Employees work on solar panels at the Qcells solar energy manufacturing plant in Dalton, Georgia, March 2, 2023.
Megan Varner | Reuters
Several non -profit groups and organizations have brought legal action on Monday against the Environmental Protection Agency about the cancellation of a solar of $ 7 billion for all programs intended to make solar energy accessible to more than 900,000 low -income Americans.
They say that the Trump administration of the program of the program was illegal and that they want a federal judge to order the EPA to restore it. The program is affiliated with an additional $ 20 billion in green financing also dismissed with President Donald Trump that the administrator of EPA, Lee Zeldin, had described as fraudulent scheme in charge of waste.
The EPA said in an email on Monday that it does not comment on the dispute.
The trial is the last legal action against the administration in the midst of its assaults on clean energy policy and funding and related programs across the country. Trump has decided to stimulate the production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal.
The trial brought in Rhode Island by the organization of Rhode Island AFL -CIO and others – including the Interest Law Center Rhode Island Center for Justice and UNITED non -profit solar neighboring – have detailed the importance of the program for local staff and low -income communities looking for access to the financing of the clean energy project.
Patrick Crowley, president of Rhode Island AFL-CIO, said on Monday that the termination of the program killed jobs and would increase electricity prices.
EPA canceled solar for all in August
The solar of all the money was canceled after the massive law and the Trump spending law was adopted in the congress in July. Zeldin said in a press release on social networks at the time: “The essential is as follows: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or appropriate funds to maintain this boondoggy.”
The groups argued in the trial that the law only revoked climatic subsidies not yet attributed by the EPA and that these solar funds were already allocated.
“The Rollback of the Solar for All Program by the Trump Administration is a shameless attempt to support fossil fuel companies at the expense of families,” said Kate Sinding Daly, main vice-president of law and policies to Law Foundation conservation, one of the defense groups for non-profit legal defenders representing the complainants.
“This program would offer families low-income access to clean and affordable solar energy: the energy that reduces invoices, improves air quality and maintains more safety people during extreme heat,” she added in a press release.
The trial quotes the previous EPA estimates that the program would have enabled beneficiaries of around $ 400 each year of electricity bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions or cumulatively avoided by more than 30 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The program was part of a larger and climate funding thrust
The solar program of $ 7 billion for all programs was part of the “green bank” of $ 27 billion, officially known as the greenhouse gas reduction funds. It was created in the climate law supported by the Democrats adopted in 2022 under former President Joe Biden.
The 20 billion other dollars, canceled by the Trump administration in March, were planned for eight community development banks and non -profit organizations for tens of thousands of projects to combat the effects of climate change, such as residential energy efficiency projects with larger -scale investments such as community cooling.
Groups also continued on the cancellation of this money – with a federal judge saying that they must have access to some of the funds – although recently, a court of appeal ruled that federal officials could move forward with its termination.
Trump’s attack on environmental policy and regulations
The Trump administration has targeted a multitude of programs and policies dedicated to clean energy.
Last week, the administration canceled $ 7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of climate -respecting projects in 16 states. He also interfered with almost complete offshore wind developments, moved to cancel the crucial “endangering conclusion” which allows climate regulation, seeks to end the greenhouse gas emissions for large pollutors and has taken a series of other deregulation measures.
