For communities around the country, environmental justice staff at the EPA and other federal agencies along with grantee organizations embody many of the most cherished and important values held in our society. They protect our health and our environment. They serve as public servants deeply concerned about the wellbeing of others, especially the most vulnerable.
As one of the bodies that helped launch the Environmental Justice Movement in the United States, the United Church of Christ (UCC) is committed to honoring these public servants in a time of uncertainty about the future of federal environmental justice programs.
In this service, we will honor those working on environmental justice with gratitude. We will gather together in strength, comfort, and solidarity as we renew our collective resilience as an ongoing movement.
Selected environmental justice staff will provide messages, along with environmental justice pioneers including:
Charles Lee, retired Senior Policy Advisor for Environmental Justice at EPA
Richard Moore, former Co-Chair of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council
Dollie Burwell, leader of Warren County, North Carolina protests
Rev. Benjamin Chavis, Jr., former director of United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice
The service will be led by the Rev. Terry Yasuko Ogawa, Area Conference Minister, SNEUCC and former UCC Dr. Charles E. Cobb Environmental Justice Resident.
Prohibits funding in contravention of Trump's Executive Order 14162, including prohibiting funding to the Clean Technology Fund, Green Climate Fund, any compensation to countries for loss and damages attributed to climate change, and implementation of the Paris Agreement (SEC. 7061)
Mandates the United States advocate for "'all-of-the-above' energy policy" within multilateral development banks (SEC. 7029(i))
$292.6 million, $73 million below the fiscal year 2025 enacted level for Biodiversity.
$95 million, $23.75 million below the fiscal year 2025 enacted level for Wildlife Trafficking.
Brief Description of Program and Recommended Reduction or Increase
Increases
America First Opportunity Fund (A1OF)
+2,900
The Budget includes $2.9 billion for a new America First Opportunity (A1OF) Fund.
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
+2,820
The Budget increases the DFC. This investment includes $3 billion for a new revolving fund.
Cuts, Reductions, and Consolidations
Economic Support Fund, Development Assistance, Democracy Fund, and Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia
-8,326
The Budget eliminates funding for these programs and combines accounts into the single A1OF.
International Disaster Assistance,
Migration and Refugee Assistance, and
Emergency Refugee and Migration
Assistance (ERMA)—International
Humanitarian Assistance (IHA)
-3,207
The Budget provides $1.5 billion in ERMA for the President to use at his discretion and
consolidates accounts into a new $2.5 billion IHA account to fund disaster
relief when it fulfills the President’s foreign policy aims.
State and USAID Operations
-2,462
Consistent with Executive Order 14169, the Budget eliminates USAID.
International Narcotics Control & Law
Enforcement (INCLE)
-1,160
The Budget eliminates rule-of-law programs, while providing $125 million to fund programs that
support counter-drug, organized crime, and border security missions.
Peacekeeping Missions
-1,614
The Budget does not provide funding for United Nations (UN) and other peacekeeping
missions.
Assessed and Voluntary Contributions
to International Organizations
-1,716
The Budget pauses most assessed and all voluntary contributions to UN and other international
organizations, including for the UN Regular Budget, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, and the World Health Organization.
Educational and Cultural Exchanges
-691
The Budget eliminates this program.
Transition Initiatives (TI)
-75
The Budget eliminates the TI account.
Complex Crisis Fund
-55
The
Budget eliminates this account.
National Endowment for Democracy
(NED)
-315
The Budget eliminates funding
for NED.
Global Health Programs/Family
Planning
-6,233
The Budget eliminates this program.
Food for Peace (Title II)
-1,619
The Budget eliminates this program.
Contribution to the Global
Environmental Facility and Climate
Investment Funds
-275
The Budget proposes to eliminate contributions to the Global Environment Facility and the Climate
Investment Funds.
Contributions to Multilateral
Development Banks (African
Development Bank, African
Development Fund)
-555
Consistent with Executive Order 14169, “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,”
the Budget proposes to eliminate contributions to the African Development Fund.
Other Treasury International
Reductions
-86
The Budget likewise proposes to eliminate several of the Department of the Treasury’s international
assistance programs, including the Debt Restructuring account, and contributions to the International
Fund for Agricultural Development and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.
Katherine Scarlett to be a Member of the Council on Environmental Quality
Jeffrey Hall to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Scarlett has been serving as the CEQ chief of staff since the start of the current administration; previously, she worked at CEQ and served as chief of staff to the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council during President Trump’s first administration. Additionally, she served as senior Republican professional staff on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee under Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
On February 19, 2025, Scarlett issued guidance in the form of a memorandum to the heads of federal agencies and departments (2025 CEQ Memo), providing direction on how agencies should update their existing NEPA procedures for consistency with the NEPA amendments in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) (2023 NEPA Statute) and the policy priorities laid out in the various Executive Orders (EOs) from President Trump. She made clear that environmental justice and cumulative impacts don’t need to be considered.
Jeffrey Hall, previously a partner at oil-industry law firm Burke Law Group, is principal deputy assistant administrator in EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. At Burke, Hall represented Dr. Eithan Haim, an anti-trans surgeon who stole minor patient files and shared them with neo-Nazi activist Chris Rufo. The case against Haim was dropped by the DOJ days after Trump became president. Hall also represented the anti-trans organization Do No Harm. Hall also represented the State of Louisiana in arguments before the Fifth Court of Appeals in Texas v. EPA. The court ruled against Louisiana.
A March 12 memo from Hall lays out specific “initial guidance” on realigning the agency’s 2023 National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives with the Trump Administration’s stated goals. The memo provides that “enforcement and compliance assurance actions shall not shut down any stage of energy production . . . or power generation absent an imminent and substantial threat to human health or an express statutory or regulatory requirement to the contrary.” Further, actions that “would unduly burden or significantly disrupt energy production or power generation,” among other consequences, must be approved by Mr. Hall.
The purpose of this hearing is to identify challenges to meeting increased electricity demand.
Witnesses:
Peter Huntsman, Chairman, CEO, President, Huntsman Corporation
Jeff Tench, Executive Vice President, North America and Asia Pacific, Vantage Data Centers
Rob Gramlich, President, Grid Strategies LLC
Huntsman Corporation is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of chemical products for consumers and industrial customers.
Vantage Data Centers offers data center campuses for hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises.
Grid Strategies LLC is a power sector consulting firm helping clients understand the opportunities and barriers to integrating clean energy into the electric grid.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a nominations hearing for nominees of the Department of Transportation at 10:00 AM EST on July 23, 2025.
Nominees:
Seval Oz, of California, to be the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Research and Technology
Michael Rutherford, of Florida, to be the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Multimodal Freight
Gregory Zerzan, of Texas, to be General Counsel of the Department of Transportation
Oz was Head of Global Strategic Partnerships for Google [X]’s Self-Driving Car Program from 2011 to 2014, where she supported business and marketing efforts for the initiative that later became Waymo. Oz recently served on the board of directors of MicroVision Inc., an advanced driver-assistance systems software company. She is Mehmet Oz’s sister.
In 2020, American PetroLog, a logistics, transportation, storage, blending and transloading services to the chemical industry, hired Michael Rutherford as Senior Vice President to expand their rail to truck transloading services in Texas and New York City. Rutherford worked for more than ten years in transportation and logistics at CSX.
Greg Zerzan is an attorney and former acting assistant secretary of the U.S Treasury under President George W. Bush.
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
Improves the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weather research, supports improvements in weather forecasting and prediction, and expands commercial opportunities for the provision of weather data.
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA) announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing to evaluate how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can become more agile and effective in responding to disasters and examine the nation’s current state of disaster readiness, response, and recovery under FEMA’s leadership. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building.
Witness:
David Richardson, Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Department of Homeland Security
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee
On Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources will meet to consider:
H.R. 178 (Rep. McClintock), To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes. (Amendment in the nature of a substitute)
On Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at 2:15 p.m. in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:
H.R. 180 (Rep. McClintock), “Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act of 2025”
H.R. 3706 (Rep. Babin), “Standards for Understanding Source and Habitat Identification (SUSHI) Act”, to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of seafood
H.R. 3831 (Rep. Webster), “Florida Safe Seas Act of 2025”, to prohibit feeding sharks in the exclusive economic zone off the State of Florida
H.R. 4033 (Rep. Fine), “Sturgeon Conservation and Sustainability Act of 2025”, to allow certain activities to be conducted with respect to sturgeon held in captivity
H.R. 4293 (Rep. Ciscomani), To amend the Sikes Act to increase flexibility with respect to cooperative and interagency agreements for land management off of installations.
H.R. 4294 (Rep. Elfreth), “MAWS Act of 2025”, to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a pilot program with respect to the sale of blue catfish caught in Chesapeake Bay
Justin Shirley, Principal Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on behalf of U.S. Department of the Interior
Panel III
Forrest Burkholder, CEO, SAExploration, Stafford, Texas, seismic data acquisition for offshore oil and gas drilling
Jeff Corwin, Wildlife Biologist, Marshfield, Massachusetts
Geno Evans, President, Evans Fish Farm, Pierson, Florida
Major William Holcomb, Division of Law Enforcement, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
H.R. 180 modifies requirements concerning determinations on whether a species is a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), caps attorney’s fees to prevailing parties in ESA citizen suits, and makes related requirements.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must publish online, subject to privacy or administrative limitations, the best scientific and commercial data available that are the basis for each determination. The bill states that the term best scientific and commercial data available includes all data submitted by a state, tribal, or county government. Thus, such data is automatically deemed to be the best scientific and commercial data available. Before making a determination on whether a species is an endangered or threatened species, the FWS and NMFS must provide affected states with all of the data that is the basis of the determination.
The Department of the Interior must also publish and maintain an online searchable database that discloses federal expenditures related to litigation under the ESA.
Subcommittee hearing entitled “The New Atomic Age: Advancing America’s Energy Future.”
This hearing will examine small and micro modular reactors. The hearing also will examine hurdles the nuclear power industry faces in
obtaining secure nuclear fuel sources and other important issues relating to the
expansion of nuclear power in the United States.
