Conservative Activists Drove Trump's Rollback of Climate Rules

Four Trump allies spent years strategizing to undermine climate science and regulations

Published on Feb. 10, 2026

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A group of conservative lawyers and activists, including Russell T. Vought, Jeffrey B. Clark, Mandy Gunasekara, and Jonathan Brightbill, were the key drivers behind the Trump administration's swift dismantling of federal climate protections. They spent years developing legal arguments and policy recommendations to enable a future Republican president to quickly reverse established climate science and regulations.

Why it matters

The activists' efforts, if successful, could make it much harder for future administrations to curb greenhouse gas emissions and address the growing threat of climate change. Reversing the EPA's 'endangerment finding' that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare would significantly limit the federal government's authority to regulate emissions.

The details

The four activists - Vought, Clark, Gunasekara, and Brightbill - worked both independently and in tandem to create a 'roadmap' for a second Trump term that would allow rapid rollback of climate policies. This included drafting executive orders, collecting scientific arguments to undermine climate consensus, and securing funding to produce regulatory documents to abandon the endangerment finding.

  • In 2005, Jeffrey B. Clark argued as a Justice Department lawyer that the EPA lacked power to regulate greenhouse gases.
  • During Trump's first term, Clark served as an assistant attorney general focused on environmental deregulation.
  • After Trump's 2024 re-election, the activists saw their chance to execute their long-planned strategy.

The players

Russell T. Vought

A high-profile Trump ally who drafted executive orders to enable rapid repeal of climate policies.

Jeffrey B. Clark

A conservative lawyer who has fought climate protections since 2005 and served in the Trump administration.

Mandy Gunasekara

A conservative attorney who collected scientific arguments to undermine climate consensus and sought funding to produce documents to abandon the endangerment finding.

Jonathan Brightbill

A conservative attorney who worked with Gunasekara to develop strategies to undermine climate science and regulations.

Myron Ebell

A prominent critic of climate science who expressed confidence in the activists' 'total victory.'

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What they’re saying

“We are pretty close to total victory.”

— Myron Ebell, Prominent critic of climate science

“They had the experience of being in Trump 1.0, seeing what they wanted to do, then got organized during the Biden years. They used their time in the wild to plan, and also identify people who can execute the plan.”

— Neil Chatterjee, Former Republican chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (The New York Times)

What’s next

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to overturn the 'endangerment finding,' a 2009 scientific determination that climate change threatens public health and welfare. This could significantly limit the federal government's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The takeaway

The coordinated efforts of a small group of conservative activists to undermine climate science and regulations highlight the challenges of addressing climate change in the face of entrenched political opposition. Their success could have far-reaching consequences for the ability of future administrations to curb emissions and mitigate the impacts of global warming.