The Trump administration is reportedly moving to cut $7 billion in Biden-era solar power grants, according to The New York Times.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly drafting termination letters to the 60 nonprofits and state agencies that were awarded taxpayer dollars under former President Joe Biden’s “Solar for All” program, according to The New York Times, citing two anonymous sources briefed on the plans. The EPA launched an audit on the program in March, and the agency has also been working to claw back $20 billion in grants awarded to other organizations under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), a $27 billion pot of funding created under Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, EPA is working to ensure Congressional intent is fully implemented in accordance with the law,” an EPA spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. (RELATED: EPA Internal Watchdog Peeks Under The Hood Of $7 Billion Biden Solar Program)
Solar panels in a solar farm operated by Florida Power & Light in Babcock Ranch, Florida, on December 5, 2023. (Photo by MARCO BELLO/AFP via Getty Images)
The EPA reportedly intends to send the letters out later this week, according to NYT. The Biden-era Solar for All program prioritized building out solar among “low-income and disadvantaged communities,” according to the EPA. The Biden administration touted Solar for All as a means to accomplish its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and as a means to “advance environmental justice across America.”
Notably, the Biden administration also doled out solar energy grants to some of America’s least sunny places under the program.
One major recipient of the Solar for All program was the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University, which was awarded $156 million. The center’s namesake and founding director, Robert Bullard, served on Biden’s White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, The Washington Free Beacon first reported.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has cut several environmental justice grants and offices, repeatedly stating that his agency must responsibly steward taxpayer dollars and return to its original mission of protecting human health and the environment. The EPA already froze $20 billion in climate grants awarded to a number of green groups under the GGRF, which has resulted in an ongoing legal battle. Solar for All represents the remaining billions from the $27 billion GGRF program.
The Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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