Welcome back: Climate startups are reeling under the impact of President Trump’s attacks on the energy-transition sector, as funding and job cuts, operational halts and bankruptcies rack up.

On Friday, the Department of Energy announced $3.7 billion worth of funding cuts for clean-energy and climate projects, with a large portion of the cancelled grants focused on carbon capture and sequestration. Of 24 projects terminated in the move, 16 were signed between election day and Trump’s inauguration, the DoE said in a statement.

Last week, Republicans moved to roll back tax credits for solar, hydrogen and other clean-energy sources, while a number of government departments are exploring whether or not to keep billions of dollars worth of funds in place for projects such as carbon capture and storage. The impact of tariffs has also hit the sector hard, pushing up prices for imports.

The developments mark a sharp reversal to the policies of the previous administration, which pumped billions into the sector, supercharging startups in the field and attracting automakers, battery manufacturers and solar producers from across the globe to set up shop in the U.S. because of the generous incentives offered by the government. In our newsletter today, and in more detail online, we look at some of those companies most affected by the policy changes and how they are planning for the future. 

Read on for more on this story and other sustainability news.

From carbon capture to solar power, companies across the clean-tech spectrum have been hit by funding withdrawals, policy changes and import restrictions brought in by the Trump administration as it has moved to dismantle the climate goals of its predecessor, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Yusuf Khan and Clara Hudson report.

In the past month, Li-Cycle, a Canadian battery recycling startup that had aimed to build large facilities in Rochester, N.Y., filed for bankruptcy, while Climeworks, a Swiss direct air capture startup, said it was cutting nearly a quarter of its staff amid uncertainty over whether millions of dollars in grants  would remain in place for its joint venture plant in Louisiana. 

Trump's policy changes have pummeled stock prices. First Solar's stock is down 15% since the inauguration. Hydrogen startup Plug Power’s shares are down nearly 60% in the same time period and have fallen into penny stock territory, with the company announcing job cuts amid revenue struggles. It now faces being delisted from the Nasdaq. Sunrun, a solar power provider, is down 25%. All companies were hit by news that tax credits for businesses working in the renewables field could be rescinded.

Meanwhile, Group14, a Seattle-based silicon-battery maker said it was delaying opening its battery factory in Moses Lake, Washington, due to uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs and was also unsure whether a separate silane production plant would still be receiving $200 million in grant funding it had been contracted under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Silane is a gas used to produce silicon for batteries.

Solar farms have proliferated across the South, replacing swaths of timber and enriching land owners who have struggled with two decades of depressed log prices. Lately, though, solar developers have been encountering obstacles, the WSJ's Ryan Dezember writes.

A proposal from Silicon Ranch, one of largest solar operators in the South, to instal 2,100 acres of solar panels next to a wildlife preserve ran into local opposition. Black bears that roam area and adjacent timberland are hemmed in by highways and development that they are inbreeding and born missing ears and tails and with odd numbers of testicles.

Silicon Ranch said it would keep more than half of the roughly 4,700-acre property free of solar panels and leave wildlife corridors between the arrays, which would generate enough electricity for about 50,000 homes. But Houston County commissioners were unswayed and withheld a zoning permit for the $300 million project last year.

Sentiment regarding renewable energy has soured. President Trump has spent much of this term dismantling his predecessor’s efforts to foster renewable-energy development in favor of fossil fuels, and local opposition has risen over tax abatements, aesthetics, erosion and cleanup obligations.

Planeteer Capital, a New York venture firm led by Managing Partner Sophie Purdom, defied the odds and closed a $54 million first-time fund to invest in climate-tech startups, WSJ Pro's Yuliya Chernova reports.

Such funds are far and few between. Just 23 venture funds that have climate as an investment focus were raised in the U.S. last year, representing a 15-year low, according to research from Silicon Valley Bank, a commercial bank division of First Citizens Bancshares.

Limited partners have become less interested in venture capital, in general, with some also worried about a political and regulatory shift in the U.S. away from supporting environmentally friendly technologies.

It took Planeteer two years to raise the fund, and the total collected was below the firm’s original target, according to Purdom. She initially targeted $75 million, and had set a hard cap of $100 million. Purdom said the capital she raised is sufficient to deploy on her strategy.

Climate tech is a theme, not an industry, Purdom says. Generally, it encompasses technologies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or help people cope with the repercussions of climate change.

Tell me what you think: Send me your feedback and suggestions at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com or reply to any newsletter. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here.

• Rio Tinto agrees to new management plan in area where it destroyed ancient caves. (WSJ)
   
• Highways baking at 158F signal a red-hot summer from China to the U.S. (Bloomberg)
   
• Oil companies are sued over death of woman in 2021 heat wave. (NYT)
   
• Why Big Oil turned to Trump for help in Africa. (WSJ)
   
• Google backs agtech projects to save 2 billion liters of water on U.S. farms. (ESG Today)
   
• Calls for Drax to be forced to fully disclose its biomass sourcing. (Guardian)
   
• CDR has three jobs, only one needs permanence. (Marginal Carbon)
   
• IATA expects sustainable aviation fuel production to double in 2025. (Reuters)
   
• Sustainability platform Watershed launches free global emissions database. (ESG Dive)
   
• Scientists accuse New Zealand and Ireland of trying to cover up livestock emissions. (FT)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at wsjperry, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.