Trump Uses Shutdown to Unlawfully Slash Blue-State Clean Energy Projects
Energy department illegally cancels $7.5 billion in appropriated funds, undermining energy dominance and compromising American democracy
WASHINGTON — On the first day of the shutdown of the Federal government, the Trump administration moved to hurt states led by Democrats, and is preparing plans to make massive cuts to the federal workforce, according to reports. In a late-night announcement on Wednesday, the Department of Energy announced it would end more than $7.5 billion in clean energy projects, with a vast majority of the cuts being made in states run by Democrats.
A fast majority of the 321 project grants canceled by the Department of Energy were in states that voted for Trump’s political opponent, with many of the awards slashed in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.
In response, David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:
“With this move, President Trump continues his obsession with abusing his authority to punish his perceived political enemies instead of fixing problems that Americans need our President to work on—high prices, the economy, health care, and the climate crisis. The projects set to be canceled by the Energy Department, seemingly at the behest of Russel Vought, could have slashed energy costs for consumers, and moved the U.S. energy economy toward the future. Instead, these brutish tactics will hurt efforts to modernize the generation, storage, and transportation of energy across the country.”
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