Project 2025 – Trump’s Masterplan for the Destruction of the Planet

Weeks of research have brought to light a shocking picture that in its scope even surpasses pessimistic forecasts. The United States is experiencing under the second Trump administration an unprecedented reversal of decades of environmental protection policy, the effects of which extend far beyond American borders and fundamentally undermine global efforts to address the climate crisis. What has been unfolding in Washington since January 2025 is nothing less than the systematic dismantling of one of the most ambitious climate protection programs in world history - a process whose speed and radicalism has shaken even experienced environmental lawyers and climate scientists.

The attached court documents of August 14, 2025 from the case Urban Sustainability Directors Network versus the US Department of Agriculture document this destruction exemplarily. Federal Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered the preliminary suspension of the cancellation of six major funding programs and forced the authorities to restore the funds - a partial legal success that can only stop a fraction of the systematic dismantling. These documents are silent witnesses of an administrative war against climate protection, carried out with bureaucratic precision.

The speed with which the Trump administration dismantles the structures created under Biden surpasses all expectations. Within just a few months, funding programs worth several billions of dollars were stopped, legal foundations for renewable energy were undermined, and at the same time the expansion of fossil fuels was advanced with a vehemence not even reached during the first Trump term. The Inflation Reduction Act, once celebrated as a historic breakthrough in the fight against climate change, lies in ruins. The psychological impact on the environmental movement is devastating - leading activists speak of a “generational loss” that has destroyed the morale of an entire movement.

This development is not an isolated phenomenon but part of a comprehensive ideological agenda that finds its theoretical basis in the so-called Project 2025 of the Heritage Foundation. This almost one thousand page manifesto of American right-wing populism represents nothing less than the blueprint for an authoritarian transformation of American democracy, in which environmental protection is seen as an obstacle to economic dominance and national sovereignty. The Heritage Foundation, for decades the intellectual engine of conservative politics, has with this document designed a vision that goes far beyond traditional conservatism and in its radicalism shakes the foundations of liberal democracy and science-based politics.

The practical implementation of this ideology manifests itself in a multitude of administrative measures that in their entirety create a frightening picture. The Department of the Interior under Doug Burgum has introduced new approval procedures that in practice make the development of wind and solar energy on public land impossible. Projects that were already in advanced planning stages were stopped overnight. The justification - “energy density” must be considered in land use - is a barely disguised attempt to discredit renewable energies because of their space requirements, while at the same time ignoring the far more serious environmental effects of fossil fuels.

The massive expansion of deforestation under Trump adds a particularly destructive component to this grim panorama. The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, one of the last intact temperate rainforests in the world and a crucial carbon sink, was released for industrial logging. Millions of hectares of previously protected forests are now open to commercial exploitation. These ancient ecosystems, which needed centuries to grow, will be destroyed within a few years. The irony: while Trump demonizes wind turbines as bird killers, his forest policy destroys entire habitats and drives countless species to the brink of extinction.

The renaissance of coal power under Trump represents a particularly cynical aspect of this environmental destruction. New coal power plants are not only approved but actively promoted - at a time when even conservative economists recognize the economic unprofitability of this technology. The health consequences are catastrophic: each new coal power plant statistically means hundreds of additional premature deaths annually from particulate pollution, increased asthma rates among children, and measurable loss of intelligence from mercury exposure. The external costs of this policy - health damage, environmental destruction, climate impacts - are shifted to society, while profits are privatized.

Particularly perfidious is the instrumentalization of bird protection against wind power plants. While wind turbines are responsible for less than 0.01 percent of human-caused bird deaths, coal power plants cause many times more environmental damage through their emissions, cooling water withdrawals, and ash dumps. Mercury emissions alone poison entire food chains, from fish to birds of prey. Yet these scientifically proven facts are systematically ignored, while a campaign is waged against wind power that lacks any rational basis.

The attack on offshore wind projects reveals the personal dimension of Trump’s campaign against renewable energy. His years-long unsuccessful campaign against wind turbines in view of his Scottish golf course has become an obsession that now shapes national policy. Projects like Vineyard Wind, which have already mobilized billions of dollars in investment and in part already feed electricity into the grid, suddenly face the existential threat of retroactive permit withdrawals - an unprecedented event in American legal history that fundamentally undermines trust in legal certainty.

The destruction of the Solar for All program, documented in numerous lawsuits, reveals the social cruelty of this policy. Seven billion dollars were intended for the installation of solar panels in low-income households. Nine hundred thousand families were supposed to benefit, reduce their energy costs and at the same time contribute to climate protection. The systematic cancellation of these programs particularly affects indigenous communities, where every fifth household has no reliable access to electricity. The termination letters currently being prepared are documents of social coldness that deprive the poorest of the opportunity for energy autonomy and economic relief.

In the letter, central representatives of Arizona appear who oppose the decision of the EPA. Governor Katie Hobbs refers to the concrete implementation of the program in the state, while Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego as representatives of Arizona in the US Senate criticize the breach of the budgetary powers of Congress. They are complemented by Representatives Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari, who represent their districts in the House of Representatives and also point to the consequences for communities and investors. Addressed is the letter to the leadership of the EPA, the federal environmental agency of the United States, responsible for the protection of health and the environment and for monitoring compliance with environmental laws. In this case it was the EPA that on August 7, 2025 announced the cancellation of the “Solar for All” funds - a decision that in the opinion of the signatories is unlawful because these funds had already been legally committed and thus bindingly assured.

The case Greenpeace versus Energy Transfer, with its devastating ruling of over 660 million dollars in damages, marks a turning point in American protest culture. This ruling, which existentially threatens the organization in the US, sends an ice-cold message to all who dare to oppose the fossil fuel industry. The instrumentalization of the judicial system to suppress legitimate protest is a hallmark of authoritarian systems and can be found prominently in Project 2025, which explicitly calls for the criminalization of environmental activism. The fact that Energy Transfer’s chairman Kelcy Warren is a major Trump donor adds an additional dimension of political corruption to this ruling.

Project 2025 itself deserves special attention as the intellectual foundation of this policy of destruction. It is far more than a political program - it is a comprehensive vision of an illiberal transformation of America, in which scientific expertise is replaced by ideological loyalty, democratic control mechanisms are dismantled, and minority rights systematically curtailed. Environmental policy is only one aspect of a larger agenda that aims at the concentration of executive power, the weakening of independent institutions and the enforcement of a Christian-nationalist social order. The detailed plans for the “cleansing” of federal agencies, the abolition of scientific advisory bodies, and the subordination of all policy areas to an ideological agenda read like a script for authoritarian seizure of power.

The international dimension of this policy cannot be overstated. As the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases and the second largest current polluter, the US bears a special responsibility for global climate policy. The American withdrawal from climate protection sends a devastating signal to developing and emerging countries. If the richest nation in the world refuses to live up to its historical responsibility, how can poorer countries be expected to undertake costly transformations of their energy systems? The domino effects of this policy are already visible: Brazil loosens protection of the Amazon, Australia expands coal exports, even European countries are beginning to question their climate targets. The ecological tipping points scientists have been warning about for years are moving within reach due to this policy. The melting of Arctic ice is accelerating, the Amazon rainforest is approaching the point where it shifts from a carbon sink to a carbon source, permafrost soils are thawing at an unprecedented scale. Each of these developments has the potential to trigger self-reinforcing processes that exceed any human control. The Trump administration acts like an accelerant in an already burning house. The economic irrationality of this policy is evident in numerous dimensions. While China already controls over 50 percent of global solar production and Europe leads technologically in wind energy, America chains itself to dying industries. The coal jobs Trump pretends to save have long fallen victim to automation - modern coal mines employ only a fraction of the workers of past decades. At the same time, the sabotage of renewable energy destroys hundreds of thousands of potential future jobs. The economic self-mutilation being carried out here will set America back technologically and economically by decades.

The health consequences of Trump’s environmental policy are already measurable. The loosening of emission standards for power plants and industrial facilities leads to an increase in particulate pollution, which directly translates into higher hospitalization rates. Particularly affected are children, whose developing lungs are especially vulnerable to air pollutants. Studies show clear correlations between air pollution and cognitive development - the policy of the Trump administration literally dumbs down the next generation. The destruction of scientific institutions and the systematic suppression of climate research inflict irreparable damage on the American scientific system. Leading climate researchers are leaving the country or moving into the private sector. Data series built over decades are interrupted, international research cooperation breaks down. The brain drain taking place here will weaken American science for generations. The moral bankruptcy of this policy is particularly evident in the handling of climate-related disasters. While wildfires devastate ever larger areas, hurricanes intensify and droughts make entire regions uninhabitable, the administration continues to deny human-caused climate change. The victims of these disasters - predominantly poorer population groups without means of adaptation - are left to their fate, while at the same time billions flow into the subsidization of fossil fuels.

The legal resistance, documented in countless lawsuits such as the one cited at the beginning, shows the desperation of civil society. Organizations like Earthjustice have tripled their number of lawsuits, but the systematic restructuring of federal courts with ideologically motivated judges - a central element of Project 2025 - also undermines this last line of defense. When the judiciary itself becomes an instrument of ideological agenda, the rule of law dies. The psychological effects of this policy on American society are profound. The cognitive dissonance between the experienced reality of climatic changes and the official denial leads to collective traumatization. Particularly young people, who grow up knowing that their future is being deliberately destroyed, increasingly develop symptoms of climate anxiety and depression. The suicide rate among environmental activists is rising, hopelessness spreads like a cancer. The window for effective climate protection is closing further with each day of this destructive policy. Scientists speak of less than a decade to avert the worst consequences. Each year of regression makes later efforts exponentially more difficult and costly. The Trump years could prove to be the historical moment when humanity squandered its last chance to secure a livable future.

The complicity of the Republican Party in this destruction is complete. Despite occasional critical voices like Lisa Murkowski, the party as a whole bears responsibility for this policy. The few Republicans who speak out against individual measures usually do so from particularistic interests of their constituencies, not from fundamental opposition to climate destruction. Their guilt is historical and indelible. Resistance is forming at various levels, but its fragmentation weakens its effectiveness. States like California and New York are strengthening their own climate protection efforts, but without federal coordination these remain island solutions. The international community is beginning to treat America as a pariah in climate issues, but economic interdependence prevents harsher sanctions. Civil society protests, sues, organizes, but against the combined power of state and capital it seems powerless.

The responsibility for this historic catastrophe does not lie with Trump and his direct supporters alone. The fossil fuel industry, which for decades has spread disinformation against better knowledge, bears the main guilt. The media corporations that create false balance between scientific consensus and paid denial are accomplices. The financial industry, which continues to pump billions into fossil projects, fuels the destruction. And ultimately everyone who through passivity or active support enables this policy bears their part of the responsibility. Project 2025 must be recognized for what it is: a declaration of war on the future of humanity. Its implementation means nothing less than the deliberate bringing about of a planetary catastrophe. It is a document of nihilism, disguised as a political program. The fight against this ideology is not a partisan confrontation but a fight for the survival of human civilization. History will judge this era as a turning point - either as the moment when humanity awoke from its lethargy and acted, or as the beginning of the final decline. The documents we collect today, the court records we archive, the testimonies we lay down, will one day serve as evidence - evidence of one of the greatest crimes against humanity, committed with full knowledge of the consequences. The time for polite debate is over. What is now required is radical resistance at all levels - legal, political, economic and if necessary also through civil disobedience. Project 2025 and its implementation must be fought with all available means. It is no longer about political preferences or ideological differences. It is about the survival of our children, about preserving a habitable Earth, about the future of the human species.

Every day that this policy continues is a stolen day from the future of our children. Every ton of CO2 additionally emitted is another mortgage on future generations. Every rainforest tree cut down, every newly approved coal power plant, every blocked wind turbine is another nail in the coffin of a livable future. The research, as arduous and sometimes frustrating as it was, has drawn a picture that in its bleakness is hardly bearable. But precisely because of this it must be shown, must be understood, must be fought. The fight against Project 2025 and its destructive vision is the defining struggle of our time. It is a struggle we did not choose, but one we cannot escape. The alternative to resistance is capitulation to barbarism, acceptance of destruction, abandonment of all hope for a better future. We cannot and must not allow that. Not for us, not for our children, not for humanity.

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