I have been doing this work for fifteen years, and the first quarter of 2026 ranks among the most consequential policy stretches I have experienced. The federal picture has shifted quickly. Several rulemakings are being reopened. Significant programmatic funding is under review. The coordinated state-level response is real and, in my view, significantly more substantive than national media coverage has conveyed.
I want to lay out, as clearly as I can, what is actually happening, what is not as dire as it may sound, and how our work is adapting. We owe our community a candid read, not a performance.
What Is Actually Changing Federally
A short, non-exhaustive list of the federal policy changes most relevant to the work we do.
EPA greenhouse gas endangerment finding. The administration has initiated a rulemaking process to reconsider the 2009 endangerment finding, which is the legal foundation for most federal greenhouse gas regulation. The process is expected to take 12 to 24 months. Interim litigation is almost certain. The practical near-term effect on existing regulations is limited during the proceedings themselves.
Vehicle emissions standards. The 2024 rule tightening multi-pollutant standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles is being reopened. Current standards remain in effect during the reconsideration, but enforcement has been deprioritized.
Community Change Grants. The 2023 program providing environmental justice-focused grants has been restructured. Obligated funds for existing grantees (including several of our partner organizations) remain intact through the current grant cycle. New obligations are on hold pending policy review. The long-term future of the program is uncertain.
Methane emissions rules. The 2023 rule requiring oil and gas operators to monitor and remediate methane leaks has been paused in implementation. The underlying statutory requirement from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act remains in effect but cannot be enforced without the implementing rule.
IRA tax credits. Most Inflation Reduction Act clean energy tax credits remain in statute. The administration cannot repeal them unilaterally; repeal requires congressional action, which has not happened and appears politically unlikely in the current Congress. What has changed is Treasury Department guidance on several credits, in ways that narrow eligibility around the edges.
This list is incomplete and simplified. The net effect: the near-term operational impact on existing infrastructure and grantees is more limited than headlines suggest. The medium-term trajectory, if sustained over a full term, would be substantial.
What Is Accelerating at the State Level
The federal shift has unambiguously accelerated state-level climate policy activity, particularly in states with existing infrastructure to act.
Oregon. The 2026 session has advanced two significant bills through committee: an update to the Climate Protection Program that strengthens compliance pathways after the 2024 court ruling, and a clean buildings act that would set stepped emissions performance requirements for large commercial buildings starting in 2030.
Washington. The Climate Commitment Act's second allowance auction of 2026 saw robust participation and clearing prices 14 percent above the floor, indicating the program is maturing into a durable revenue stream for state climate investment despite last year's referendum attempt.
California. SB 253 and SB 261 (corporate climate disclosure) implementation has continued on schedule, with the first reporting deadline arriving in January 2027. Several multi-state corporations subject to the California requirements will effectively provide nationwide climate disclosure as a consequence.
Regional. The U.S. Climate Alliance, which now includes 25 states plus Puerto Rico, announced a coordinated working group on methane monitoring in March. This is an explicit response to the federal methane rule pause; state air agencies are building infrastructure to continue monitoring and compliance regardless of federal enforcement posture.
The pattern worth noting: state-level climate policy capacity in 2026 is dramatically more developed than it was during the previous federal rollback period in 2017–2020. States have built out the agencies, the data systems, the regulatory frameworks, and the interstate coordination to sustain significant work without federal partnership.
What We Are Changing About Our Advocacy Work
Given this picture, we have made several adjustments to how we deploy advocacy resources.
Increased state-level presence. We have doubled the staffing on our Oregon and Washington legislative advocacy for the 2026 session relative to 2025. Two additional policy fellows are focused full-time on state implementation of existing laws, which is where much of the practical work happens.
Reduced federal rulemaking engagement. We submit fewer federal rulemaking comments than we did in 2024. This is a judgment call. We still engage on rules directly relevant to our service area, but we are no longer participating in every federal climate docket. The marginal return on that time is currently low.
Increased legal coalition participation. We have joined a new legal defense coalition focused on state climate policy, which pools resources for litigation defense when state laws are challenged in federal court. Our contribution is in briefing support and coalition-building rather than direct litigation.
More community science, less top-down policy. For our community-facing work, we have shifted emphasis toward continuing to build robust independent measurement and monitoring capacity. When federal enforcement pauses, state and community data systems become the primary mechanism by which emissions and exposure are tracked. We are investing in making our sensor network and data systems as useful as possible to state regulators.
Clearer communication with grantees and partners. We have published a biweekly policy briefing (free to subscribe through our newsletter) that covers federal and state developments relevant to our partner organizations. The goal is to keep operators in our network informed without requiring them to track federal rulemaking themselves.
What We Are Not Changing
Some of what we do is independent of the federal weather.
Watershed cleanups continue. Resilience hub programming continues. Youth fellows continue. Data publication continues. Community science continues. The underlying work of building durable relationships, gathering evidence, and connecting people to place is not a federal program. It is what we do, regardless.
What Community Members Can Do
Three things, practically.
Show up for state legislative work. State legislatures are where the most consequential climate policy work is happening this year. Contacting your state representative is, in most cases, higher-leverage than contacting your federal representative. Our Policy Watch page publishes specific state bills and direct contact routes.
Support the organizations doing on-the-ground implementation. The community-based organizations in our partner network are the infrastructure on which most state climate programs actually run. Philanthropic support to those organizations is more consequential than it has been in several years.
Stay in the work for the long term. Policy cycles are long. The work that matters most rarely concludes in a single legislative session or administration. Showing up over multiple years, with consistent small contributions of time and attention, compounds.
A Personal Note
I have written versions of this post, in various states, at several points in my career. The pattern is not new, even if this iteration feels particularly sharp. What I have learned — what the 2017 to 2020 period taught me personally — is that the work that holds up over policy cycles is the work that does not depend on any single policy cycle to justify it.
Our sensor network gathers air quality data regardless of who is enforcing clean air rules. Our community programs reach residents regardless of federal grant structures. The relationships we have built with partner organizations, tribal governments, and local agencies do not depend on a particular administration's priorities.
We will keep doing that work. If you have been doing it alongside us, thank you. If you are new to it, welcome. There is a lot to do.
