Trump administration cancels clean energy grants as it prioritizes
fossil fuels
[March 29, 2025] By
JENNIFER McDERMOTT
President Donald Trump's administration is terminating grants for two
clean energy projects and roughly 300 others funded by the Department of
Energy are in jeopardy as the president prioritizes fossil fuels.
The DOE is canceling two awards to a nonprofit clean energy think tank,
RMI in Colorado, according to a document from the agency confirming the
cancellations that was reviewed by The Associated Press on Friday. One
was for nearly $5.3 million to retrofit low-income multifamily buildings
in Massachusetts and California to demonstrate ways to reduce the use of
energy and lower planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The other was
for $1.5 million to assess business models for electric vehicle
carsharing in U.S. cities.
The department wrote that it had determined the awards do not meet the
administration's objectives. Both awards are on a list of about 300
clean energy projects under review. President Donald Trump declared an
energy emergency early in his term and is working to speed up fossil
fuel development, which he sums up as “drill, baby, drill.”
The burning of oil, gas and coal is the main contributor to global
warming caused by human activity. President Joe Biden tried to lock in a
trajectory for reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. As his
term came to an end, his administration raced to award billions of
dollars for clean energy and approved major offshore wind projects.
RMI spokeswoman Dina Cappiello confirmed the organization had received a
termination letter for the EV carsharing viability work, and had
anticipated it. That work won’t proceed as a result of the funding being
pulled back. As of Friday afternoon, she said she hadn't seen a second
letter, but the retrofitting work is due to finish in June using a grant
announced during Trump's first term.
The Department of Energy said in a statement late Friday that the
department “acted in the best interest of the American people” by
terminating the grants. As for other grants on the list, the statement
said, the department is still conducting a wide-ranging review.
E&E News first reported last week that the DOE was creating a “hit list”
of clean energy projects awarded billions of dollars that the Trump
administration could wipe out.
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Liam Sawyer, of Indianapolis, charges his 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E,
March 8, 2024, at an electric vehicle charging station in London,
Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)
 The list, obtained by the AP,
includes wind, solar, battery storage and electric vehicle
infrastructure projects. It includes funding to help heavy
industries transition away from fossil fuels and funding to
decarbonize buildings. Many projects were funded through the $1
trillion bipartisan infrastructure law Biden signed in 2021.
Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency terminated grant
agreements this month worth $20 billion issued by the Biden
administration under a so-called green bank to finance clean energy
and climate-friendly projects. A federal judge has blocked the
administration from ending the grant program for now.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat, said halting clean energy
projects will increase energy costs for families and businesses, and
the Energy Department must carry out duly-enacted spending laws.
“We need the Department of Energy to work with us, not against us,
to lower energy costs and help create good-paying jobs, but at a
bare minimum, we demand the department to follow the law as
intended,” Kaptur, the top Democrat of the House Appropriations
energy subcommittee, said in a statement.
RMI has received government contracts and grants under Republican
and Democratic administrations since its founding in 1982. Cappiello
said that money has been used to help advance secure, reliable,
efficient and clean energy solutions. The current administration’s
actions will slow and could eventually halt the many benefits of
moving a clean energy agenda forward, such as lowering energy costs,
making communities resilient and creating jobs, she said in a
statement.
Installation of renewable energy worldwide hit a record high last
year, with 92.5% of all new electricity brought online coming from
the sun, wind or other clean sources, according to a Wednesday
report by the International Renewable Energy Agency. China led the
way, with nearly 64% of the new renewable electricity capacity in
2024 installed there.
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