WASHINGTON, April 20, 2026 — Two weeks ago, President Trump released his annual budget. Presidents’ budgets are really more like wish lists, since Congress ultimately appropriates money to fund the government, but they are telling indicators of an administration’s priorities and worldview. Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, the Trump budget called for tens of billions of dollars of cuts to programs that protect the environment and accelerate the clean energy transition.
One item in particular stood out to me in the president’s budget. He called for eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Millions of families rely on this program to help afford to power and heat their homes. The budget argued that the cut is justifiable because their time and energy are better spent on lowering energy prices.
A question I’d love to ask senior members of the Trump team would be: How well do you think your effort to lower energy costs is going? Just yesterday, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright helped shed some light on that answer. At a groundbreaking for a natural gas facility, the secretary said, “Just because it looks like we’re going in the wrong direction doesn’t mean that’s the direction we are going.” His team later scrubbed his gaffe from the excerpts and transcripts it issued.
The Trump administration’s actions to constrain clean energy development have driven prices higher, and the reason it looks like we are going in the wrong direction is straightforward: It’s because we are going in the wrong direction.
Elsewhere, last week, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made news for headlining the Heartland Institute’s climate denial conference. The EDF and EDF Action teams had some fun drawing additional attention to the event, earning mention and coverage in outlets that included the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, and producing some of the most fun social media content we’ve put out in some time. It’s important to note that we have receipts for why appearing at Heartland is out of line with the mission of the EPA. My colleague Peter Zalzal’s memo on the topic was one of the best things I read last week, and I’d encourage you to read it, too, especially if you were previously unfamiliar with the Heartland Institute.
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