Dear reader,

The opening weeks of the second Trump administration have at times felt dizzying, as the president has attempted to upend almost every protection for the environment put in place in the United States over past decades, as well as again pulling his country out of the Paris climate agreement.

We are seeing an alternate reality being constructed, from the Orwellian deletion of “climate” from government websites, to the declaration of a national “energy emergency” – even as the US drills for more oil and gas than any country in history. Many of the scientists and climate advocates I’ve spoken to have been alarmed by how much more extreme Trump’s approach is already this time around, including the mass firing of Environmental Protection Agency staff, the scrapping of climate-resilience rules, the freezing of scientific research on climate and the fast-tracking of oil and gas projects without proper reviews.

At the Guardian, we consider it our responsibility to readers and the planet to document and spotlight the Trump administration’s public attempts to deny the climate crisis, as well as to investigate what is being done behind closed doors in Washington: the dismantling of the apparatus built to protect our clean air, water and livable climate.

If you are able to help us in this effort – whether by making a one-off payment towards our work, or supporting us with a small amount on a monthly basis. Everything you give will go back into supporting our journalism.

Of course, the climate crisis is at its heart a human crisis, so as well as reporting on the policy changes in Washington, we are committed to showing the real-life global consequences of tearing apart such environmental protections.

What do the Trump administration’s actions on the environment mean for the family living next to a polluting coal plant? Or for those living in areas around the world most at risk from climate breakdown? What about the disaster-hit households unable to afford rocketing insurance, the people fleeing worsening wildfires, floods and famine, the kids struggling with asthma from air pollution?

The pollution unleashed by Trump’s actions will be felt around the world by generations to come who will have to live on a dangerously overheating planet. That destructive legacy is too important not to be documented and we hope you can help to support our work in doing so.

With thanks,
Oliver

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