Dear Members of Congress:

We write to you as leaders and leading voices in our communities to express our grave concern about the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle federal agencies and eviscerate funding for programs and services that help keep us, our communities, and our climate safe.

The climate crisis is intensifying extreme weather events that destroy homes, businesses, and lives. Weakening agencies that carry out climate-related work will only serve to make us more vulnerable and less prepared for the next disaster. If we want healthy kids, clean air and safe drinking water, and a safe climate for all, agencies that carry out this critical work must be fully funded, fully staffed, and protected from political interference.

We need Congress to stand for a safe climate. So, as it considers FY2026 appropriations, we call on Members to reject cuts to key agencies, ensure that they are funded at the levels required to protect Americans and the climate, and also hold the administration accountable for spending congressionally authorized and appropriated funding, as required by law, so federal agencies can fulfill their designated missions to protect the American people and keep them safe.

We are elected officials and public servants, business owners, health professionals, scientists, members of academia, leaders of community-based organizations and more from all across the United States. When disasters strike, we aim to do everything we can to protect our communities, colleagues, neighbors, and families from harm and have long trusted that the federal government is there to help, too. Federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and others have played key roles in addressing the climate crisis and helping people and communities prepare for and recover from extreme weather events.

Yet as the country faces ever more frequent and more severe extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis, which is causing billions of dollars in damage and upending the lives of families and workers, the current administration is recklessly collapsing the federal systems and supports we need. In 2024, there were 27 extreme weather disasters that inflicted at least $1 billion in damages, amounting to an over $182 billion hit to our economy and hundreds of lives lost. We have watched as the administration – with the implicit support of some muted and craven Members of Congress – has recklessly and without hesitation fired countless scientists and civil servants, shuttered entire offices and defunding programs, canceling vital climate and health research, and crippled the public service infrastructure on which communities in every corner of this country depend.

By gutting its own agencies’ capacity to serve the American people, the administration is sending a very clear message to all of us: you are on your own. We are left with little confidence that when staring down the next extreme weather event, the federal government will be willing and able to help states and local communities prepare, recover, and rebuild.

The administration is choosing to put polluters' profits over people’s health and safety; to endanger our economy and exacerbate the climate crisis; and to imperil the viability of federal, state, and community disaster preparedness and recovery efforts. We urge you to stand up for the American people, whom you represent, and to fight back against these debilitating attacks on federal agencies whose mission it is to protect us from the catastrophic impacts of climate change.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]