What is Project 2025?
Devised by the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is a blueprint for the Republican Party to follow should they win the presidency. The detailed plan focuses on four initiatives: a policy agenda for a conservative administration, a list of MAGA loyalists to appoint to political positions, specific training to facilitate implementation of the plan, and a playbook for the first 180 days of the new term. Though the Heritage Foundation is the lead on this project, there are more than 100 conservative groups that are serving on the advisory board.
Some of the goals for Project 2025 include:
- Finishing the construction of the racist wall along the southern border
- Cutting federal spending for important programs that benefit the American people
- Attacking abortion, transgender, and other invaluable human rights
- And, of course, doubling down on dirty energy sources like fossil fuels
Recently leaked Project 2025 training videos revealed that potential political appointees are being instructed to remove any reference to climate change. In the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chapter of the policy agenda, one of the recommendations is for the agency to review its 2009 finding that carbon dioxide emissions endanger public health and the environment. It’s also advised that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be abolished. The agency, which focuses on tracking weather patterns and oceanic and atmospheric conditions, is seen as “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.” Project 2025 also calls for reducing the number of sectors that have to report greenhouse gas emissions, including municipal landfills and steel and iron manufacturing.
Trump has been trying to distance himself from Project 2025, however people that worked in his administration participated in its creation. His current VP pick, JD Vance, even wrote the forward to the Project 2025 architect’s new book! Not to mention that Trump already implemented many of the policies and positions outlined in Project 2025 and is once again pushing for them on the campaign trail. One such example is that Trump banned trans people from serving in the military during his first term. Though this policy was later reversed by President Biden, Project 2025 calls for the ban to be reinstated. For this and other egregious policies, we cannot ignore this threat.
The president of the Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, was quoted on a podcast hosted by Steve Bannon saying that the country is “in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” Project 2025 was drafted by people who are willing to use violence to get their way. These extremists and their plans are dangerous, and we need to expose them in order to stop them.
This upcoming presidential election is crucial for fending off the advancement of fanatical views that ostracize marginalized communities, abandon those in economic need, and disregard the severity of the climate crisis. To stop the advancement of Project 2025, we must vote for candidates up and down the ballot that reflect our values.
We cannot let Trump win and implement his dangerous Project 2025 plan. It’s up to us to protect our democracy, our planet, and our future by electing Kamala Harris to be President of the United States.