Questions about Trump environmental rollbacks

How many Trump administration environmental actions were recorded in each year?

Recorded environmental actions by year:

• 2025: 6
• 2026: 31

Total: 37 actions.

Which federal agencies were responsible for the most environmental rollbacks?

Using the dataset’s acting_body field as recorded (without rolling bureaus into parent departments), the agencies with the most listed actions are:

1. U.S. Department of the Interior — 6
2. Environmental Protection Agency — 4 (tied)
3. Bureau of Land Management — 4 (tied)
4. U.S. Forest Service — 3
5. U.S. Department of Energy — 2 (tied)
6. U.S. Department of Justice — 2 (tied)

A key caveat: the Bureau of Land Management is part of Interior but is counted separately in the dataset. If you roll up Interior and its explicitly listed bureaus, Interior-related entries are even more prominent: 6 directly attributed to Interior, 4 to BLM and 1 to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (plus one shared BLM/Fish & Wildlife action). For example, Interior is listed as terminating offshore-wind leases, while BLM is listed on multiple public-land development approvals. ^{1 2}

What types of environmental actions were used most often, such as executive orders, rule changes, or funding cuts?

Across the 37 recorded actions, the most common action types were:

1. Project approvals — 5
2. Settlement agreements — 4 (plus 1 separately labeled “settlement termination”)
3. Proposed rules — 3
4. Research cancellations — 2
5. Enacted appropriations laws — 2
6. Right-of-way approvals — 2
7. Lease sales — 2

All other action types appear once each. Notably, there are no rows classified as executive orders in this dataset. Regulatory action is represented chiefly by proposed rules, with a smaller number of final/interpretive rule-related actions; funding-related actions appear principally as appropriations laws and research cancellations.

Which environmental issues were targeted most often?

The most frequently targeted issue labels were:

1. Climate change — 17 actions
2. Wildlife — 16
3. Environmental justice — 15
4. Public lands — 13
5. Fossil fuels — 12
6. Public health — 10
7. Clean air — 7
8. Clean energy — 7

The dataset uses both “water” (6 actions) and “clean water” (4) as separate normalized labels, so I’ve kept them separate rather than combining them.

How many actions affected clean air, climate change, water, wildlife, or public lands?

33 actions affected at least one of these issue areas: clean air, climate change, water, wildlife or public lands.

Individually: climate change 17; wildlife 16; public lands 13; clean air 7; water 6. Actions can appear in more than one category.

Which states, regions, or other places were affected by the most actions?

Counting each dataset row as one action and crediting every place named in its geography field (with “Gulf of America” grouped with the Gulf of Mexico, and California Central Coast phrasing standardized):

All other named states, regions or local places occur in one action each. Two records do not specify a geography, so they are excluded from this ranking.

What was the earliest recorded Trump administration action threatening the environment?

The earliest recorded action is March 7, 2025: the U.S. Department of Defense canceled its social-science research portfolio, including studies on climate-change impacts. The recorded risk was loss of research informing climate-risk, migration and national-security planning. ¹

What is the most recent recorded Trump administration environmental action, and what is its current status?

The most recent recorded action is NHTSA’s August 28, 2026 decision to end standalone fuel-efficiency regulation of medium- and heavy-duty truck engines. Its status is effective. ¹