The Department of Energy said Wednesday night it had cancelled 321 awards worth $7.56 billion, largely focusing on clean energy.
The agency did not publish a list of the 223 affected projects and did not provide it at the time of publication. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said one of the cancelled projects includes $1.2 billion for the state’s hydrogen hub, an alliance for renewable clean hydrogen energy systems.
Other states affected include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
The state with the cancelled project was confirmed in a tweet from Russell Vought, director of the Management and Budget under President Donald Trump. He teased the cancellation early yesterday, adding that “the climate agenda on the left has been cancelled.”
All 16 states voted for Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, with many being dominated by state-level Democrats.
The award was originally awarded by the office for advanced research projects energy, clean energy demonstrations, energy efficiency and renewable energy, fossil energy, grid deployment, manufacturing and energy supply chains.
The Department of Energy said 26% of the awards were awarded between election and inauguration dates in January. The president’s authority will not end after election day, but will run until inauguration.
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Winners will have 30 days to appeal the decision.
The Trump administration has kept its secret that it hopes to undermine the transition from fossil fuels. Last week, the Department of Energy banned staff from using certain words such as “climate change” and “emissions.”
In May, the agency cancelled $3.7 billion worth of clean energy and manufacturing awards. These cancellations ranged across a wide range of industry lists, from metal manufacturers and cement companies to plant operators and chemical plants run by the fossil fuel giant.
The Trump administration’s aggressive cancellation has prompted many recipients to sues the government and maintain the award. The Environmental Protection Agency, which promptly cancelled a $20 billion worth of contract, has become an early target for legal action. So far, the plaintiffs have had a variety of successes.
The federal district court said the EPA’s actions were “arbitrary and whimsical,” but the appeals court ruled in favour of the agency, saying that cancellation of the contract was valid, indicating that the government would exercise “appropriate monitoring and control.”
In the recent example of DOE cancellation, several award winners have already appealed the decision, the agency confirmed.
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