Last week, the EPA opened up the first round of applications for the Thriving Communities program, giving hopeful applicants like Nerbonne less than two months to navigate the complicated federal grantmaking process before Trump is sworn in. In fact, several EPA regions have yet to open their application processes, leaving some groups worried they won’t be able to complete their applications on time.
Congressional Republicans have been vocal about their intention to cut or limit the environmental justice grant program, characterizing it as a form of cronyism, providing support to political allies of Democrats and opponents of fossil fuels.
Trump himself suggested in a 2023 campaign video that he could “simply choke off the money” allocated under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Ending environmental justice grantmaking is also part of the vision laid out in Project 2025, the policy roadmap that conservative groups drew up for Trump’s second term. Although Trump professed no familiarity with Project 2025 during the campaign, he has named authors of the plan to key positions in his new administration.
Project 2025 called for pausing and reviewing all environmental justice grants in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions against affirmative action.
Read more from @insideclimatenews on how Republicans plan to target environmental justice funding at the link in our bio.
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Sustainable construction is entering a decisive phase as regulation replaces rhetoric across architecture, engineering and infrastructure. The sector is adopting a measurable framework for environmental sustainability in construction, centring on whole life carbon assessment and verified data on embodied carbon in materials. Leading architecture firms have introduced a sustainability standard for glass, signalling that eco-design for buildings is advancing beyond marketing claims to measurable low carbon design outcomes.
Rising scrutiny of plastics in the built environment now combines lifecycle assessment and health-based evidence, accelerating the shift towards renewable building materials and circular economy in construction strategies. This evolution of sustainable building design aligns with the broader adoption of sustainable material specification and environmental product declarations (EPDs), ensuring that the carbon footprint of construction is tracked transparently across every stage of the project.
The incoming UK government faces intensifying pressure to clarify policy on retrofit funding, embodied carbon reporting, water resilience and the energy efficiency of data centres. Severe drought warnings and pressure on urban water systems underscore the urgencies of resource efficiency in construction and green infrastructure investment. These are becoming core metrics in whole life carbon accounting and life cycle cost evaluation, critical to achieving net zero carbon buildings and future-proofing green construction ecosystems.
Innovations in geothermal and renewable energy sources are redefining net zero whole life carbon trajectories, potentially transforming energy-hungry sites into models of carbon neutral construction. Low carbon construction materials and digital performance tracking are now integral to sustainable building practices and the broader decarbonising of the built environment.
The convergence of materials innovation, circular economy frameworks and decarbonised heat is reshaping sustainable architecture as a high-performance discipline. Industry leaders increasingly see sustainability not as compliance but as the essential business model for sustaining life cycle performance, achieving net zero carbon, and guiding the next generation of low-impact construction.
Whole Life Carbon is a platform for the entire construction industry—both in the UK and internationally. We track the latest publications, debates, and events related to whole life guidance and sustainability. If you have any enquiries or opinions to share, please do
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