This chapter is part of a report written in collaboration between the Center for American Progress and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS).
The election of Donald Trump for a second presidential term has begun an antidemocratic period of funding freezes; indiscriminate cuts to government programs and expertise; and climate, clean energy, and environmental policy reversals that will affect the wallets, health, and safety of Americans. This chapter considers how U.S. and EU approaches to climate governance are diverging and how progressive policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic can advance shared agendas.
Strategic context
After the first Trump administration’s four years of absence from the international climate governance table, the Biden administration embarked on a climate agenda to rebuild global trust in U.S. climate leadership and make good on the electoral campaign promise that taking climate action would create more jobs. By rejoining the Paris Agreement and making unprecedented investments in the domestic clean energy transition through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the United States showed that decreasing emissions can go hand in hand with pro-growth economic policy, a key pillar of progressive governance. The IRA spurred a clean energy manufacturing renaissance and significantly contributed to the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. However, the expectation contained in the law’s name—that it would lower costs for American families contending with inflation fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine—was not immediately felt. Despite a cooling of inflation from 9.1 percent in 2022 to 3 percent by 2023, the cost of living continued to rise as the country headed into the 2024 election season.
Most voters had heard little about the IRA by the spring of 2024, as the economy remained the top issue and climate trailed several spots behind. Polling showed that Trump was the most “trusted” candidate to lower prices, and it is likely for this reason, among others, that he went on to win the presidential election. In his first 100 days in office, following the plan outlined in Project 2025, President Trump has promoted a false fossil fuel crisis and increased their production; dismantled domestic environmental and climate policies; waged war against science; and withdrawn the United States from international climate commitments. These signals to the market, along with indiscriminate tariffs placed on allies and competitors, will raise the costs of manufacturing and disrupt clean technology supply chains. After two years of record-breaking renewable energy deployment under the Biden administration, the impacts of the Trump White House’s anti-climate policies will slow down progress and confirm global skepticism that the United States can be a trustworthy partner in the climate fight.
Policy continuity and change
Currently, the United States produces more oil and gas than any other country in history, and the financial influence of the fossil fuel industry on the 2024 election cycle amounted to $445 million, including disclosed donations, lobbying, advertising, and downballot races. Trump’s recent executive orders further prioritize fossil fuel interests: The “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” executive order cites national security and inadequate domestic capacity as grounds for increasing domestic fossil fuel production by fast-tracking approvals, excluding renewable energy from the energy mix, and bypassing protections for endangered species and federal lands. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, has invited coal- and oil-fired power plants to send emails requesting exemptions from clean air regulations that protect the health of Americans, and the White House has blocked all new wind energy projects on federal lands or off shore.
Trump’s “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry” executive order is aimed at revitalizing the production of coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, though the industry has been declining for decades largely due to competition from less expensive alternatives.
Finally, the “Unleashing American Energy” executive order prioritizes fossil fuels for permitting shortcuts; freezes funding for climate and renewable energy programs in the IRA; proposes that government agencies eliminate efficiency and emissions standards for vehicles and appliances; and revokes electric vehicle sales goals. The IRA is a hard-fought climate law that has accelerated the clean energy transition through tax incentives. While the Trump administration is attempting to disrupt its implementation by blocking project funding, the law clearly states that the president cannot stop congressionally mandated spending. Courts are playing an important role in defending many programs under attack, but it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration will abide by judicial decisions.
Moreover, efforts in Congress are underway to repeal some if not all of the IRA provisions, but members of Congress from some Republican-represented districts—where 74 percent of the clean energy investments have flowed—have requested that House leadership preserve the incentives to protect jobs and keep energy costs low in their states. Four Republican senators have sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) expressing their support for clean energy incentives, acknowledging the manufacturing renaissance and lower utility costs for consumers made possible by these credits. Climate progress has been further harmed by the termination of climate mitigation and adaptation research grants and environmental protection programs, as well as widespread layoffs of federal employees.
The Biden administration painstakingly won climate trust back from the United States’ transatlantic partners. In the nation’s first year back at U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change’s annual Conference of the Parties, it brokered, together with the European Union, the Global Methane Pledge. Two years later, the United States and nearly 200 other countries successfully pushed for a global commitment to transition away from fossil fuels. In his last month in office, President Joe Biden fulfilled the United States’ responsibility to the Paris Agreement by setting an ambitious 2035 target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions; states, businesses, and institutions have committed to carrying this target forward in the absence of national leadership.
On his first day back in office, Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement for the second time. This withdrawal comes after global energy emissions in 2024 increased 0.8 percent due to increased cooling demands in heat-stressed countries, electrification of transport, and an increase in data centers. If the United States does not meet its climate commitments, the world will be unable to meet net-zero goals and will face greater risks of severe weather events and economic losses, particularly in vulnerable regions. Other countries, such as those in the EU bloc and China, cannot fully make up the difference in emissions reductions, and accountability for other high-emitting countries will diminish.
Advancing shared U.S.-European agendas
The U.S. climate agenda rollbacks make transatlantic cooperation on climate and energy—beyond what is possible at the federal level—critical to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Across the United States, close to 3.5 million Americans are employed in clean energy jobs—including solar, wind, energy efficiency, and clean vehicles—with jobs spread across the country. Similarly, in the EU, there are more than 5 million people employed in jobs in the green economy. Preserving and expanding these jobs will require U.S.-EU collaboration through states, organizations, and business sectors. The United States’ IRA and the European Commission’s Green Deal Industrial Plan have the same goal of scaling up manufacturing capacity for clean technologies to achieve ambitious climate targets. The unfavorable political environment for aligning these strategies will require creative subnational and private sector partnerships that can overcome barriers to engaging in joint innovation, linking supply chains, and spurring workforce development in the green economy.
The transition to clean energy bolsters energy security in the United States and the EU by reducing dependence on fossil fuels from unstable regions, enhancing resilience to supply shocks, lowering energy prices once clean energy capacity is installed, and reducing climate-related risks. Russia’s war on Ukraine highlighted Europe’s vulnerability to fossil fuel imports and spurred unprecedented action to accelerate renewable energy development. REPowerEU has reduced the EU’s dependence on Russian gas, and renewable energy production has surpassed energy produced from gas. Likewise, during the Biden administration, the United States prioritized domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies that led to renewable energy sources comprising 90 percent of newly installed capacity in 2024. By engaging with partners in the EU on clean energy market needs and opportunities, U.S. states and businesses will ensure both the United States and EU achieve their energy security objectives efficiently.
U.S governments, businesses, and institutions have committed to advancing climate action at the state and local levels through the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan climate action coalition of 24 governors; America Is All In, a coalition of leaders across businesses, schools, Tribal nations, and cities; and the Climate Mayors coalition, a bipartisan network of nearly 350 mayors across 46 states. Together, the members of these coalitions represent nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population and three-quarters of U.S. gross domestic product. The United States is more than its current leaders in Washington, D.C., and the EU has willing and able partners across local governments and the private sector who stand ready to meet the shared climate challenge.
