Photo: Alamy
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) celebrated a Trump administration court ruling victory that supported efforts to cut funding to questionable Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) grants.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin celebrated the news in a post to X, stating, “MASSIVE DC Circuit Court win for the Trump EPA & taxpayers! After the Biden EPA set up the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund through self-dealing & conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients & reduced agency oversight, I terminated these grants completely!”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled to vacate a lower court order that required the EPA to reinstitute costly GGRF grants. Judge Neomi Rao noted that $16 billion in funding to five nonprofits was revoked due to conflicts of interest and inadequate oversight.
“We conclude the district court abused its discretion in issuing the injunction,” Rao wrote, “The grantees are not likely to succeed on the merits because their claims are essentially contractual, and therefore jurisdiction lies exclusively in the Court of Federal Claims. And while the district court had jurisdiction over the grantees’ constitutional claim, that claim is meritless.”
The EPA released a statement commending this decision. “It’s fantastic to see reason prevail in the court system. EPA has a duty to be an exceptional steward of taxpayer dollars,” it stated. “Administrator Zeldin cancelled these grants due to well documented concerns about self-dealing and conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients, and intentionally reduced agency oversight.”
The GGRF grants in question were a holdover from the Biden-Harris administration. The EPA statement explained how the previous administration “parked” $20 billion with an outside financial institution to cut off the EPA’s oversight abilities.
“The termination of these grants reflects EPA’s duty to protect public funds and maintain the integrity of its grant programs. The agency is committed to administering taxpayer funding in a transparent and accountable manner with the highest standards of fiscal responsibility,” it concluded.
