The Department of Energy is aiming to “return more than $13 billion in unobligated funds” that were authorized by Congress in the Biden administration to fund clean energy projects, DOE said Wednesday.
“The American people elected President Trump largely because of the last administration’s reckless spending on climate policies,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “By returning these funds to the American taxpayer, the Trump administration is affirming its commitment to advancing more affordable, reliable and secure American energy and being more responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed on July 4, rescinded the “unobligated balances” of several clean energy programs passed in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Those programs include Loan Programs Office funding, transmission infrastructure siting, energy efficiency contractor grants and industrial decarbonization projects.
The DOE press release Wednesday did not specify which projects would be cut. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from POLITICO’s E&E News.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the United Nation’s Foreign Press Center in New York City, Wright said the canceled funding “was slated to go out to subsidize wind, solar, and batteries and electric vehicles, which, by the way, do nothing for decarbonization.”
Trump lambasted clean energy at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.
“I’m telling you that if you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail,” he told the U.N.
