States And Businesses Press Ahead On Climate Despite Trump’s Policies

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India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – Former EPA chief Gina McCarthy says the U.S. climate movement is under siege but far from defeated, as states and businesses continue to drive clean energy progress despite a hostile federal environment under President Donald Trump.

“The federal government in the United States right now is a dangerous place for business,” McCarthy tells Reuters. While many companies have gone quiet publicly, she emphasizes this is a strategic pause—not a retreat.

McCarthy points to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a critical tool under threat. Passed in 2022, the IRA has spurred major clean energy investments, but its future is now uncertain. Still, she says companies are lobbying to preserve it, aware of the economic benefits tied to renewable power.

Corporate interest is backed by numbers. The average price for green power purchase agreements remained steady at $57.04 per megawatt hour in early 2025. “They’re not pulling back: not if it’s going to save money and not if it’s going to give people a payback,” McCarthy said to Reuters.

State-level leadership continues to anchor U.S. climate progress. Even Republican-led states like Texas are investing heavily in renewables. Texas attracted $14.4 billion in solar projects last year and sourced 25% of its electricity from wind in April. Wind also dominates in Iowa, where it accounted for 59% of electricity in 2023.

Meanwhile, Trump’s administration has taken sharp aim at wind energy. One of his first acts was suspending all federal permitting for new wind projects, a move that recently halted the $4 billion Empire Wind project off New York’s coast. A coalition of 17 Democratic states is suing, accusing the administration of overreach.

“This administration is devastating one of our nation’s fastest-growing sources of clean, reliable and affordable energy,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a statement to Reuters.

McCarthy, now co-chair of America Is All In, a climate coalition of companies, states, and cities, says over 70 new corporations have joined since January. Localized leadership, she believes, offers resilience and long-term promise.

“Change very seldom starts with brilliant ideas from Washington, DC,” she told Reuters. “It starts from the local community up.”