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This Week's Trend In Brief:

• Last month, the U.S. EPA terminated or froze dozens of Biden-era grants, many issued under the Inflation Reduction Act or other Biden Administration initiatives, which sparked intense backlash from environmental advocates nationwide.

   

• More than 99% of the billions in grants now targeted for termination went to environmental justice efforts by organizations that, while framed as “community partners,” focus on opposing industry and infrastructure development across the energy sector.

   

• While that reality may surprise some, we warned in 2021 that Biden’s “whole of government” approach to climate policy would integrate significant activist influence deep within agencies that we now know directed grant work toward allies.

   

• While many of these same groups publicly support decarbonization in words, in deeds they have worked to block the very infrastructure necessary to achieve it, challenging transmission lines, solar farms, and offshore wind projects, undermining Biden-era climate ambitions and the grid capacity needed to meet future energy demands driven by AI and the energy transition.

   

• For public affairs professionals in the energy industry, the EPA actions expose how the revolving door between agencies and activism undermined energy and climate policies the industry supports, and also signals the need to dig deeper into how federal – and state – government programs can work at cross purposes to their stated intentions.

Digging Deeper:

Last month, the U.S. EPA terminated or froze dozens of grants, many issued under the Inflation Reduction Act and other Biden-era initiatives, creating intense backlash from environmental advocates across the country. Several groups have filed lawsuits, accusing the Trump Administration of illegally terminating appropriated funds and politicizing grant criteria. While the legal fight escalates, the episode also pulls back the curtain on the extent to which the previous administration directed federal dollars toward advocacy groups, many of which played dual roles as both government partners and opponents of infrastructure development. For energy companies and the public affairs professionals who represent them, it is a reminder of just how deeply aligned the Biden-era EPA had become with activist networks, and how federal funding streams were used not just to implement policy, but to shape the policy debate itself.

At the onset of the Biden Administration, we observed that President Biden was pulling from the ranks of environmental advocacy groups to staff his administration, even as those activists demanded his administration be free of ties to industry. As we wrote in our look ahead at 2021, “as Biden continues to look to environmental activists to build his government, even pulling from their ranks, it is increasingly clear Biden will take a whole of government approach to climate issues.” This rang true throughout Biden’s term as president. Now, it is becoming clear that his “whole of government” approach extended beyond government. From staffing decisions to grantmaking priorities, the lines between policymaking and advocacy blurred, with federal agencies increasingly channeling resources to organizations aligned with Biden’s political and environmental agenda. As the Trump Administration pursues wide spending cuts across the country, it has become clear that the Biden Administration and its links to the environmental activist base were deeper than previously realized.

Under the Biden Administration, environmental justice became a central organizing principle, with billions in grant funding flowing to “community partners” focused on “disadvantaged communities,” but in reality, the funding went to groups focused on opposing industry and infrastructure development across the energy sector.  While many of these awards supported community resilience and public health efforts, they also directed substantial federal resources to long-standing environmental advocacy groups active in opposing infrastructure and industrial development. In Louisiana alone, more than $70 million in grants were rescinded from a mix of state agencies and nonprofits, including the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, groups that have consistently fought petrochemical projects and permitting efforts in the state. For those in the energy industry, the scope of these grants reveals just how intertwined environmental activist networks had become with federal agencies under Biden, raising concerns about how this funding could be used by groups to oppose not just industry, but the very types of development needed to support energy reliability, economic growth, and decarbonization.

Indeed, environmental activists and other project opponents have employed various tactics in recent years to delay or block the development of not only traditional energy projects, but the clean energy infrastructure they publicly claim to support. Despite advocating for renewables and decarbonization, these groups target projects necessary for the energy transition, such as transmission lines, wind farms, and solar projects. Many of these same groups received federal support under the Biden Administration, highlighting a disconnect between their stated goals and the practical consequences of their opposition. They may have even undercut the Biden Administration’s own efforts to promote clean energy, which emphasized solar and offshore wind. As we have noted before, these activists have become uncompromising in their demands and command significant resources with “little incentive to proclaim victory and depart the field when their fundraising and grassroots energy relies on never being satisfied.” At a time when the U.S. must accelerate infrastructure development to support both the energy transition and the rising power demands of AI, some of these groups are undermining the very goals they claim to champion. For public affairs professionals, this moment underscores how activist-aligned opposition, at times backed by federal funding, can delay or derail not just traditional energy infrastructure but the clean energy projects essential to the energy transition.

While industry has often faced scrutiny for its ties to regulators, the Biden era revealed a different dynamic, one where environmental advocacy groups enjoyed close alignment with federal agencies, access to significant public funding, and influence over regulatory priorities. The depth of those relationships, now coming into sharper view amid litigation and spending cuts, highlights how professionalized and embedded many activist networks had become within the policymaking process. They also reveal that activists not only shaped climate policy during the Biden era but also received substantial federal support to oppose critical infrastructure. For public affairs professionals in the energy industry, these revelations underscore the need to assess the political landscape and anticipate how these dynamics may continue to affect project approval, permitting, and public perception.

Trends in Energy is your weekly look at key trends affecting the energy industry, brought to you by the competitive intelligence experts at Delve. As the political and regulatory landscape continues to shift, reach out to learn how our insights can help you navigate these challenges.

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