Christopher Schuler, christopher.schuler@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – Today, news reports disclosed that the Trump administration has ordered the Department of Energy to halt all spending and loans, including for projects designed to lower energy costs for people nationwide.The memo, dated January 20, freezes the awarding of grants, loans, funding opportunities, procurement announcements, rules, studies until and unless approved by Ingrid Kolb, the department’s acting secretary.
Projects financed by the DOE’s Loan Programs Office alone have created more than 47,000 permanent jobs, generated more than 127 million megawatt-hours of clean electricity, and resulted in tens of billions in total project investments across the country. DOE’s loans have included funding for electric vehicles and battery factories, distributed solar and battery deployment, and more.
In response to today’s announcement, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement:
“Donald Trump has been president for less than a week, and he has already repeatedly broken his promises to cut costs, create jobs, and help the American people. The Department of Energy’s funds were specifically targeted towards helping utilities reduce costs to customers, while making their electricity systems more resilient and robust. This funding is not only saving Americans money on their energy bills, it has created hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country. Trump’s rash actions to halt all Department of Energy funding will directly harm ratepayers in states like Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and jeopardize the hundreds of thousands of good clean energy and manufacturing jobs created over the last four years. Donald Trump might think about his promises to the people.”
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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.