This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and a coalition of blue states sued the Trump administration Wednesday over cuts to roughly $2.7 billion of dollars in clean-energy funding.
The funds, which supported myriad projects in Democratic-led states, went towards improving solar panels, reducing methane emissions from oil and gas wells, and a host of other research to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
Colorado lost more than $600 million in funding, according to the lawsuit, while California saw more than $1 billion in cuts, including for a massive clean-hydrogen project.
The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration illegally terminated money that Congress had authorized. Many of the awarded funds came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or the Inflation Reduction Act, two Biden-era climate laws that directed billions of dollars to climate projects and research.
The Trump administration sought to “punish Blue states,” according to the lawsuit, and undermine spending related to climate change. The lawsuit also asserts that some recipients never officially received word that their projects were terminated, leaving them in limbo.
The lawsuit seeks to prevent the grant terminations from moving forward, and restore funding that was already awarded.
“ Federal funding can't be terminated to punish states or score political points,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta during a press conference. “Agencies don't have the authority to override laws passed by Congress simply because Trump dislikes them.”
The trouble began in October, when the Department of Energy announced it had terminated more than $7.5 billion in energy projects to save taxpayers money.
But a CPR News review of cut projects revealed that the Trump administration also eliminated more than $1 billion for fossil fuel research. The DOE also overstated how much it saved taxpayers, according to an agency list of terminated projects that CPR News matched with publicly available spending estimates.
The lawsuit joins a long list of suits that Colorado has brought against the Trump administration to restore previously awarded funding. Weiser said this action, the 54th by his count, would ensure that states are not punished simply because they did not vote for President Trump.
“Under law, every state is treated equally, and who you voted for in a presidential election is not a basis to withhold money,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday.
But even if the case is successful, the damage might already be done for grantees who’ve had to wind down operations or lay off staff. Other projects are still languishing in purgatory: not officially cancelled, but unable to access any money.
Last year, Colorado State University conditionally received a grant worth around $300 million to help small oil and gas operators reduce methane emissions. The project, which had the support of the oil and gas industry, never actually received its federal funding, but also never received a termination letter in October.
In January, a federal judge in a separate case ruled that the administration’s decision to terminate certain grants — including CSU’s — was illegal. CSU has since tried to reach the Department of Energy to finalize their award, according to the suit.
They still haven’t heard back.
CSU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
