The first year of the Trump administration was hard, to say the least. Trump and his cronies showed their capacity for horrific cruelty and outrageous power grabs. They worked hand-in-hand with greedy corporations to make our lives less healthy, less safe, and more expensive. But this past year also showed what remains possible when dedicated people take action together. 

With you, we defended many essential programs and protections. We’ve also won incredible victories at the state and local level. We stopped Congress from rolling back an important lead protection rule, defended funding for school lunches, defeated Big Ag’s Cancer Gag Act in Iowa, stopped data center proposals in Pennsylvania, and more.

Now, as we head into 2026, we’re ready to continue the fight against Trump and win major victories in our communities. Here are our biggest priorities.

Fighting Big Ag Handouts in Congress

Battles over spending bills in Congress — first in Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, and then through the spending bill that led to a government shutdown — have been a central arena for Trump and his cronies pushing their pro-corporate, anti-people agenda. In 2026, we’ll continue organizing people power to oppose this agenda, especially against two particular bills: the EATS Act and the Cancer Gag Act. 

First, the EATS Act threatens state and local governments’ authority to enact their own protections for consumers, farmers, and animals. Second, the Cancer Gag Act would shield pesticide corporations from lawsuits alleging health harms connected to their products. The purpose of these bills is clear: let corporations do what they want, no matter the impact on people or the environment. We’ll be opposing EATS and Cancer Gag measures, however they might appear in Congress.

At the same time, Trump and his allies have taken aim at federal food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Tearing food assistance from families is especially galling at a time when Trump’s deregulatory policies are also handing corporations even more power, which they can use to raise the prices of essentials. We’ll continue to shine a light on these dangerous efforts and build opposition to them.

While we hold the line against the worst of Trump’s agenda, we also know we need massive changes to reach our vision of safe, affordable food for all. We’ll continue working with our allies in Congress to pass bills that will transform our food system, like the Farm System Reform Act and a halt to new Big Ag mergers.

Protecting Clean, Affordable Water

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the responsibility to defend clean drinking water, but under Trump, the agency has rolled back protections. In 2026, we will push the EPA to do its job and protect us against toxic contamination of our drinking water. 

Last year, Food & Water Watch members won an incredible victory. We pushed seven governors to petition the EPA alongside our legal petition to monitor microplastics in our drinking water! Now, we’ll continue to pressure the EPA to heed that petition and take this important step toward strong regulations. 

We’re also opposing efforts to gut protections against lead and PFAS forever chemicals in our drinking water. We’ll oppose Trump’s efforts to roll back important limits on certain PFAS in our water, and keep the pressure on the EPA to defend the Lead out of Water Rule from industry challenges.

Besides reversing protections on clean water, Trump has also threatened federal funding for water infrastructure that is essential for keeping water safe and affordable. We’ll be working hard to defend this funding and to pass perpetual, adequate clean water funding through the WATER Act. 

Opposing Fossil Fuel Infrastructure 

In 2026, we’re continuing to oppose federal policies that entrench the dirty energy polluting our communities and making our energy more expensive. We’ll also keep pushing to end the billions of dollars in subsidies that Big Oil and Gas receives each year and the wasteful tax benefits lavished on the industry’s carbon capture and storage scam.

At the same time, we’ll continue combating efforts to strip protections against the industry’s dangerous, polluting infrastructure. That includes the hazardous carbon pipelines that are part of the carbon capture and storage boondoggle.

With advocates like you, we blocked Congressional measures that would have allowed corporations to pay for fast-track reviews and measures that would have allowed the federal government to force state and local governments to accept carbon pipelines. 

But this fight isn’t over — we’ll continue defending communities’ right to protect themselves from dangerous infrastructure. In 2026, we’ll also oppose carbon dioxide injection underneath our oceans and the use of carbon dioxide in oil drilling. 

Stopping Energy- and Water-Hungry Data Centers

The data center boom driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency is one of the defining issues of our time. These facilities are guzzling our water, entrenching fossil fuels, and spiking our energy bills. They’re worsening the climate crisis and affordability crisis — all for Big Tech’s profit.

Last year, we became the first national organization to call for a nationwide halt to all new data centers. We also worked with local communities to successfully stop data centers from being built in their backyards. We’ll expand our work fighting these facilities at the local, state, and national level in 2026 and beyond. 

Slowing Trump’s Agenda Through the Courts

The Trump administration is barreling through the law to undo decades of progress that protects communities. We can expect more attacks on independent farmers and ranchers, on climate protections, and on the Clean Water Act. 

But we’ll be using the law to stand up for our health and environment against the worst of Trump’s agenda. In 2026, we’ll be defending climate regulation — including Biden-era rules to limit oil and gas industry methane pollution — from Trump’s rollbacks, suing to force Trump’s EPA to update national water pollution limits for slaughterhouses, fighting to maintain clean water protections for streams and wetlands, and appealing a court’s approval of Trump rules that allow factory farms to keep their air pollution secret.

At the state level, we’ll be using the law to fight programs and agency decisions that open the doors for more pollution in our communities. In California, we’re suing the state for its Low Carbon Fuel Standard that incentivizes harmful factory farm biogas nationwide. 

In New York and New Jersey, we’re challenging the state and federal approvals of the Northeast Supply Enhancement fracked gas pipeline. And we’ll be continuing our work to rein in factory farm pollution, from Colorado to Minnesota, Montana to Ohio, and beyond.

Winning at the State and Local Level

With Trump in office, state and local organizing are more important than ever. Our victories in 2025 have shown that we win real improvements in people’s lives, despite the chaos and harm at the federal level. 

From building support for Climate Superfund Laws in six states across the country¹California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Oregon, to stopping harmful projects like data centers and pipelines, we’ll continue this work in 2026. And we’re expanding our work in Massachusetts and Connecticut fighting for a Climate Superfund bill and in Michigan fighting factory farms.

In Pennsylvania, the 37th municipality has passed a zoning law to protect their communities from fracking since we started the Municipal Ordinance Project in 2018. In 2026, we’ll build on this support toward a fracking ban in all of Allegheny County. With Pennsylvania in the crosshairs of the Big Tech industry for its data centers, we’ll also build on our successes in 2025 to defeat more local data center projects.

In Florida, where state regulators recently rubber-stamped the largest rate hike in U.S. history, we’re building on our powerful campaign for affordable, clean energy. That includes introducing a bill that would force the state’s electric utility to increase energy efficiency and reduce fossil fuel use.

In New Jersey, we’re gathering momentum behind the state’s Climate Superfund Act; so far, we have the support of more than a hundred New Jersey groups, 60 legislators, and over 65 municipalities. We’re also fighting to get gas hookups out of Jersey City, as we’ve already done in New York City and New York State.

In Oregon, we’ve worked with allies to build grassroots support for factory farm protections and pass a bill that allows local governments to enact setbacks between factory farms and homes, schools, and other buildings. This year, we’ll build on that success to organize support for local setback ordinances in Oregon communities.

In California, we’re working to stop oil and gas drilling statewide and continuing to build support for the state’s Climate Superfund bill. We’re also fighting a compressor station in Ventura, the notorious Aliso Canyon gas storage facility, the Montezuma carbon capture and storage project, and hydrogen projects like Angeles Link and Scattergood.

In New Mexico, we’re working to stop the expansion and entrenchment of factory farms through the state’s Clean Transportation Fuel Program, and we’re advocating for state protections from these polluting facilities. The state must finalize its new surface water permitting program and include strong protections against factory farm waste.

In Iowa, we defeated Bayer’s Cancer Gag Act in the state legislature last year, defending people’s right to sue pesticide companies for alleged harms caused by their products. Now, we’re preparing for a potential Round 2 with Big Ag. At the same time, we’ll fight to pass our Blueprint for Clean Water, a suite of legislative changes needed to rein in factory farm pollution and tackle Iowa’s drinking water crisis. 

In Maryland, we’re building on our success overriding Governor Moore’s veto of the RENEW Act study, which will calculate the costs of climate change in the state. This is an important first step for passing a Climate Superfund Law, which we’ll continue building support for. We’ll also make sure the City of Baltimore implements a water bill debt forgiveness program that we won in 2019.

In New York, we’ve built an incredible movement of passionate activists fighting dirty infrastructure across the state. In 2026, we’ll continue our work to get fossil fuels out of New York City buildings, push for statewide halts on all new factory farms and new data centers, and fight data center proposals at the local level.

With You, We Have So Much to Look Forward to in 2026!

Though we’ve seen so many low points and cruelty from the Trump administration, we’re heartened to see our movement grow. In 2025, our community grew to 4,000 volunteers and 2.3 million supporters. From gathering petitions at farmers’ markets to meeting with elected officials, from taking to the streets to making gifts that power this work, our members are the foundation of this movement. 

In 2026, we’re strengthening our Food & Water Watch community, because we know community is how we win these fights. Together, we’re building the people power we need to combat corporate greed and Trump’s policies, and to win real protections for our most precious resources.

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