Trump goes to kill $ 7 billion in subsidies from solar panels
President Donald Trump’s government moved on Thursday to kill a $ 7 billion program designed to bring solar energy to low-income roofs and subordinated communities in the United States.
The Solar for All Grant program was founded under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the historical climate legislation of former President Joe Biden.
Sixty recipients-a mix of government agencies and non-profit organizations already selected in states guided by democratic and by the Republicans. The initiative was intended to help more than 900,000 households to lower their electricity accounts with hundreds of dollars per year.
In a video posted on X, manager Lee Zeldin of Environmental Protection Agency said that last month’s “Big Beautiful Act” withdrew the greenhouse gas reduction fund, including Solar for All. He said he was now obliged to follow the law.
Rarin claimed – without elaboration – that the funds of the program were transferred by the administrative costs of “intermediaries”, the line -up called a “Grift”.
He also criticized his exemption from requirements to buy American goods, and claimed that it amounted to ‘Great news for China’.
Of the $ 7 billion mandatory so far, only $ 53 million has been spent, according to an analysis of research agency Atlas Public Policy.
Tom Taylor, a senior policy analyst at Atlas, said AFP that there had been a general insight that as soon as contracts were signed, mandatory funds could not be reclaimed claw. “But the Trump government is now testing that theory,” he said.
Environment groups burst into anger.
“President Trump promised to lower energy bills in two, but again his administration tries to make it more expensive to keep your house cool or the lights,” said Adam Kent, director of Green Finance at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders accused Trump of acting to protect the interests of fossil fuels. “Donald Trump wants to kill this program illegally to protect the obscene profits of his friends in the oil and gas industry,” he said in a statement, promised “to fight back to retain this extremely important program.”
The administration has already collaborated with the congress to withdraw tax credits for wind and solar energy, to sharpen the restrictions on federal lease contracts for renewable energy projects and withdrawn designated offshore wind areas.
It has also proposed to end regulations for the emission of greenhouse gases from power plants and vehicles – and released a report that suggests that climate change can be favorable.
