SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
greenhouse gas reduction fund
By Keeping Climate Funds on Ice, the DC Circuit Is Complicit in Trump’s Overreach
By refusing to act, the DC Circuit has turned oversight into obstruction, procedure into punishment, as it helps the executive hollow out Congress’ most basic power.
Sep 03, 2025
On September 2 the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that $16 billion in climate grants will remain frozen. The case, Climate United Fund v. Citibank and Environmental Protection Agency, grew out of the Trump administration’s February decision to halt the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The order was only a few lines long, a clerk’s note that the mandate would be withheld until rehearing petitions were resolved. In appellate procedure, withholding the mandate means the decision below is not yet enforceable. The court could have allowed the money to move while review continued. It chose not to.
This is not paperwork. This is power. Power in this case means leaving billions locked in a Citibank vault while families ration air conditioning, patch storm-wrecked homes, and haul water across dry land.
The money is real. Congress appropriated it. Treasury obligated it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded it. Projects were ready. Tribal governments had contractors lined up to install solar pumps. Rural co-ops had bids in hand to replace cracked water lines. Community lenders had retrofits prepared for families who spend half their paychecks on electricity. Yet the funds remain frozen, generating interest for a bank that once needed a taxpayer bailout and still bankrolls oil expansion.
Judges call this a pause. A pause in Washington is a crisis everywhere else.
Maria Ortega in Phoenix knows it. She is 76, widowed, living on a fixed income in a house that traps the heat. Phoenix endured its fourth hottest summer on record, with 12 days at or above 110°F this July. Maria shut off her air conditioning most afternoons to avoid a $287 bill, half her Social Security check. The thermostat read 98°F. She sipped water slowly, blinds drawn, a box fan pushing hot air. At night she ran the AC for three hours so she could sleep. She asked a question no one should face: Is surviving this month worth going hungry next month?
Daniel Robinson outside New Orleans knows it too. Another September storm peeled shingles from his roof. He was 19 when Katrina came. He rebuilt, married, worked double shifts. He was told resilience would come. But this fall he found himself again hammering blue tarps while his kids carried buckets. Federal funds exist for stronger roofs and elevated homes. They were approved, obligated, ready. But they remain locked in limbo.
And Sarah Begay on the Navajo Nation knows it as well. She drives every other day to a community well, filling barrels for her livestock. The dirt tanks her father used have been dry for years. Gas prices climb, the miles wear down her pickup. She was told federal money was coming for solar pumps. Instead she is told to wait.
Three people, three regions, one reality: Delay is not neutral. It kills.
Maria is not waiting for abstractions. She is waiting for a power bill she can pay.
Judges insist they are bound by law, not outcomes. But law already spoke. Congress passed the appropriation. Treasury obligated it. EPA awarded it. The Constitution gives Congress the purse for a reason. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 codified that a president cannot cancel or withhold funds Congress has approved. President Richard Nixon tried, and Congress stopped him. What this administration has done—freezing appropriations indefinitely under the language of review—is a backdoor impoundment. And by withholding the mandate, the DC Circuit has not merely tolerated this maneuver. It has validated it.
This is the judiciary’s quiet habit: Retreat into formalism while people pay the price. Courts claim neutrality but exercise discretion constantly—choosing when to grant stays, when to expedite review, when to let money flow. To call delay neutral is a fiction. Delay is a ruling in all but name. The choice to freeze funds is as consequential as striking them down.
The consequences reach far beyond climate. If this precedent stands, any appropriation can be stalled. Veterans’ healthcare, housing aid, disaster relief—all can be frozen at a president’s discretion so long as courts are willing to play along. Congress will hold the purse only on paper. In practice, presidents will wield the choke chain, and judges will provide cover.
Every day of delay bleeds value. A retrofit not installed means another summer of unbearable bills. A pump not delivered means another year of hauling water. A roof not secured means another tarp, another moldy wall, another child growing up in a house that never dries. A dollar spent today prevents five dollars in damage tomorrow. A dollar withheld compounds harm. The storm does not wait for petitions. The fire does not wait for oral arguments. The flood does not wait for a court’s sense of timing.
Judicial restraint here is not harmless. It is complicity. By refusing to act, the DC Circuit has turned oversight into obstruction, procedure into punishment. It has helped the executive hollow out Congress’ most basic power. It has reduced law to theater while real life burns.
Maria is not waiting for abstractions. She is waiting for a power bill she can pay. Daniel is not waiting for legal formalities. He is waiting for a roof that will hold. Sarah is not waiting for judicial review. She is waiting for water that flows.
The storm will not wait. The fire will not wait. The flood will not wait. Politicians will still gather in front of cameras to praise oversight and congratulate themselves on restraint. Judges will polish their dockets and write opinions about consistency.
But history will record something else. The money was there. The need was there. The chance was there. And power chose not to use it. That is not oversight. That is abdication. It is not neutrality. It is complicity. And it is a verdict that will damn the judiciary as much as the executive.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Biden EPA Launches $20 Billion Initiative to Boost Green Economy
"This is a win for workers, our economy, and our fight to confront the climate crisis," said Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
Jul 14, 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Friday opened a pair of grant competitions with a combined $20 billion in public funding designed to "mobilize private capital into clean technology projects."
The initiative aims to "create good-paying jobs and lower energy costs for American families, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities, while cutting harmful pollution to protect people's health and tackle the climate crisis," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explained in a statement.
The $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) seeks to expand the deployment of green technologies nationally while the goal of the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) is to increase local green financing capacity via community lenders.
"Today, communities around the country are getting a green light for a new historic era of green financing."
Both programs are part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) established last year when congressional Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The final $7 billion component of the GGRF, the "Solar for All" program, was unveiled last month.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the NCIF and CCIA grant competitions at an event at Coppin State University in Baltimore. He was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, Democratic Sens. Tom Carper (Del.), Ed Markey (Mass.), and Chris Van Hollen (Md.), and Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone (N.J.) and David Trone (Md.).
"Communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis will be the first to reap the benefits of President Biden's historic investments in the clean economy," said Regan. "The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will spur private investment into clean technology projects and expand economic opportunity for communities that have been left behind, for families that want lower energy costs, and for workers who need good-paying jobs."
According to the EPA, the NCIF "will provide grants to support two to three national clean financing institutions, enabling them to partner with the private sector to provide accessible, affordable financing for tens of thousands of clean technology projects nationwide."
"By mobilizing significant amounts of private capital, these national nonprofits will ensure that every dollar of public funds generates several times more in private investment," the agency said. "At least 40% of the funds from the National Clean Investment Fund will be dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged communities."
Meanwhile, the CCIA "will provide grants to support two to seven hub nonprofit organizations, enabling them to provide funding and technical assistance to public, quasi-public, not-for-profit, and nonprofit community lenders working in low-income and disadvantaged communities—supporting the goal that every community in the country has access to the capital they need to deploy clean technology projects," the EPA continued.
"These hub nonprofits will enable hundreds of community lenders—such as community development financial institutions (including Native CDFIs), credit unions, green banks, housing finance agencies, and minority depository institutions—to finance clean technology projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities while also mobilizing private capital and building the enduring capacity of community lenders to finance these projects for years to come," the agency added. "100% of the funds from the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will be dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged communities."
Applicants have until October 12 to request grants.
"This program will bring life-changing projects to environmental justice and frontline communities around the country, delivering on the promise of a livable future for all."
The nationwide green investment strategy elicited praise from progressive members of Congress.
"It's been over a decade since we first put the idea of creating a national climate bank on paper," said Van Hollen, who introduced legislation to create a federal green bank 14 years ago. "Today, that idea is becoming a reality. With the launch of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, we are deploying powerful tools to help us address climate change through innovative new solutions while creating jobs and growing our economy."
"These funds will serve as a force multiplier for private investment in clean energy projects to cut emissions and promote environmental justice in underserved communities across the country," he added. "This is a win for workers, our economy, and our fight to confront the climate crisis."
Markey, the lead sponsor of the National Climate Bank Act that inspired the creation of the GGRF, concurred.
"Today, communities around the country are getting a green light for a new historic era of green financing," said Markey, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety.
"I am thrilled to celebrate the hard work of Administrator Regan and the Biden-Harris administration and herald the start of a national clean financing network, funded by the landmark investments of the Inflation Reduction Act," the lawmaker added. "From clean transit to healthy housing, applicants to this program will bring life-changing projects to environmental justice and frontline communities around the country, delivering on the promise of a livable future for all."
Keep ReadingShow Less
EPA, Sanders Launch $7 Billion Program to Expand Rooftop Solar in Poor Neighborhoods
"At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet, all while dealing with the existential threat of climate change, we must make residential rooftop solar a reality for low-income and working families that need it most," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Jun 28, 2023
President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday opened a $7 billion grant competition aimed at increasing access to residential solar power for millions of low-income households across the United States.
The initiative was announced by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan in Waterbury, Vermont. Regan was joined by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other members of the state's congressional delegation, who touted how local rooftop solar installations are lowering energy bills while improving public and planetary health.
Regan emphasized that the Biden administration's "Solar for All" program will replicate those benefits in disadvantaged neighborhoods nationwide, simultaneously alleviating the cost-of-living crisis, rampant air pollution, and the climate emergency—all of which are driven to varying degrees by the country's reliance on fossil fuels.
"Solar for All will accelerate the deployment of residential solar in communities that for too long have lacked access to the cost-saving benefits of clean energy generation at home."
"For too long, overburdened communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis have been left behind and locked out of clean energy investments and climate solutions," Regan said in a statement. "This historic boost in solar investments will advance millions of residential solar projects nationwide, protect people and the planet, deliver environmental justice, save families money, and create good-paying jobs."
The grants are part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) established by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The EPA said that it will award "up to 60 grants to states, territories, tribal governments, municipalities, and eligible nonprofits to create and expand low-income solar programs that provide financing and technical assistance, such as workforce development, to enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from residential solar."
Applicants have until September 26 to request grants in amounts ranging from $25 million to $400 million.
"All communities deserve to participate in America's growing clean energy economy," said Regan. "Under this competition, we will bring more communities along, working together to build a healthier and cleaner future for all."
A long-term study published in November showed that rooftop solar is becoming more accessible to low- and moderate-income households, but not quickly enough to stave off the worst consequences of the climate crisis.
Sanders sponsored the inclusion of the Solar for All program in the IRA and has long advocated for its swift implementation.
As The Hill reported Wednesday:
In December, at a meeting of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Vermont senator voted to advance the nomination of Joe Goffman, President Biden's nomination to lead the EPA's air office, but said he would not back him in the full Senate without a written commitment that the full $7 billion would go toward installation of residential solar.
The panel advanced Goffman's nomination this April, but it has yet to receive a full Senate vote.
"At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet, all while dealing with the existential threat of climate change, we must make residential rooftop solar a reality for low-income and working families that need it most," Sanders said Wednesday.
"This $7 billion residential solar program that I introduced and the EPA is administering is a major step in the right direction," he added. "I look forward to working with the EPA on this program to make it more affordable for low-income and working-class families to install solar on their homes and save money on their electricity bills, as well as help create millions of good jobs in Vermont and across the country."
According to the EPA:
The new grant competition will provide funds to expand existing low-income solar programs as well as develop and implement new Solar for All programs nationwide. Solar for All programs ensure low-income households have equitable access to residential rooftop and residential community solar power, often by providing financial support and incentives to communities that were previously locked out of investments. In addition, these programs guarantee low-income households receive the benefits of distributed solar including household savings, community ownership, energy resiliency, and other benefits.
"Solar for All will accelerate the deployment of residential solar in communities that for too long have lacked access to the cost-saving benefits of clean energy generation at home," said GGRF acting director Jahi Wise. "The Solar for All program strengthens low-income and disadvantaged community-focused solar programs across the country, bringing long-needed cost savings and pollution reduction to American communities."
In addition to unveiling the $7 billion Solar for All initiative, the EPA announced that it plans to launch two other GGRF programs in the coming weeks: A $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) grant competition to expand the deployment of clean technologies at the national scale and a $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) grant competition to increase local clean financing capacity via community lenders.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular