Message From the Editor

What a dizzying two weeks we’ve experienced since Donald Trump took office and unleashed his tech billionaire backers on the nation. As political analyst Jared Yates Sexton says in his interview with DeSmog’s global investigations editor, Matthew Green, “It’s been an overwhelming blitz,” with a stampede of executive orders and frozen funding.

Trump and his unelected co-president Elon Musk have issued blatantly undemocratic orders to roll back rules on the environment in a “coup in plain sight,” Yates Sexton says. This rings especially true given the news that Musk, the world’s richest man, was granted full access to the U.S. Treasury system that pays trillions of dollars for federal programs, including essential plans to tackle climate change.

The interview gives a riveting big-picture view of the inside workings of Washington’s new authoritarianism: “It’s an attempt to overwhelm us and make us feel like we have already lost any type of a battle that we have to fight. . . . This is weaponized abuse,” Yates Sexton says.

We know that defending democracy requires citizens to stand firm against this type of weaponization, and it’s evident that climate campaigners are ready to act to hold all politicians accountable for failing to address the climate crisis. On Friday, a climate youth group blockaded a Democratic National Committee meeting to demand that Democrats put workers and climate first and get dirty fossil fuel money out of Democratic politics forever.

DeSmog’s work exposing the people and the methods behind the madness has only just begun. Take Sharon Kelly’s story about the man responsible for the memo that ordered federal funds to be frozen, which was initially aimed at DEI, woke gender ideology, and the “Green New Deal.”

Office of Management and Budget General Counsel Mark Paoletta reportedly drafted the infamous order, which the courts eventually blocked, that would have paused all payments for thousands of public services and programs.

Kelly writes that Trump insiders are now blaming Paoletta for the blunder, a sign that infighting is already breaking out in the Trump administration. A rift between MAGA factions might also heighten tensions: The administration has stated its energy priorities are to “drill baby, drill.” But a power struggle could arise: Musk’s DOGE project aims to impose widespread austerity measures that could impact environmental justice communities the most while granting massive fossil fuel subsidies. However, supporters of Project 2025 want to shift federal energy spending toward security. Read more here.

But whichever faction prevails in that struggle, and whatever measures the Trump insiders take to obscure their activities, DeSmog will continue to give you important insights and the stories you need to stay ahead of the storm.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter. 

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you power our journalism dedicated to climate accountability. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Credit: DeSmog.

Protesters Blockade DNC Party Meeting, Demand Democrats Put Workers and Climate First

— By Zach D. Roberts (3 min. read) —

Climate Defiance calls on the party to get dirty fossil fuel money out of Democratic politics forever.

Q & A: Jared Yates Sexton on the ‘Weaponized Abuse’ of Authoritarianism

— By Matthew Green (16 min. read) —

Understanding how autocrats and oligarchs capture and consolidate state power.

Finger-Pointing Over Funding Freeze May Lead Trump to Drop Lawyer Linked to DOGE and Project 2025

— By Sharon Kelly (5 min. read) —

Office of Management and Budget General Counsel Mark Paoletta reportedly drafted the memo that took aim at the “green new deal” but caused widespread upheaval.

Russia ‘Spread Conspiracy Theories and Attacked Climate Scientists in Poland’

— By Joey Grostern (3 min) —

False narratives disseminated through state-owned news sites and social media bots, report finds.

Cenovus Funded ‘Grassroots’ Groups That Oppose Climate Laws, Document Reveals

— By Geoff Dembicki (5 min. read) —

Internal record shows Canada’s second largest oil and gas producer donated to organizations that deny climate change is an emergency and question emissions goals.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Capital Research Center (CRC)

Andrew Wheeler is a lawyer and former coal industry lobbyist and was the 15th Administrator of the U.S.’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), elected during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2019. Wheeler has worked as a lobbyist for FaegreBD Consulting since 2009, where he has worked on behalf of clients, including Murray Energy, the nation’s largest privately owned coal company. Run by vocal climate change denier Robert Murray, the energy company has fought against industry regulation and climate change mitigation efforts. He has been a strong supporter of Trump. Referring to a May 2016 speech where Trump promised to “cancel” the Paris climate accord and undo the Waters of the United States rule, Wheeler said, “A lot of my friends in the Republican energy and environment field here in D.C. were impressed with that speech.”

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.