The Climate Fight Isn’t Just in Washington—It’s in Our Steel

April 13, 2025

The Climate Fight Isn't Just in Washington-It's in Our Steel

By Carly Oboth

Since taking office, the Trump administration has taken aggressive steps to dismantle environmental protections, declaringan energy emergency to maximize oil and gas production on federal lands. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also shut downall environmental justice offices, cutting vital services that address pollution and health disparities in marginalized communities. Earlier this month, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced stepsto weaken climate protections, including rolling back clean vehicle standards, undoing mercury and air toxics regulations, and initiating the repeal of 31 rules protecting air and water quality. The administration is also pushing to overturnthe EPA's 2009 conclusion that greenhouse gases endanger public health, a move that would dismantle the legal foundation for key regulations limiting harmful planet-warming emissions.

It's hard to keep up. Given the dizzying scope and speed with which these announcements are made, it's easy to feel disgusted, angry, and even hopeless as we watch these policies threaten our planet and the hard-fought progress on climate action.

But here's the thing: the fight for a livable future isn't just about what happens in Washington, D.C. There are massive opportunities to slash emissions that don't rely on the whims of a fossil-fuel-obsessed administration. One of the largest? The steel industry.

Steel production is responsible for 9% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it one of the largest industrial polluters on the planet. Traditional steelmaking depends on blast furnaces that burn coal-based coke at extreme temperatures to extract iron from ore. Each steel mill emits as much carbon dioxide as a coal-fired power plant-and the damage doesn't stop there.

These facilities are often located in low-income communities and communities of color, exposing residents to toxic heavy metals, soot, and particulate matter that lead to asthma, lung disease, heart disease, and even cancer. Steel production isn't just a climate issue-it's an environmental justice crisis.

Thankfully, we don't need to rely on dirty coal to produce steel. Cleaner technologies-like hydrogen-based direct reduced iron and electric arc furnaces-can eliminate coal from the process entirely. Several pilot projectsin Europe are demonstrating that steel manufacturers can swap out coal for hydrogen made using 100% clean energy to produce fossil-free steel.

If the U.S. wants to be a leader in clean manufacturing, we need major investment in 100% green steel production. But here's the catch: this transition won't happen without corporate accountability and public pressure.

The auto industry is one of the largest consumers of steel. The average car contains nearly a ton of steel, and automakers purchase millions of tons each year. That gives them enormous power-and responsibility-to push for cleaner steel production. If automakers commit to buying fossil-free steel, they can accelerate the clean steel revolution, cut emissions from manufacturing, and force the industry to change.

To decarbonize the steel industry, steelmakers need a clear demand signal from their largest customers: automakers. Companies like Ford Motor Company must push for more green steel-and ensure it's produced right here in the U.S. While Ford has committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, achieving that goal requires tackling dirty steel, one of its biggest pollution problems.

Earlier this year, the Lead the Charge coalition released its third annual Leaderboard, which tracks automakers' progress in building equitable, sustainable, and fossil-free supply chains. Tesla barely edged out Ford, which held the top spot ranking last year, by a mere 0.5%. However, the industry as a whole remains stagnant, with no automaker achieving a total score above 50% for the third consecutive year.

Despite the significant role steel plays in vehicle emissions-15% of an electric vehicle's supply chain emissions and 27% for internal combustion engine vehicles-efforts to decarbonize steel have largely plateaued. Given what's at stake, Ford's inaction is unacceptable.

To truly clean up the steel industry, automakers must act nowby committing to binding purchase agreements for fossil-free steel, setting a precedent that will push their competitors to follow suit. As one of the largest automakers in the U.S., Ford has immense purchasing power that can shape the future of the steel industry, both domestically and globally.

We must call on Ford to take decisive action now by demanding that Ford publicly commit to sourcing fossil-free steel for its vehicles. While transitioning away from fossil-fuel-powered engines is crucial, reducing tailpipe emissions alone isn't enough. To prevent a climate catastrophe, automakers like Ford must also eliminate emissions from every stage of vehicle production, including the materials used to build them.