Trump Continues to Politicize Clean Energy Investments
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Washington, D.C. – Donald Trump’s administration is circulating plans to punish Americans who didn’t vote for him with politicized cuts to clean energy funding in their states. Trump’s plot to inflict economic pain on the American people would slash federal support for clean energy, threatening working families with job losses and higher energy bills.
Climate Power Communications Director Alex Glass issued the following statement: “During his first term, Donald Trump repeatedly withheld disaster aid from Americans whose communities had been devastated. Now, Trump is threatening to inflict his own economic destruction on Americans simply because they didn’t vote for him. Trump’s politicization of federal resources will destroy Americans’ clean energy jobs today, raise their energy bills tomorrow, and withhold disaster aid for their loved ones next week.”
Politico: Trump admin considers killing big energy projects in Dem states
“A list circulating inside the Energy Department suggests cutting funding for the development of four hydrogen production hubs in mostly Democratic-leaning states while maintaining funding for three hubs spread across mostly red states, three people familiar with the plan said Wednesday.
The cuts, if carried through, would politicize the federal funds that Congress and the Biden administration awarded to seven regional applicants as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law.” …
“DOE officials also recommended sweeping cuts to dozens of clean energy initiatives across the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, according to a separate document obtained by POLITICO. The 17-page list tallied roughly $800 million of projects for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, wind turbines, solar panels and hydropower, among other projects. Many of the projects shown on the list are primarily located in Democratic-leaning states, although not exclusively so.”
Politico, 10/3/24: Trump refused to give California wildfire aid until told how many people there voted for him, ex-aide says
“But a review of Trump’s record by POLITICO’s E&E News and interviews with two former Trump White House officials show that the former president was flagrantly partisan at times in response to disasters and on at least three occasions hesitated to give disaster aid to areas he considered politically hostile or ordered special treatment for pro-Trump states.” …
“Mark Harvey, who was Trump’s senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council staff, told E&E News on Wednesday that Trump initially refused to approve disaster aid for California after deadly wildfires in 2018 because of the state’s Democratic leanings. But Harvey said Trump changed his mind after Harvey pulled voting results to show him that heavily damaged Orange County, California, had more Trump supporters than the entire state of Iowa. We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas … to show him these are people who voted for you,” said Harvey…”
Newsradio WGAN: Acting head of Social Security admits to retaliating against Maine over governor’s spat with Trump
“The head of the Social Security Administration says he directed the cancellation of a program allowing parents to register their newborns for a social security number while at hospitals in Maine because of the governor’s testy exchange with President Trump last month. Acting commissioner Lee Dudek told the New York Times this week he “was ticked at the governor of Maine for not being real cordial to the president.”