What Is the Future of Labor Environmentalism in the Second Trump Era?
New Labor Forum
JOURNAL ARTICLEOPEN-ACCESS
8/16/2026
Citation: Moskowitz, H., & Cha, J. M. (2026). What Is the Future of Labor Environmentalism in the Second Trump Era? New Labor Forum, 0(0).
Abstract:
The pace at which the second Trump administration has enacted the draconian policies in the far-right Project 2025 playbook is disorienting: mass firings of federal workers, attacks on immigrants and asylum seekers, slashes to essential research programs, complete dismantling of bedrock programs such as U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and consistent human rights violations both abroad and at home. The speed and scale of the onslaught have left advocates fighting near-daily crises on many fronts. Some activists worry that long-term issues such as the climate crisis, which still present a substantial threat to both the environment and living standards, have simply not been met with the urgency that they so desperately require.
Unions can take a new approach to the climate crisis that also addresses the political and social crises of the Trump administration.
