This is dizzying

Hi there,

The opening weeks of the second Trump administration have at times felt dizzying, as the president has attempted to upend almost every protection for the environment put in place over past decades.

We are seeing an alternate reality being constructed, from the Orwellian deletion of “climate” from government websites, to the declaration of a national “energy emergency” – even as the US drills for more oil and gas than any country in world history. Many of the scientists and climate advocates I’ve spoken to have been alarmed by how much more extreme Trump’s approach already is this time around, including the mass firing of Environmental Protection Agency staff, the scrapping of climate-resilience rules, the freezing of scientific research and the fast-tracking of oil and gas projects without proper reviews.

At the Guardian, we consider it our responsibility to readers and the planet to document and spotlight this administration’s public attempts to deny the climate crisis, as well as investigate what is being done behind closed doors in Washington: the dismantling of the apparatus built to protect our clean air, water and a livable climate.

If you are able to help us in this effort – whether by making a $5 gift towards our work, or setting up a small monthly contribution to help us throughout the coming months and years of this administration – every cent you give will go back into supporting our journalism.

Of course, the climate crisis is at its heart a human crisis, so as well as the policy changes in Washington, we are committed to showing the real-life consequences of tearing apart such environmental protections.

What does this mean for the family living next to a polluting coal plant? What happens to the people hoping their lead drinking-water pipes will finally be replaced? What about the American tribes seeing oil pipelines pushed across their land, the disaster-hit households unable to afford rocketing insurance, the people fleeing worsening wildfires and floods, the kids struggling with asthma from air pollution?

The pollution unleashed by Trump’s actions will be felt by generations to come, who will have to live on a dangerously overheating planet. That legacy is too important not to be documented and we hope you can help support our work in doing so.

With thanks,
Oliver