Federal Funding Cuts Halt Environmental Research, Threatening Climate Resilience Efforts

Environmental health research projects across the United States are being terminated or scaled back, raising concerns about the nation’s ability to prepare for and mitigate the growing impacts of extreme weather events.

A five-year, $25 million Department of Energy grant awarded to Johns Hopkins University and partners across the mid-Atlantic region was abruptly pulled this past March, despite being in its fourth year. The project, known as the Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative, aimed to determine how extreme weather affects energy, water, and economic sectors in cities like Baltimore, Chicago, and Phoenix. “It’s strange to be rushing head on into these hazards and say, ‘Well, we’re just going to close our eyes [to extreme weather] and not try to get ready,’” said Benjamin Zaitchik, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Johns Hopkins. “This will only hurt and cost more in the long run.”

The funding cuts are part of a broader trend, with the Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law tracking numerous reversals of climate-related policies, including the suspension of data-gathering systems tracking billion-dollar disasters and an executive order limiting states’ ability to enforce environmental policies. Additionally, the administration is considering reversing the “endangerment finding” established in 2009, which allows the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate pollution. These changes disproportionately affect low-income communities, who are often located near pollution sources. The reduction in funding for environmental research could hinder efforts to address the growing public health crisis linked to climate change, as highlighted by the World Health Organization.

Researchers report that grants are being canceled for reasons ranging from a lack of alignment with the DOE’s current mission to the inclusion of language related to federal diversity requirements. Darryn Waugh, also a professor at Johns Hopkins, noted that a NASA grant focused on air pollution in Baltimore neighborhoods was put on hold due to its environmental justice angle. Officials have indicated that further grant reviews are underway, and the long-term impact on environmental science remains a significant unknown.