“E.P.A. Unfreezes at Least Some Climate Spending" Article Reflection No. 128 (2/22/2025)

Article: “E.P.A. Unfreezes at Least Some Climate Spending” 

In The New York Times article “E.P.A. Unfreezes at Least Some Climate Spending,” journalist Brad Plumer discusses how money distributions for an electric school bus initiative were resumed after a halt by the Trump administration. Both members from the Democrat and Republican Parties have expressed support for electric school buses, such as Republican West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito, according to the article. The absence of the money that was supposed to be granted to the schools led to transportation complications in Arkansas’s Little Rock School District, which had to put numerous diesel buses out of action. The unfreezing of funding is something that was demanded under the federal court. 

It’s relieving that the funds were unfreezed but at the same time it makes me wonder what intentions are behind this. The executive branch seems to be exerting—or trying to exert—so much more power than how much it’s supposed to have. Addressing climate change seems to be one of the last priorities of the Trump administration, which is no surprise as they’ve been trying to expand the use of fossil fuels.