WASHINGTON — A multibillion-dollar Environmental Protection Agency program designed to spur investment in energy-efficiency improvements nationwide is tied up in a legal battle that threatens to upend planned projects across the United States focused on affordable housing, the adoption of electric vehicles and more.
The EPA last month said it was terminating grants tied to the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a program Congress created as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, “based on substantial concerns regarding… program integrity, the award process, programmatic fraud, waste, and abuse, and misalignment with agency’s priorities.” President Joe Biden signed the act into law.
Funds had already been dispersed into awardees’ bank accounts at Citibank as part of the program.
But the Trump administration, according to a document shared related to the lawsuit, directed Citi to freeze activity on those accounts. As a result, organizations around the country either already awarded money or in advanced talks to obtain funding are unable to access capital for planned projects.
The projects run the gamut, focusing on anything from installing energy-efficient technology in affordable housing units with the aim of lowering residents’ utility bills to adding solar panels to schools.
“There will be … very real capacity constraints if the funding is frozen indefinitely,” said Kari Groth Swan, executive director of the Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority, a state body that finances clean-energy projects.
Groth Swan’s organization was awarded $25 million from the Coalition for Green Capital, one of the groups allocated funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Seeding energy-efficiency projects
The goal of the fund is to catalyze investment in energy-efficiency technology and other initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases.
“We loan it out, we get it back, we do it again,” Groth Swan said. “It acts like a revolving loan fund.”
The Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority is one of many betting on funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to help get these projects off the ground. Organizations have been relying on this money to further pad much larger funding pools that include capital from outside investors.
In Minnesota, for example, the $25 million the Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority was awarded from the federal program makes up about one-fifth of the capital Groth Swan is planning to go toward a host of projects.
They include making an old school that’s being turned into a workforce development site more energy efficient and putting solar and storage technology on schools in north Minneapolis to keep the lights on during severe weather, according to Groth Swan.
Her organization also plans to loan money to an ice hockey arena for a new electric cooling system so it can stop using a toxin the EPA wants ice rinks to get rid of, she said.
Suit to unfreeze funds
The Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority is one of several organizations that last month sued both the EPA and Citibank over the freezing of money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
After Trump’s return to office, his EPA said it was terminating $20 billion in grants from the fund, and recipients sued to retain the funding.
A federal judge last month ruled that Citibank couldn’t move any of the federal funding in question out of the accounts, stating that the agency hadn’t provided “credible evidence” that there was “waste, fraud, or abuse” associated with the grant agreements.
When an attorney for the Department of Justice was asked in court last month whether he could provide evidence that the law had been violated through conflicts of interest or fraud, the attorney said he did not have that. The attorneys listed as representing the EPA didn’t respond to a request for comment and an EPA spokesperson said in an email that it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
The court on April 2 held a hearing over the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction, but a judge has yet to hand down a ruling.
Citibank did keep the money in awardees’ accounts, said Brooke Durham, a spokesperson for Climate United, one of the funding awardees and plaintiffs in the lawsuit. But one thing Durham and others expressed concern about is the uncertainty surrounding the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund money affecting other investors in these projects.
“There are a lot of people counting on these investments across the field all the way from developers to community lenders to private capital,” Durham said.
Citibank declined to comment.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, on the same day the judge issued a temporary restraining order, addressed the Greenhouse Reduction Fund in a post on the social media platform X, alleging the grants were “riddled with self-dealing and wasteful spending.”
“I will not rest until these hard-earned taxpayer dollars are returned to the U.S. Treasury,” he said in the post.
A letter from the EPA to the agency’s inspector general last month raised concerns with the structure of the grant awards and bank account agreements and alleged that a grant awarded to a Biden official’s former employer violated conflict-of-interest standards.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attends a meeting with President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Seeking alternatives
The temporary restraining order hasn’t stopped potential funding recipients from trying to find alternative funding to keep their projects going.
Megan Lasch, owner and president of Texas-based affordable housing organization firm O-SDA Industries, said her organization was going through the process to get $4 million in funding from one of the groups already given funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for a $30 million affordable housing renovation in southwest Fort Worth.
The project is focused on renovating 116 homes, most of which are two and three-bedroom units. Lasch’s company is aiming to lower residents’ utility bills by installing things like energy-efficient light fixtures and more efficient heating and air-conditioning systems.
“It’s really important dollars that a lot of developers, real estate professionals are utilizing in their capital stack to help create and preserve affordable housing,” Lasch said.
Lasch said her firm called in a favor from another nonprofit organization as a “Hail Mary” to get a loan to fill a potential void from the federal money O-SDA was counting on, but the plan is to pay the organization back. She’s not optimistic other projects will be able to move ahead without the federal funding, though, she said.
“I think there’s going to be several developments that just don’t happen because there’s not another source that can get some of these deals done now,” she said.
Rising costs for consumers
Similarly to Lasch, Homewise, a housing-focused developer and financial firm based in New Mexico, was also working on procuring money from different programs under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and had moved forward in the due diligence process, according to deputy CEO Johanna Gilligan.
Gilligan said she hopes that either the state or philanthropic organizations could step in to help fill the funding void.
Homewise’s plan is to use the money for a program to help low- to moderate-income homeowners in big cities like Albuquerque and Santa Fe reduce their utility expenses by undertaking energy-efficiency upgrades, she said.
As part of that program, Homewise sends representatives out to people’s houses to help them understand where they’re losing energy and how they could lower their costs. That person might explain what tax credits or rebates people can use, Gilligan said. She described the program as “a one-stop shop for energy-efficiency improvements” and said the goal of the organization is to make these processes simpler for everyday people to understand.
“That’s the real loss here,” she said. “For working-class people and those who are contributing significantly to the economy, often … this change makes it harder to help those folks to in turn be able to improve their homes and save money on their bills.”
Robert Sheppard, the co-founder of Vital Housing, an affordable housing investment firm that does work in the Pacific Northwest, said his firm was awarded a 3% interest loan from one of the organizations awarded funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The plan is to use the $1.5 million loan to reduce carbon emissions and energy use in an affordable housing project in Portland, Oregon, to limit residents’ utility costs.
“We don’t have a source to replace the financing at this point,” said Sheppard, who has raised a total of $24 million for the project. Without the federal funding, residents would see higher energy costs, he said.
“We would not do the work that is scheduled to be done, which would leave carbon exposure and maintain energy costs at a level that is above where it should be for the residents and the building,” he said.
Dollars aside, some of the recipients of the federal money expressed concern that even if the funds do become available for withdrawal again, the agency’s posture toward the program could still be problematic for them.
“We can win the battle of getting the funds unfrozen but we still (have) to make sure that we have a(n) EPA that understands the value of our mission and our mandate,” Minnesota’s Groth Swan said.
Last updated 2:19 p.m., Apr. 4, 2025
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SUMMARY: The Thibodaux Firemen’s Fair in Lafourche Parish kicks off on May 1, featuring music, rides, food, and fundraising for the local volunteer fire department. Highlights include the traditional Firemen’s Parade on May 4, starting at St. Joseph’s Elementary School, and the 11th Annual 5K Run/Walk on May 3, open to all ages with food vouchers for adults. Entertainment spans multiple days with live bands and auctions, including unique prizes like custom boats and celebrity experiences. The fair offers a Mega Pass for unlimited rides and delicious local cuisine. The event wraps up with a $15,000 raffle grand prize on May 4.
SUMMARY: The Quitman Wolverines battled for nine intense innings to secure their spot in the quarterfinals, overcoming a tough opponent, the Shrint Aggies. A previous weather-shortened game and rivalry added extra motivation. Case West emerged as the hero with a walk-off hit, but the entire team contributed, especially the bottom of the lineup. Four pitchers combined to hold the Aggies to only two runs, with Zack Smudrick setting the tone. The team’s unity and fan energy fueled their resilience. West emphasized the win’s importance for the seniors, showing the deep bond and determination driving the Wolverines forward.
Wolverines show grit and togetherness in walk-off win in regional round.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-30 17:37:00
The Make America Healthy Again movement has gained significant attention throughout the nation and many of the top initiatives highlighted have found their way into state legislatures this session.
Louisiana is no exception and Senator Patrick McMath, R-Covington, has, via Senate Bill 14, proposed a significant cleanup of our food supply, especially focused on kids. Backed by the popular support of the MAHA Moms, this bill has three major parts that are worth examining separately for their merits.
First is a ban of several “ultra processed” foods in school meals. In this case the term ultra processed is defined as products that contain any one of 13 specifically referenced compounds. Of these the first 7 are artificial dyes, like red dye No. 40, derived from petroleum byproducts that serve a singular role to make food more visually appealing.
We should all be asking ourselves why we ever allowed this stuff to find its way into our food in the first place. Several of these synthetic dyes have been shown to be associated with various harms ranging from ADHD to allergies and tumors.
Most of the other compounds on the list sound like they should have a skull and cross bones on the label. Take the bread additive azodicarbonamide as an example. If you thought that sounded like something you should not eat, you would be right.
It breaks down into urethane (yes, like the paint), a known carcinogen, and is banned is just about every country but the U.S.
In the case of school lunches, the child has no choice in the matter. They eat what they are provided and we have an obligation to protect them from toxic substances in the cafeteria.
Second is a labeling requirement for foods containing the substances in the school lunch ban portion, plus a few more, known to have a questionable safety profile that are banned in other countries.
It directs manufacturers to place a label on any food or drink containing these chemicals that clearly alerts the consumer of the fact that it contains something that is banned in other countries.
Last, but certainly not least, is a provision to reform of the Supplemental Nutritional Aid Program, once known as food stamps. This program is federally sponsored, and provides food assistance to families with an income below 130% of the federal poverty line. This would be about $31,200 net yearly income for a family of four.
In our inflationary economic environment, every penny counts and when it comes to food and obtaining the maximum calories for minimum dollars is a necessity. Historically, the cheapest foods happen to also be the least healthy in many cases, condemning those dependent on the program to poor health.
Soft drinks containing very high sugar or sugar substitutes are a major contributor to the chronic diseases that plague our health system like obesity and diabetes, especially in children. This bill directs DCFS to seek a waiver from the federal government allowing Louisiana to prohibit use of SNAP to purchase soft drinks.
Ultimately, the federal government should go a step further and incentivize healthier alternatives for SNAP beneficiaries, but this bill represents a major step in the right direction that can be accomplished at the state level.
The old saying goes: “You are what you eat.” We should keep this literal and obvious truth in mind when we think about how to turn the tide on chronic disease in our nation.
Let us begin by protecting the children who are too young to choose for themselves and providing better information for adults who can. SB 14 will accomplish both goals and move Louisiana to the forefront of the movement to Make America Healthy Again.
Dr. Ralph L. Abraham, M.D. is the Louisiana Surgeon General
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
The article presents a clear ideological stance that aligns with health-conscious, regulatory-focused policy perspectives often associated with center-left viewpoints. It advocates for government intervention to regulate food safety, particularly in school meals and assistance programs like SNAP, emphasizing protection of public health and vulnerable populations such as children and low-income families. The tone is supportive of regulations to restrict harmful substances and promote healthier choices, which suggests a bias favoring increased oversight and reform in food policies rather than a neutral, detached report.
