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The solar panels installed on the roof of the property at 7001 Quad Ave. in Rosedale are part of an initiative from IGS Energy to help increase access to renewable energy sources for residents in support of Maryland’s 2030 Clean Energy goals. (Photo courtesy of IGS Energy)
MD, states sue Trump administration over funding for clean energy projects
Listen to this articleSAN FRANCISCO – Maryland and a dozen other states are suing the federal government to force it to pay out grants approved by Congress for clean energy projects, the states announced Wednesday.
The Trump administration terminated some funding allocated under environmentally focused laws, including the Inflation Reduction Act, reflecting a broad effort to check support for wind, solar and other fossil-free power sources while prioritizing increased U.S. oil production.
“Energy and infrastructure programs are putting Marylanders to work, cutting families’ energy costs, and protecting our climate,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a news release. “We’re taking the Administration to court because these unlawful cuts threaten the clean energy future that our children and grandchildren deserve.”
The filing showed that 13 states in total are suing: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
States, including California, have been among the main foils to various Trump administration policies, launching dozens of suits.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Tuesday told Reuters about plans to sue over changes in vaccine policy and a plan to challenge the rescission of a key Environmental Protection Agency finding, known as the endangerment finding, that was key to climate change regulation, for instance.
The new suit responds in part to California’s loss of $1.2 billion in federal funding for the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, or ARCHES, Bonta said. The hydrogen plan was intended to replace fossil fuels in utilities, public transit, trucking and ports.
Federal agencies must execute laws, California said. “It’s as simple as Congress has the power of the purse, not the executive branch, and Congress already appropriated this funding,” Bonta said in an interview on Tuesday, ahead of the announcement.
The U.S. Department of Energy, one of the named defendants, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reporting by Peter Henderson; editing by Rod Nickel.
