A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from ending the $14 billion grant grant from the Biden administration to three climate groups.
U.S. District Court Judge Tonya Chutkan ruled that the federal government “has insufficient claims about fraud and inadequate ambiguousness.” The order prevents EPA from ending its grant program, totaling $20 billion. The judge also prevented Citibank, which represents money held by the EPA, from transferring it to the government or anyone else.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Claiming that the grant recipient engages in mismanagement, fraud and self-transactions, he declared that he freezes and terminates the grant, but the judge said Zeldin’s allegations were insufficient.
“At this juncture, the EPA defendants have not fully explained why unilateral termination of the plaintiff’s grant award is a rational pioneer in reviewing the green banking program,” Chutkan wrote.
A federal judge blocked the EPA from terminating the $14 billion grant grant from the Biden administration to three climate groups. (iStock)
Grant winners sued EPA, Zeldin and Citibank for illegally denying that the $14 billion awarded by the groups last year through the Greenhouse Saving Fund, commonly known as the “green bank.” The plan includes two plans worth $14 billion and $6 billion Approved by Congress Under the inflation reduction bill of 2022 to support clean energy and climate-friendly projects.
Three groups — climate union, green capital and a large community coalition — said frozen grants prevented them from funding new projects and could force them to lay off employees. The group says the allegations of improper funding are invincible.
The group also asked Chutkan to order Citibank to unfreeze the account, but the judge refused. This order only retains the status quo as the case progresses.
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin claims grant recipients engage in mismanagement, fraud and self-transactions. (Getty Image)
The Climate Federation received nearly $7 billion in rewards, the Green Capital Alliance won $5 billion, and the Army Community (the organization associated with Democrat Stacey Abrams) received $2 billion in prizes.
Beth Bafford. Climate Co-CEO says The judge’s ruling It is “a step in the right direction”.
“In the coming weeks, we will continue to work on long-term solutions that will allow us to invest in projects that provide energy savings, create jobs and promote U.S. manufacturing in communities across the country,” said Baford.
Zeldin said Tuesday on Tuesday that the grant was “granted in a way that intentionally reduces the EPA’s ability to properly monitor,” adding that he “did not rest until these hard-won taxpayer dollars return to the U.S. Treasury Department.”
Zeldin said Tuesday the grant was granted “in a way that intentionally reduces the EPA’s ability to perform appropriate supervision.” (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Zeldin described the grant as a “gold bar” program involving conflicts of interest and potential fraud.
“The $100 million of your taxes is parked at external financial institutions, and in order to limit government oversight, it is only eight times, politically linked, unqualified, and in some cases brand new NGOs.”
United Climate argued that the termination was illegal, believing that the federal government found no evidence of waste, fraud or abuse.
