Struggling to make sense of Trump’s federal funding pause

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The Trump administration’s on-again, off-again federal funding pause has local governments, clean energy manufacturers and project developers, and climate nonprofits struggling to make sense of it all.

President Trump kicked off his time in the White House with a series of executive orders that paused the disbursement of Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law funding, affecting everything from electric vehicle chargers to environmental justice initiatives and leaving recipients in the lurch. Since then, multiple judges have temporarily halted the funding pause.

But as Canary Media’s Jeff St. John reported Monday, the court orders haven’t necessarily made funds start flowing again — nor have they made the groups relying on federal climate and clean energy funding feel much better. Many recipients have already started spending money or building long-term plans around those grants because Congress was legally committed to paying them out. Now, it’s unclear whether the federal government will actually follow through and hand out obligated funding.

That’s creating a big problem for groups like Zero Emissions Northwest, which had been awarded $3.7 million in USDA grants for projects to help farmers and rural small businesses cut their energy costs.

“We have farmers who are feeling pain right now because they’re scrambling to fill the gaps,” David Funk, the president of Zero Emissions Northwest, told Canary. ​“They were expecting $40,000 or $50,000 to be coming in this month because that’s what we told them.”

Funk’s group furloughed all of its employees last week.

Elsewhere, grant recipients, like those who’ve been awarded funding to build solar arrays in low-income communities, reported that the online portals where they access federal money remained inaccessible even after the funding was supposed to be reinstated. A USDA program to help rural electric cooperatives shut down coal plants and build clean energy faces uncertainty, as does a federal program that helps households make energy efficient upgrades. 

Two more things

Oatly wants to kick its gas habit. Will other food and beverage firms follow?

Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci served up a deep dive into the food and beverage industry’s efforts to cut their carbon emissions. She visited Oatly’s factory in New Jersey, where the oat milk company is working to balance the need to phase out fossil fuel-reliant steam heat with the fact that its boilers and other infrastructure have years of useful life left. Read more about Oatly’s sustainability journey, and other companies’ efforts to decarbonize energy-heavy food processing, at Canary Media.

Offshore wind thrives in Virginia, stalls in New Jersey

It’s been a week of ups and downs for Trump’s least-favorite energy industry. On Monday, New Jersey said it wouldn’t award a bid to any developers in its fourth offshore wind solicitation, casting uncertainty over the state’s only construction-ready offshore wind project, Atlantic Shores. The state’s economic development authority is also reevaluating a planned offshore wind port project in the wake of industry uncertainty. But in Virginia, Dominion Energy affirmed its plans to build its offshore wind farm even in spite of Trump’s opposition — and rising project costs.

What to know this week

Tariff uncertainty: The Trump administration paused its implementation of tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days, while China has responded to the U.S.’s 10% tariffs with a 15% charge on coal and liquefied natural gas. (Axios)

Utilities target coal ash rules: A coalition of U.S. power companies sends a letter to Trump’s EPA nominee asking for ​“immediate action” to roll back federal regulation of toxic coal ash and rescind recent enforcement actions. (Canary Media)

FERC’s new leader: New Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Mark Christie says he plans to prioritize grid reliability, proposals to co-locate large loads with power plants, and high electricity costs in his tenure. (Utility Dive)

“Is interconnect efficiency…woke?” Researchers find the Trump administration’s gutting of climate-related materials on government websites has extended to critical energy topics. (Inside Climate News)

Targeting tailpipe emissions rules: U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy orders the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to re-evaluate ambitious fuel economy rules set by the Biden administration. (New York Times)

Trump’s employment ouster could backfire: Federal lawmakers fear the Trump administration’s push to oust federal employees will jeopardize energy and environmental projects in their states by delaying permitting. (E&E News)

A first for hydrogen: Two southern California cities launch the nation’s first public hydrogen utility, saying they hope to make the fuel more accessible, affordable and transparent. (Utility Dive)

Burgum’s first moves: Newly confirmed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum lifts a Biden-era offshore oil drilling ban and issues other orders aimed at ​“unleashing American energy. (Axios, news release)

Another confirmation: The U.S. Senate confirms former fracking executive Chris Wright as energy secretary after a hearing in which the former North Dakota governor made a case for speeding energy project permitting and using carbon capture to offset coal emissions. (Axios, The Hill)