Ada Recinos at ada.recinos@sierraclub.org (Pacific Time)
Washington, DC – On Friday, the Acting Secretary of Energy ordered a freeze on all Department of Energy spending and other agency activities until the new administration conducts a review to ensure DOE complied with President Trump’s priorities. As of this morning, several pages are missing from DOE’s official website, including information on the $6 billion Industrial Demonstrations Program funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Many IDP projects have completed negotiations and are now under contract.
- View archived webpages for the Industrial Demonstrations Program
Approximately 31 projects across 20 states were active under the Industrial Demonstrations Program when Acting Secretary Ingrid Kolb released the memorandum halting the Department’s work. These federal investments of up to $500 million each were intended to give industry – including steel, cement, and aluminum manufacturers – more flexibility to innovate and expand by adopting less polluting technologies. Each award recipient was also required to raise an equal or greater amount of private funds: the total value of the Industrial Demonstrations Program is at least $20 billion.
In response, the director of Sierra Club’s Industrial Transformation Campaign, CeCe Grant, made the following statement:
“We all lose if American investments in clean manufacturing are clawed back due to political whims. Working families desperately need the construction jobs, cleaner air, and cleaner water that these transformative projects promised. Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together to facilitate billions in public and private investments that would deliver tens of thousands of jobs through the Department of Energy. As the nation faces a cost of living crisis, we urge the Trump Administration not to abandon the working class and rural communities he campaigned on protecting.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.