Cities and States Fill Climate Leadership Void as Trump Administration Retreats

As the Trump administration dismantles federal climate protections at an unprecedented pace, cities and states across the United States are forging their own path forward — deploying innovative local solutions that range from sewage-powered heating networks in Denver to renewable energy coalitions in conservative Utah and pocket forests in Massachusetts and Washington state. These grassroots efforts, highlighted during NPR’s Climate Solutions Week, demonstrate that subnational climate action is not only possible but increasingly essential.

The Federal Retreat

The context for this local surge is stark. In February 2026, the Trump administration finalized the repeal of the EPA’s “endangerment finding” — the 2009 scientific determination that six greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare, which had served as the legal foundation for virtually all federal climate regulations. As The Guardian reported, President Trump called the move “the single largest deregulatory action in American history.”

Beyond the endangerment finding, the administration has rolled back tax credits for electric vehicles and solar panels, cut climate science research funding, issued executive orders to revive the coal industry, and halted new solar and wind development on federal lands. The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act further undid parts of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax incentives.

Denver’s Thermal Energy Revolution

In Denver, city officials are repurposing the world’s oldest continuously operating commercial steam system — built in the 1880s — into a modern “ambient loop” thermal energy network. The plan involves using water-source heat pumps, geothermal boreholes, and heat captured from wastewater to heat and cool downtown buildings without fossil fuels.

“We think we are standing in what can be the future of energy in Denver, which is both pollution free and affordable,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told NPR.

The project, estimated at $280-320 million over a decade, is up to 75% cheaper than other building decarbonization options. A pilot with two buildings is expected within two years, with nine buildings connected by 2030. The city’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2040.

A key innovation is tapping into wastewater heat. Dan Freedman, director of technology and innovation at Metro Water Recovery, noted that warm wastewater contains substantial thermal energy. “If we’re being honest, geothermal just sounds sexier than wastewater thermal,” Freedman said during a tour of the facility.

Utah’s Unlikely Renewable Coalition

Perhaps the most striking example of local climate action comes from Utah, a deep-red state where roughly 75% of electricity still comes from coal and natural gas. A coalition of 19 cities, towns, and counties — ranging from Salt Lake City to the tiny coal-mining town of Coalville — has formed Utah Renewable Communities, aiming to bring enough clean energy to the grid to offset power for nearly 300,000 homes and businesses by 2030.

“The fact that our efforts here have been happening over the course of multiple federal administrations already,” Summit County Sustainability Director Emily Quinton told NPR, “it shows us that at the local level, you can continue to move on climate strategies regardless of the federal winds.”

The coalition was made possible by a 2019 state law championed by Republican state Representative Steve Handy, which created a framework for community-utility renewable energy collaboration. Park City Director of Lands and Sustainability Luke Cartin emphasized the practical impact: “Instead of just saying, ‘Hey, we held up a sign, but nothing happened,’ we made this change in one of the most conservative states in the country.”

The effort comes as Utah experienced its warmest winter on record in 2026, with snowpack melting weeks ahead of schedule — a trend researchers at World Weather Attribution found would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change.

Pocket Forests: Neighborhood-Scale Climate Adaptation

On the East and West Coasts, communities are turning to a Japanese planting method developed by botanist Akira Miyawaki in the 1970s. The Miyawaki method involves planting native trees and shrubs extremely densely — up to 350 plants in the space of six parking spots — forcing competition for sunlight and accelerating growth to 10 times faster than natural regeneration.

In Attleboro, Massachusetts, 50 volunteers planted 550 native saplings on an abandoned baseball field in May 2026, aiming to absorb floodwater after devastating floods in 2023. In Tacoma, Washington, resident Wendy Clapp transformed her backyard into a native plant mini-forest. “This is the first time I’ve seen real hope, where I see, like, we’re actually making a difference out here now,” Clapp told NPR.

However, a 2026 study in the Journal of Applied Ecology found that claims about Miyawaki forests’ carbon sequestration benefits lack rigorous evidence, though they provide clear adaptation benefits like cooling and flood absorption. Narkis Morales of the Bioeconomy Science Institute in New Zealand cautioned against overstating the method’s climate mitigation potential, comparing unverified claims to a medical placebo.

The Limits and Potential of Local Action

While these local initiatives are promising, experts acknowledge their limitations. Severin Borenstein, faculty director of UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas, noted that a single program “won’t do much to stop global climate change” but can build momentum. “That sort of leadership and setting an example, I think, is the real value of these sorts of efforts,” he said. “They can build momentum from towns to counties to states and ultimately to the federal government, if it can be shown to be cost-effective.”

A notable theme across all three case studies is that economic arguments are as important as environmental ones. Denver’s thermal network is projected to save money compared to other decarbonization options. Utah’s coalition emphasizes the cost-competitiveness of renewables and grid reliability. Even in conservative areas, practical economics are driving adoption.

What’s Next

The Utah Renewable Communities coalition plans to announce its first clean energy project this summer and begin generating power by 2030. Denver expects its pilot thermal network to be operational within two years. And the Miyawaki forest movement continues to spread, with communities from Massachusetts to Washington state planting dense mini-forests for flood control, cooling, and community engagement.

As the international community watches the U.S. federal government retreat from climate leadership — NPR’s Julia Simon reported from the first International Conference for the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, where no U.S. federal representatives were present but state and local officials attended — these subnational efforts represent a critical, if incomplete, response to the climate crisis. Whether they can scale sufficiently to fill the federal void remains one of the most pressing questions in American climate policy.