Biden made history with his climate actions. Here’s how Trump could unravel them.

By Kelsey Tamborrino, Timothy Cama, Jessie Blaeser | 07/26/2024 06:42 AM EDT

President Joe Biden may no longer be on the 2024 ballot — but his legacy is. And former President Donald Trump would have multiple tools to thwart his ambitions on energy, infrastructure and climate change.

Photo collage of Donald Trump and President Joe Biden looking off to the right. Analog pieces of the U.S. dollar bill paired with cut pieces of red and green squares surround them.

Illustration by Mr.Nelson design for POLITICO

Donald Trump is vowing to dismantle the heart of Joe Biden’s governing legacy — the effort to spend more than $1 trillion on a pro-climate reshaping of the American economy.

He may soon get his chance.

Trump’s power would not be unfettered even if he defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. But he would have multiple potential avenues to block, rewrite or slow-walk large parts of Biden’s $1.6 trillion in climate, energy and infrastructure initiatives, Republican officials and government spending experts tell POLITICO — in some cases, limited only by how aggressively he chooses to attack them. The results could be one of the most lasting consequences of the November election, with implications for everything from hundreds of planned electric car, battery and renewable energy factories to hopes for slowing the Earth’s warming.

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Trump has been vague about which parts of Biden’s programs he would seek to throttle or alter — but not about his hostility to the climate agenda.

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