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. ✍️ @insideclimatenews 🎨 @fathersid_ @epagov #environment #climatechange