees. Without strong federal support, these issues will worsen, increasing health risks for the city’s most vulnerable students.

“Blacks are more likely to live near industrial facilities and polluted areas, a result of historical redlining and discriminatory zoning practices,’ said Dr. Cedric “Jamie” Rutland, a national spokesperson for the American Lung Association. “The administration’s rapid rollback of environmental protections has further endangered our communities by allowing increased emissions and reduced enforcement of environmental laws.”

The first 100 days have also targeted environmental justice by restricting the EPA’s ability to collect and analyze pollution data. The administration has moved to drastically reduce the EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting requirements, cutting oversight from thousands of polluters down to just a few sectors. This has led climate experts to warn that it’s like “unplugging the equipment that monitors the vital signs of a patient that is critically ill.

Limiting the EPA’s capacity to track pollution and its health impacts makes it much more difficult for communities to identify, prove, and challenge environmental injustices, especially as the air worsens. According to the American Lung Association’s 2025 “State of the Air” report, nearly half of Americans now breathe unhealthy air—the highest number in the last decade—and Black people are 1.5 times more likely to live in areas with severely unhealthy air.

Green The Church is actively opposing recent rollbacks by assisting faith communities in “greening” the Black church. Recently, the organization launched a statewide Solar Energy Congregation Tour in Atlanta, Georgia. This innovative national program, already piloted in two California churches, focuses on replacing outdated, inefficient heating and cooling systems, reducing carbon pollution, lowering energy bills and improving indoor air quality. As a result, both churches and communities will be creating clean energy futures..

As Rev. Ambrose Carroll puts it: “When the EPA rolls back protections, it doesn’t just deregulate policies, it deregulates dignity, health, and hope. Black communities have survived pollution, policy neglect, and environmental racism before. But survival isn’t the goal—justice is. It’s time to reverse the rollbacks, restore our protections, and reclaim our right to breathe. Our health can’t be sacrificed for profits by polluters.”

About Green The Church
Green the Church is a sustainability initiative designed to tap into the power and purpose of the Black Church Community and expand the role of churches as centers for environmental and economic resilience. As the Environmental Organization of the Black Church, it strives to teach faith communities, environmental organizations, and individual practitioners how to work in concert in order to “Green” The Black Church. Green The Church was created and developed by Carroll Ministries International.