Felicity Bradstock
Felicity Bradstock is a freelance writer specialising in Energy and Finance. She has a Master’s in International Development from the University of Birmingham, UK.
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By Felicity Bradstock – Feb 13, 2025, 4:00 PM CST
- President Trump signed an executive order to halt the progress of the National Nature Assessment, a project initiated by the Biden administration to evaluate and report on the status of America’s natural resources.
- Experts involved in creating the National Nature Assessment are exploring options to independently complete and publish the report due to its importance for environmental and economic planning.
- The halt of the National Nature Assessment is part of a broader pattern of the Trump administration reversing environmental policies and climate change efforts of the previous administration.
A far-reaching nature assessment that was approved by the Biden administration in 2022 has been halted by President Donald Trump just weeks before its completion. This follows recent decisions by Trump to take the United States out of the Paris climate agreement and halt climate spending, as well as to limit the powers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is so far uncertain whether the assessment will go ahead and what impact this may have on environmental protection and climate progress.
In 2022, the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) requested permission from the Biden administration to develop the first National Nature Assessment (NNA) on behalf of the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The aim of the NNA was to assess the status, observed trends, and future projections of America’s lands, waters, wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystems and the benefits they provide, including connections to the economy, public health, equity, climate mitigation and adaptation, and national security.
Former President Joe Biden wrote in the federal register in favour of the development of the NNA. He explained that “existing reports and assessments provide partial views of changes in nature and how they affect the nation, but the United States lacks comprehensive knowledge on these major aspects of global change.”
In 2023, The Interior Department encouraged the public to participate in the NNA. Around 150 authors were engaged to work on the report and the team sought Tribal consultation and public input. At the time, the director of the assessment, Philip Levin, stated, “It is an assessment that is not just a compilation of data and trends, but it’s really focused on what are the needs of the people.”
“The NNA will take a critical look at who is—and who isn’t—benefiting from nature or suffering the consequences of nature loss. Importantly, the NNA will also identify opportunities for nature to help us achieve our societal and economic goals,” Levin wrote on Earth Day in 2024. “The NNA will serve as a vital tool for governments, businesses, communities, and leaders across sectors… [it] will help leaders make decisions about how to safeguard nature, and how to work with nature to meet our nation’s aspirations for a stable climate, robust health, and plentiful opportunity for every person,” he added.
However, the completion of the NNA is now under threat, as President Trump has halted all work on the assessment. The first full draft of the NNA was due for completion on 11th February when Trump decided to sign an executive order stopping work on the project. This was one of several moves made by Trump during his first week as president to roll back the work done by the Biden administration in support of the environment. President Trump also froze climate spending, began the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Agreement, announced plans to expand fossil fuel production, and targeted wind and solar power. Since the signing of the executive order, the NNA federal web page has been removed.
Philip Levin was told to inform his team that work on the project must be discontinued. However, he also emailed them, from his personal account, saying, “This work is too important to die… The country needs what we are producing.” This move has encouraged experts working on the report to explore potential ways to complete and publish the NNA outside of the government.
Howard Frumkin, a professor emeritus of environmental science at the University of Washington School of Public Health who was helping develop the report said, “There’s an amazingly unanimous broad consensus that we ought to carry on with the work.”
The White House has so far not publicly spoken about its decision to axe the report. However, a White House spokesperson, Anna Kelly, said that Trump planned to “unleash America’s energy potential” and “simultaneously ensure that our nation’s land and water can be enjoyed for generations to come.”
While there are high hopes for the publication of the assessment, it means that federal employees will no longer be able to contribute to the work. This means the team must find alternative funding for the completion of the report, as well as ensure it garners similar attention as it would have with government backing. However, ownership of the report should not be an issue, according to lawyers, as government works are not generally subject to copyright.
The cancellation of the NNA, following years of work by hundreds of participants, is just one of many moves President Trump has taken to backtrack on the environmental and climate work of the Biden administration. Trump has been clear on his intentions to expand oil and gas production while rolling back climate efforts in a bid to enhance the U.S. economy, but it is unclear what this means for the future of the NNA and several other environmental projects.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
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Felicity Bradstock
Felicity Bradstock is a freelance writer specialising in Energy and Finance. She has a Master’s in International Development from the University of Birmingham, UK.
