Trump EPA Trying to Claw Back $20 Billion in Green Grants — This Is Not Normal Politics – CleanTechnica

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People do not seem to understand how the US is supposed to work anymore. And while the Trump administration was supposedly going to focus on lowering costs for Americans, that’s not at all what it’s been doing so far. Instead, a key focus has been attacking programs and agencies that help and protect working class people, poor people, and small businesses. If that’s what they want to do within the powers of the executive branch, well, fine, that’s what they can do. However, they keep doing things that are not within their rights and are battering down the core foundations of our republic.

Congress passes laws, and Congress decides where money is spent and how much. It’s often called “the power of the purse.” I vaguely remember learning about that in high school almost 30 years ago, but I’m sure many people in my class and other classes weren’t paying much attention and didn’t digest how our government works. Anyway, once Congress passes a law and directs funding, the executive branch can’t just say, “nah, we’re not doing that.” It’s the job of the president and his cabinet to execute (as in, implement, not kill) the law. Of course, they have some control in how they implement it, and that can make big differences. Historically, going from administration to administration, executive power has led to swings in how things are implemented. However, what you don’t see is an administration deploying billions of dollars in grants to comply with a law passed by Congress and then the next administration coming in and trying to take that money back or cancel payments. That’s absurd. It’s insane behavior. But it’s what Trump’s appointed head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lee Zeldin, is now trying to do.

“In a major reversal, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said he will try to rescind $20 billion in grants awarded by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects,” AP reports. “In a video posted on X, Administrator Lee Zeldin said the EPA would revoke contracts for a still-emerging ‘green bank’ that is set to fund tens of thousands of projects to fight climate change and promote environmental justice.

“The program, approved under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is formally known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, but is more commonly called the green bank. Two initiatives, worth $14 billion and $6 billion respectively, are intended to offer competitive grants to nonprofits, community development banks and other groups for projects with a focus on disadvantaged communities.”

Note that this $20 billion was awarded in April 2024. It was awarded to the Climate United Fund ($6.97 billion award), Coalition for Green Capital ($5 billion award), Power Forward Communities ($2 billion award), Opportunity Finance Network ($2.29 billion award), Inclusiv ($1.87 billion award), Justice Climate Fund ($940 million award), Appalachian Community Capital ($500 million award), and Native CDFI Network ($400 million award). You can read more details at that link. The new Trump administration can’t just come in and rescind those grants.

Of course, they are again targeting minorities, because black and brown Americans have been given too much opportunity and intergenerational privilege now. Although, this won’t only hit black and brown communities. There are many predominantly white rural communities that are disadvantaged and would get support from the “green bank” as well. So be it — there will be some sacrifices in the crusade against extremely tan people.

“This is not just an attack on clean energy investments — it’s a blatant violation of the Constitution,” said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action. “The Trump team is once again trying to illegally slash programs meant to help American families to fund tax cuts for billionaires.”

That’s the short and sour of it, isn’t it? They are making a big show about cutting thousands of federal employees and closing down agencies, agencies that often save Americans money in net, in order to justify massive tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. Never mind that the math is not going to check out and there is a much higher chance that the president who ballooned the deficit more than any president in US history (Donald Trump) will do so again.

Featured photo: Lee Zeldin, by Gage Skidmore (CC BY SA 2.0 license)