Lindsay Mader, lindsay.mader@sierraclub.org
Little Rock, AR – This week, Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the EPA is illegally terminating $20 billion in Congressionally mandated funding already disbursed nationwide to lower energy costs and revitalize local economies. This includes a $31.8 million loan to support 18 solar power projects across rural Arkansas, a project that has been projected to make the state’s grid more diverse and reliable, save more than $120 million in energy costs, and create hundreds of jobs.
The funding, awarded more than six months ago through the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, aims to mobilize financing and private capital into clean energy projects to create jobs. The EPA is attempting to rescind their signed contracts and claw back the funding. Three recipients have already filed lawsuits.
A new map of additional funds meant for rural Arkansas communities that have been frozen by the new administration is available here.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement:
“Each and every day, the federal government seems to find more brazen and illegal ways to harm American families, raise their energy costs, and endanger public health. The creation of this program was explicitly mandated by Congress, and the contracts with these recipients have been agreed to and signed. To go back on our word now would not only violate the law, but would also do a gross disservice to the American people and the communities who deserve every opportunity available to help rebuild their economies and save money for working families. This is no way to run a country.”
###
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.