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Attorneys general of more than a dozen states filed the lawsuit on Thursday trump Administration on eliminating $7 billion in funding for affordable solar energy projects across the US
The coalition, which also included the District of Columbia and other stakeholders, argued in the lawsuit that Environmental Protection AgencyCanceling the Solar Energy for All program is a violation of the law governing federal agencies and the constitutional separation of powers. The program was introduced as part of former President Joe Biden’s landmark climate legislation in 2022, aimed at making renewable energy accessible to about 1 million Americans.
Increasing the use of solar energy reduces dependence on coal, oil and natural gas. Burning these fossil fuels for electricity is a primary driver of climate change globally because they emit greenhouse gases that trap the Earth’s warming.
The EPA, along with the Administrator, rescinded the Solar for All fund in August, after President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending legislation passed Congress a month earlier. lee zeldin The program is being called a “boondoggle.”
The EPA said in an email Thursday that it does not comment on pending litigation.
The Washington Attorney General led the lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. nick brownMinnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Arizona Attorney General Chris Mayes, and argue that the termination of funding was unlawful. It names EPA and Zeldin as defendants.
Joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, all of whom are Democrats, as well as the governor of Kentucky, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
“Congress passed a solar energy program to help make the cost of electricity more affordable, but the administration is ignoring the law and focusing on the conspiracy theory that climate change is a hoax,” Brown said in a statement.
Advocates have lauded the program for its benefits not only for low-income communities in need of funding for clean-energy projects, but also for local workforces and for keeping electricity prices reasonable.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement, “At a time when energy bills are at record highs and continuing to rise, the Trump Administration is unnecessarily disrupting an industry that can produce safe, reliable, and affordable energy.”
A similar group of states filed a separate lawsuit Wednesday in the Court of Federal Claims against the Trump administration, arguing that canceling the program’s funding is a breach of contract and saying they seek to recover monetary damages.
This week’s litigation has increased pressure on the Trump administration over the program. Nonprofits and other groups sued Solar for All funding earlier this month for similar reasoning, and Harris County in Texas sued over its award last week. More than two dozen Democratic senators also wrote a letter to Zeldin this week calling for the program to be reinstated.
Solar for All was tied to $20 billion of green funding, formally known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which the Trump administration eliminated in March.
The $27 billion canceled is just one example of the administration’s efforts against clean energy. Trump has invested in fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal while cutting climate regulation, standing in the way of clean energy development and reversing environmental policy.
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