U.S. appeals court allows Trump's EPA to terminate climate grants

President Donald Trump’s administration can proceed with terminating more than $16 billion in grants awarded to non-profit groups to fight climate change, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday

President Donald Trump’s administration can proceed with terminating more than $16 billion in grants awarded to non-profit groups to fight climate change, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden’s signature 2022 Inflation Reduction Act had awarded the grants aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency under Trump had sought to terminate the grants.

By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that a lower-court judge lacked jurisdiction to hear the case brought by five of eight of the non-profits who had collectively been awarded $20 billion under the law’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program.

The EPA and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The EPA under administrator Lee Zeldin maintained the program did not align with the agency’s priorities, and it cited concerns with potential fraud, waste and abuse. The FBI and Justice Department under Trump also investigated the program.