In the chaotic first few weeks of the Trump administration, as the government has frozen and unfrozen billions of dollars in federal funding, Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin has focused on one program in particular. For almost a month, he has been waging a crusade against the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a Biden-era program designed to finance climate action in underinvested areas.
For this initiative, the Biden EPA doled out billions of dollars to a handful of climate-focused nonprofits to help them set up their own “green banks.” These banks would then lend out the money to support solar panels and other clean energy development in areas that don’t typically draw a lot of investment in the hopes of mobilizing private money for the same projects.
Zeldin has attacked the green fund as “criminal” and sent letters to the climate nonprofits notifying them that their contracts are being terminated “effective immediately.” He has alleged without evidence that the Biden administration’s attempts to dole out funding after the 2024 election,... Read more
