By Tim McDonnell, SEMAFOR Feb 18, 2025, 7:50am EST
Beneficiaries of a $20 billion clean-energy program that the Trump administration wants to claw back might sue to keep the money, a leader of one such group told Semafor.
Under the new leadership of Administrator Lee Zeldin, the US Environmental Protection Agency wants to knock down the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, citing concerns that the money — ostensibly to support low-carbon energy projects in disadvantaged communities — is being doled out “in a rush job with reduced oversight.”
“The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of climate justice and environmental equity are over,” Zeldin posted on X last week.
But retrieving the money won’t be easy, in part because the nonprofits selected to disburse it countrywide could sue to block the effort, said Lenwood Long, Sr., chair of the board of the Justice Climate Fund, a coalition of community development nonprofits that was awarded $940 million from the GGRF.
“It is shameful that such actions are being considered,” he said. “These are not pork-barrel projects. These are seasoned organizations that have been doing lending and housing for decades.”
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