Zeldin, EPA Push to Illegally Claw Back $20 Billion in Investments to Lower Costs, Address Climate Crisis

Washington, DC  – In a  bizarre rant posted to X , Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the EPA will attempt to  illegally claw back $20 billion in funding already disbursed to lower energy costs, revitalize local economies, and address the climate crisis. The funding, awarded in August of 2024 via the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, will mobilize financing and private capital into clean energy projects to create jobs. Zeldin’s EPA has already illegally frozen funding under contract through the GGRF’s  Solar for All program .

This comes as the Trump administration continues to broadly withhold additional funding across government, including funds made possible through the IRA and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Earlier this week, a Federal Judge in Rhode Island reaffirmed his temporary restraining order to block Trump’s funding freeze, noting that the administration was in violation of the order. The U.S. Court of Appeals then rejected an effort by the Trump administration to appeal the order on Tuesday.

In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement:

“We understand that he’s only two weeks into a job he wasn’t qualified to hold in the first place, but as a former Congressman and litigator Lee Zeldin should at least have a basic understanding of the law. Attempting to claw back funds already disbursed to help us avoid the very worst of the climate crisis is as illogical as it is illegal. These investments are lowering costs for families, providing more reliable and resilient energy options in communities across the country, and helping create good jobs. Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin should quit skirting the law to do the bidding of their fossil fuel buddies and instead try governing for once.”

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About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit  www.sierraclub.org .