President Donald Trump promised to help Appalachian communities recover after Hurricane Helene — one of the deadliest and costliest storms in U.S. history. But his administration’s rollback of billions in Biden-era climate and energy funds has stalled projects meant to rebuild housing and lower energy costs across the region. POLITICO’s Zack Colman explains how Trump’s actions are slowing recovery efforts and what it means for the communities still struggling nearly a year after the storm.

Zack Colman covers climate change for POLITICO.

Nirmal Mulaikal is the co-host and producer of POLITICO Energy.

Alex Keeney is a senior audio producer at POLITICO.

Matt Daily is the energy editor for POLITICO.

For more news on energy and the environment, subscribe to Power Switch, our free evening newsletter: https://www.politico.com/power-switch

And for even deeper coverage and analysis, read our Morning Energy newsletter by subscribing to POLITICO Pro: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter-archive/morning-energy

Our theme music is by Pran Bandi.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump promised to rebuild Appalachia. Then he pulled some funding.

Powered by Wave AI