A judge ruled that canceling seven grants from Joe Biden's presidency for clean energy projects worth about $27.5 million. violates the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws.
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What decisions did the judge make regarding Trump donations?
How much were the canceled subsidies for clean energy projects?
What were the criteria for the grants that were withdrawn?
What did the judge think about the reasons for the subsidy cuts?
“The rescinded grants had one glaring thing in common: All but one of the grants issued came from states where a majority of voting citizens did not support President Trump in the 2024 election.” – wrote the judge.
Trump's decision deemed illegal
In October, the Ministry (Department) of Energy canceled over $7.5 billion. from clean energy funds, mostly in Democratic-led states. In November, a coalition of energy groups and the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, sued the administration over seven of these canceled grants, arguing that funding cuts were motivated by partisan interests. The ruling issued on Monday concerned only these seven subsidies.
“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funds intended to support the left-wing climate agenda have been canceled,” wrote Russell Vought, White House budget director, after the decision to cancel the grants, then listed 16 states where the Democratic Party had an advantage that were to be affected.
The canceled projects were aimed at, among others: modernizing power grids in California, Minnesota and Oregon, reducing methane leaks from oil and gas operations in Colorado, and building large clean hydrogen fuel production centers in California and the Pacific Northwest.
Most of these cuts hit companies and institutions in Democrat-led states, although some of the funds would still go to projects in Republican-led states such as Montana and South Carolina.
Better and worse states
At the same time, billions of dollars in Biden-era allocations for similar energy projects in Republican-controlled states — such as hydrogen centers in West Virginia, Texas and Louisiana — have not been drastically cut.
The Energy Department argued that it canceled spending that was not consistent with the Trump administration's priorities. However, the judge wrote that administration “failed to provide any credible, rational connection” between its political priorities and where cuts have been made. The ruling did not mention hundreds of other grants that were also revoked by the agency.
Also on Monday, another federal judge overturned the authorities' decision to suspend the construction of an offshore wind farm worth USD 6.2 billion. The order, issued by Judge Royce Lamberth, allows construction to resume on Revolution Wind, a 65-turbine project that could power 350,000 homes. houses. This is the second time that Lamberth has rescinded an Interior Department order that sought to halt construction off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island. In September, he rejected the ministry's claim that the project posed a threat to national security, calling it the height of “arbitrary and capricious actions,” the Politico website reported.
