On Thursday, more than a dozen state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for halting $7 billion earmarked for affordable solar energy initiatives across the nation.
This legal action, joined by the District of Columbia and various stakeholders, contends that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to end the Solar for All program contravenes federal agency regulations and breaches the constitutional separation of powers. Launched in 2022 under former President Joe Biden’s significant climate legislation, the program aimed to make renewable energy accessible to nearly a million Americans.
Adopting solar energy plays a crucial role in minimizing dependence on traditional energy sources like coal, oil, and natural gas. These fossil fuels, when burned for electricity, are substantial contributors to climate change due to their greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
The EPA withdrew the Solar for All funding in August, following the enactment of a sweeping tax and spending package by President Donald Trump a month earlier. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin criticized the program as a “boondoggle.”
In response to the lawsuit, the EPA declined to comment on the ongoing legal proceedings, as stated in an email on Thursday.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, is spearheaded by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. The suit asserts that the termination of the funding was unlawful and lists the EPA and Zeldin as defendants.
Joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general in 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, the chair of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
“Congress passed a solar energy program to help make electricity costs more affordable, but the administration is ignoring the law and focused on the conspiracy theory that climate change is a hoax,” Brown said in a statement.
Advocates have touted the program not only for its benefits to lower-income communities needing access to money for clean-energy projects, but also for local workforces and to keep electricity prices reasonable.
“At a time when energy bills are at a record high and only continuing to skyrocket, the Trump Administration is needlessly hampering an industry that can produce safe, reliable, and inexpensive energy,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
A similar group of states filed a separate lawsuit Wednesday in the Court of Federal Claims against the Trump administration arguing that the program funding cancellation is a breach of contract and said they are seeking to recover monetary damages.
This week’s litigation ramps up the pressure on the Trump administration over the program. Nonprofit organizations and other groups sued over Solar for All funding for similar reasoning earlier this month, and Harris County in Texas filed a lawsuit last week over its award. More than two dozen Democratic senators also wrote a letter to Zeldin this week calling for the program to be restored.
Solar for All was affiliated with another $20 billion in green funding, formally known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, terminated by the Trump administration in March.
The canceled $27 billion is just one example of the efforts the administration has taken against clean energy. Trump has invested in fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal while slashing climate regulation, standing in the way of clean energy developments and reversing environmental policy.
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