Protesters Rally in SF in Support of EPA, as Trump Cuts Climate Funds

“We’re here today to defend the EPA as an institution, so it can carry out its true mission,” said Bradley Angel, executive director of Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. While, at times, Angel said, the agency’s mission has been weakened by lax enforcement, its vital public service needs to continue.

“They needed to improve, but they need to exist,” Angel said. “This is a life or death issue.”

Climate groups across the Bay Area have seen federal grants canceled or frozen over the last few months. Some told KQED they do not know the status of their funding because agency staffers have been ordered not to communicate with them. Others are blindly billing for their projects with no assurance that they will be reimbursed.

In February, EPA officials terminated $20 billion in climate grants issued by the Biden administration. The money was meant to finance clean energy and environmental projects through a so-called green bank. Environmental groups filed a lawsuit in response.