- Details
- By Brian Edwards
- Energy | Environment
In a court filing Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency failed to provide any concrete evidence of fraud or wrongdoing to justify canceling a $20 billion grant program that included more than $1.5 billion for clean energy projects in Indian Country.
[BREAKING NEWS: Judge issues restraining order, blocking EPA attempt to cancel $20B of climate grants]
The filing came in response to a judge’s order last week in a lawsuit brought by nonprofit Climated United Fund against the EPA, Administrator Lee Zeldin and Citibank. At the hearing last Wednesday, Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia pressed the EPA to provide actual evidence of misconduct, asking if they could demonstrate any illegal activity or misuse of funds related to the grants.
Instead, EPA Chief of Staff Eric Amidon's legal filing merely referenced unidentified media reports and an undercover video by a conservative activist group showing former EPA staff member Brent Efron comparing Biden administration actions to throwing “gold bars” off the Titanic. Efron's attorney has disputed these remarks referred to the climate grant program.
The EPA claimed Climate United, which was set to receive a $6.97 billion grant, had “conflicts of interest” because some staff had worked in Democratic administrations, but the federal agency provided no evidence that these connections violated any laws or regulations.
Much of the EPA's filing focused on amendments made to the grant terms after the November election. Amidon claimed that December 2024 and January 2025 modifications to the grant agreement and account control agreement “left EPA with insufficient authority to retain control of funds short of outright termination.”
While the EPA mentioned ongoing investigations by the Justice Department, FBI, and the agency's acting inspector general, it presented no findings or concrete allegations from these investigations to support the grant termination.
The grants in question were intended to fund low-interest loans for climate initiatives like building solar arrays and improving home energy efficiency. For Native American communities, the grant cancellations represent a setback to tribal energy sovereignty efforts. The eight grantees under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund programs, including Climate United, had pledged to direct $1.5 billion for clean energy loan capital and technical assistance in Native communities.
Climate United has already approved 22 awards to tribes and native-serving organizations across 18 states and committed $63 million for solar power plants in partnership with tribal governments.
