US Environmental Market Sector Remains Positive Despite Federal Budget Cuts

Delegates at the annual Environmental Business International industry summit, 22-3-17 through 24-3-17 in San Diego, were upbeat about the state of the environmental market sector, despite proposed major budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and to funding for climate change research. Among the mostly American attendees, a commonly echoed idea - with less federal oversight, states will begin to create and enforce their own environmental policy, leading to a boom in public-private partnerships. “Climate resilience” was an increasingly popular term over “climate adaptation” because it didn’t have an implied association with climate change policy. In a survey of attending professionals, 51% of respondents expect a “modest or marginal” increase in the water and wastewater management markets due to the Trump administration’s proposed increase in public infrastructure spending; meanwhile, around 85% of respondents expect demand for climate-related consulting to decline. Read more here.