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In our new newsletter Power & Progress, we analyze how elected leaders are impacting global climate action, and the economic and societal power dynamics at play. How does power impede and propel progress? How do movements for progress build and use power?
Fight Over Frozen Climate Funds
The Trump administration’s freeze on federal funding included billions of dollars for climate programs approved by Congress under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Hundreds of state and local officials, nonprofits, and other recipients across the country were forced to pause work, delay payments to contractors, and lay off workers.
Despite a federal judge ordering the agencies to unfreeze the funds, many recipients are still waiting for the money they’re owed. The ruling “represents a major win for a group of 23 states and the District of Columbia that sued Trump over the freeze, as the case now moves forward,” reports Wyatt Myskow at InsideClimate News. “But it remains to be seen whether funds to local governments and businesses for climate work will begin to flow again.”
Key Dates
THE POWER
The freeze is just one of many Trump administration actions that are being challenged as unconstitutional in the courts. There are currently 108 active cases, according to a litigation tracker by Just Security.
“Here, the executive put itself above Congress,” Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island wrote in his order staying the freeze. “It imposed a categorical mandate on the spending of congressionally appropriated and obligated funds without regard to Congress’s authority to control spending.”
“The ruling, which builds on the judge’s temporary order instructing the government to keep disbursing the funds, sets up a broader clash between Democratic states over the Trump administration’s efforts to align spending with the president’s agenda,” writes Zach Montague at The New York Times.
The Trump administration refused to comment on the case but is expected to appeal the judge’s decision.
THE PROGRESS
Despite the order and an EPA announcement at the beginning of March that all funds were unfrozen, there is still uncertainty as the case proceeds through the courts. The situation has put state and local governments, nonprofits, green energy startups, and small business owners in limbo, which is stymying climate progress. The lack of funding has led to stalled projects, unpaid workers, disruptions, and lost jobs. In particular, farmers and ranchers who have already spent money for federally-contracted conservation projects face uncertainty about recouping their costs.
One program that did restart last week was the EPA’s $7 billion Solar for All Program, which aims to deliver solar power and energy storage to low-income and disadvantaged households around the US. Experts say that states, municipalities, and Tribes should act fast to access their funding while they can.
STORY IDEAS
- Report on grantees. Use Grist’s interactive tool to find recipients of the $300 billion in federal funds from the IRA and the bipartisan infrastructure law and ask them how their work is being impacted by the funding freeze.
- Talk to lawyers. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the preliminary injunction and the case could make its way to the US Supreme Court. Explain why many legal experts believe the freeze is unconstitutional.
- Report on jobs. New analysis from the nonprofit group Climate Power finds that “more than 42,000 pledged clean energy jobs have been lost or stalled since Trump’s election,” and they have the receipts: A full list of impacted projects and businesses can be found on their website.
- Public reaction. Polling suggests the majority of Americans do not want to see climate action rolled back. An annual survey from Colorado College of eight Western states finds that “72% of respondents… said they would prefer their member of Congress to emphasize protecting clean air, water and wildlife habitat while boosting outdoor recreation over maximizing the amount of public land used for oil and gas drilling,” reports Jake Bolster at InsideClimate News.
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