A federal appeals court has cleared the way for Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency to cancel more than $16 billion in climate-focused grants, a decision that strikes at the heart of one of Joe Biden’s signature environmental initiatives.
The grants—part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund—had been designed to help non-profit groups slash greenhouse gas emissions nationwide. But under EPA chief Lee Zeldin, the Trump administration declared the program out of step with its priorities, raising alarms about potential fraud and misuse of funds.
In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with the administration, finding that the dispute was essentially contractual and should be handled by the Court of Federal Claims, which deals with money claims against the government. Judge Neomi Rao, writing for the majority, said nothing in the law prevented the EPA from withholding or ending the grants.
That decision reversed a lower court order from Judge Tanya Chutkan, who had temporarily forced Citibank—holder of the grant money—to release the funds.
The ruling sparked sharp division on the bench. Judge Cornelia Pillard, in dissent, blasted the move as an “unlawful nullification of Congress’s duly enacted policy.”
The frozen grants, totaling more than $16 billion, were set aside for organizations including Climate United Fund, Coalition for Green Capital, Power Forward Communities, Inclusiv, and Justice Climate Fund. Together, those groups had been promised more than $20 billion before the freeze.
EPA officials hailed the decision as a victory for “reason and accountability,” while climate advocates expressed deep frustration. “This ruling is disappointing,” said Climate United CEO Beth Bafford, pledging to keep fighting for communities that had been counting on the funds for clean energy projects.
