In the context of what might be the hottest year on record, right-wing groups behind the Project 2025 policy roadmap for a potential second Trump administration are pushing for aggressive expansion of oil and gas drilling, the rollback of regulations and research funding, and the complete removal of climate change references from policy and discourse.
A training video reported by ProPublica highlights these ambitions, revealing a strategic intent to counter climate change initiatives robustly.
However, there is internal dissent within one of the contributing organizations, the Center for Renewing America (CRA). Micah Meadowcroft, a senior staffer at CRA and former Environmental Protection Agency official, has privately expressed skepticism about the Republican approach to environmental policy.
According to secret recordings by the Centre for Climate Reporting, Meadowcroft criticizes the GOP’s view that economic growth and technological advancements alone will resolve environmental issues, describing this belief as naive and overly optimistic.
Meadowcroft’s critique resonates with Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership,” a detailed 900-page agenda advocating for the elimination of climate-focused offices and emphasizing economic and technological progress as solutions to climate problems.
Right-Wing Groups Push Aggressive Climate Policy Rollbacks Amid Internal Dissent on Environmental StrategyThis stance aligns with Meadowcroft’s private remarks, which dismiss the notion that environmental care is a priority or that technological fixes will emerge in time to address pollution adequately.
The Centre for Climate Reporting’s investigation into Project 2025 involved undercover work, including actors posing as wealthy donors, which led to the revelation of these private discussions.
Meadowcroft’s comments were made during a meeting arranged with CRA’s founder, Russel Vought, who was also recorded discussing the repeal of Biden’s climate initiatives and the dismantling of what he termed “woke and weaponized bureaucracy.”
During the National Conservatism convention, Meadowcroft expressed his view that both the GOP and the “green left” share an unrealistic optimism about technological solutions to environmental issues.
He criticized the left for assuming that technologies like electric vehicles would soon solve pollution problems without addressing broader infrastructure and economic challenges, while also taking aim at his own side’s similar overconfidence.
Looking forward, the second Trump administration would likely have substantial resources to implement the policies outlined in Project 2025. Internal conflicts within the right-wing movement, such as Meadowcroft’s critical remarks, reflect deeper divisions and concerns about ideological purity.
Despite these rifts, the extensive efforts by right-wing forces to influence the judiciary and administrative policies suggest that even a fragmented movement could effectively pursue its agenda.