‘I feel like I’m 11 years old again’: Readers sound off after 100 days under Trump

If you’re feeling discouraged, frustrated, uncertain or disheartened, you are hardly alone. Last Wednesday, the 100^th day of the Trump administration, we asked the Trellis community how their feelings about working in corporate sustainability have changed over the past year. More than three-quarters (76 percent) of the 244 readers who responded reported that their feelings have become more negative.

“I’m proud and determined but angry and frustrated at how much harder and confusing things have become,” one reader replied to our invitation to explain their response.  “We have important work to do, and we collectively don’t have time to slow down and be distracted by dealing with the chaos.”

For some, the changes in government policy spurred powerful emotional reactions.

“I feel like I’m 11 years old again, trying to navigate shaky waters as my parents were constantly fighting,” said a corporate social responsibility reporting manager in Arizona. “I just want to do my job and make the world a place we all deserve to live in.”

Others pointed to financial and career insecurity.

“I’m always in suspense, waiting for the next executive order to stab another knife in the work I’ve dedicated my life to,” wrote one consultant. “I feel constantly under pressure from clients asking how to deal with the new administration’s actions.”

‘More determined than ever’

Of readers who reported more positive (10 percent) or neutral (14 percent) feelings about sustainability work, many described growing resolve in the face of a hostile environment.

“I’m more determined than ever to make sustainable changes and help the movement,” said Dawna Mirante, owner of Refill Mercantile. “We need to counter what the other side is doing, and I’m up for it.” (The respondents were invited, but not required, to publish their names with their comments.)

Others reported feeling better because businesses are adopting a more realistic balance between economic and environmental goals. 

“I feel like this is an opportunity to reset — to move away from the often-empty slogans and wish casting (and greenwashing) to try to identify sustainability opportunities that make actual business sense,” said Alan Scheller-Wolf, a professor of operations management at the Tepper School of Business of Carnegie Mellon University.

Many more readers, however, said they were deeply disturbed by the administration’s choice to emphasize increased fossil fuel production over mitigating climate change.

“I love working in sustainability and feeling a sense of purpose from my work, but now I feel so much anxiety that all of the progress and hard work will be undone due to short-sighted and misinformed policy choices,” said a typical comment. “I worry that we will no longer be able to prevent major climate catastrophe.”

The great unraveling

Readers also told us that many companies they work for and do business with have slowed or abandoned their efforts to reduce their climate impact, reacting to uncertain economic prospects and the broader backlash against the ESG movement as well as the administration’s change in environmental policy.

“The uncertainty and tariff policy of the Trump administration is causing my company to pull back resources — people and spending,” wrote one sustainability manager. “It feels like many things I’ve been working on are unraveling or becoming inconsequential.”

The experience of working at companies that are scaling back their sustainability efforts evoked many emotions from readers: Anger and disappointment at their leaders, as well as fear for their own job security.

“As we see the politicization of climate change, the financial outflows to sustainability, growing greenhushing and the flip-flopping of CEOs to cozy up to the president and Elon Musk, it makes me feel like my job and the entire practice is at risk,” one reader wrote. 

Even those working at companies that have maintained their sustainability efforts report having lost the respect, cooperation and resources they need to do their jobs.

“Corporate sustainability has been an uphill paddle ever since I started 25 years ago,” one professional wrote. “I had been excited that we had finally built legitimacy and momentum, but now I feel like there are forces deliberately trying to sink the boat. “

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