WASHINGTON — In a big change of direction, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said he will try to take back $20 billion in grants that the Biden administration gave to projects that improve the environment and use clean energy.
In an X video, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said that the agency would not honor contracts for a new “green bank” that is still in the works but will help pay for tens of thousands of projects that fight climate change and support environmental justice.
The scheme, which was made possible by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is officially called the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, but most people just call it “the green bank.” Nonprofits, community development banks, and other groups that work on projects that help poor areas will be able to compete for grants worth $14 billion and $6 billion, respectively.
Democrats love the program; they passed President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill with no votes from Republicans. Former EPA Administrator Michael Regan often named it as one of his biggest accomplishments.
There are concerns among Republicans in Congress about how the money will be spent and whether there will be enough openness and responsibility. They have called the green bank a “slush fund.” Last year, the House, which is run by Republicans, passed a bill to get rid of the Green Bank and other parts of Biden’s climate plan. The bill was stopped in the Senate, which is run by Democrats.
In the film that was posted Wednesday night, Zeldin said that no waste or abuse will be tolerated at the EPA while he is in charge. He talked about “an extremely disturbing video” on X in which a former EPA worker says that the Biden administration spent billions of taxpayer dollars by “throwing gold bars off the Titanic” before President Trump took office.
According to Zeldin, the time has passed when people give huge amounts of money to far-left political groups without thinking about the consequences. “Your gold bars were found by the team I told to look for them,” Now that we know what to do next, we will get them back in charge of the government.
Project Veritas, a right-wing group that often uses hidden cameras to try to make news outlets, labor groups, and Democratic leaders look bad, put up the video Zeldin was talking about. In this case, the Veritas tape showed Brent Efron, who used to be an EPA special adviser for implementation, talking to someone who turned out to be part of the group in a bar or restaurant. Since then, Efron has left the EPA.
Clean energy supporters called Zeldin’s move a political stunt and said he was breaking the law by trying to cancel spending that Congress had approved for political reasons. They promised to go to court to fight the order.
“This is not only an attack on investments in clean energy; it’s a clear violation of the Constitution,” said Lena Moffitt, executive head of the environmental group Evergreen Action, which backs the green bank. “Once more, the Trump administration is trying to cut programs that help American families without permission in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.”
Eight charities have already been given the money. These are the Justice Climate Fund, the Coalition for Green Capital, Climate United Fund, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, and Inclusiv. These groups have teamed up with many others, such as Rewiring America, Habitat for Humanity, and the Community Preservation Corporation.
Kamala Harris, who used to be Vice President, announced the grants last year at an event in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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