Trump Admin Sits on $43 Billion Intended for Clean Energy Loans While Unemployment Soars

While the nation struggles to find ways to put money in peoples' pockets and to ramp up the economy so people can get back to work, over $43 billion in low-interest loans earmarked for clean energy projects sits undistributed by the Trump administration, according to The New York Times.
The president has long questioned the efficacy of renewable energy sources, has suggested that wind turbines cause cancer, and championed coal as a clean and efficient source of power. Despite his reluctance to champion green energy infrastructure, some lawmakers and energy experts think it is unacceptable that tens of billions of dollars that Congress long ago authorized, with bipartisan support, has not been dispersed.
"We're searching high and low all over Washington, DC, for money to put people back to work and here we have more than $40 billion," said Dan Reicher, executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University, who served at the Energy Department in the Clinton administration, to The New York Times. "This is the moment to really put these programs back in gear."
The loans passed through Congress well before the coronavirus forced nearly 30 million people into unemployment. However, they have been held up by the Energy Department.
"They haven't put out any or almost any of these loans since he's become president," said Representative Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as The New York Times reported. "There's an ideological or political aspect to this. The president is not someone who seeks to promote the clean energy sector."
Holding up the loans during the pandemic seems particularly strange since the money could help many people to start working. Anne Reynolds with the Alliance for Clean Energy told POLITICO that energy efficiency companies have laid off between 40 and 50 percent of their workforce.
In New York, for example, the state saw layoffs to nearly 5,000 clean energy jobs in March. Congressman Pallone said that the renewable energy sector had created more than 3 million jobs.
"These utility-led programs could drive significant job and economic growth statewide as we step out of our current pause," said Reynolds, as POLITICO reported. "We are at risk of losing a skilled and trained workforce as work is stalled, and job losses and furloughs accelerate."
While an injection of capital would help restart green energy projects and allow companies to hire back employees, there is little reason to believe the Trump administration will issue any of the loans.
The last new project to be approved under the loan program was in 2016, under the Obama administration. To get the money out of the government's hands and into an investment in renewable energy infrastructure, Pallone said he plans to find a way to address the unspent loans in the next stimulus.- China Leading on World's Clean Energy Investment, Says Report ... ›
- Clean Energy Job Losses Could Worsen Without Aid, Analysis Shows ›
A federal appeals court has struck another blow against the contested Dakota Access Pipeline.
- 15 Indigenous Women on the Frontlines of the Dakota Access ... ›
- Federal Agencies Step in After Judge Denies Tribe's Request to ... ›
- Appeals Court Halts Dakota Access Pipeline Shutdown Order ... ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Bud Ward
Poet Amanda Gorman got well-deserved rave reviews for her dramatic reading of her six-minute "The Hill We Climb" poem January 20 before a global TV and online inauguration day audience.
- Youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman delivers poem at Harvard ... ›
- Yale Program on Climate Change Communication: Home ›
- 'Earthrise' poem dares us to dream a different reality - Race to Zero ›
- Amanda Gorman (@amandascgorman) • Instagram photos and videos ›
- 5 more poems to listen to from Amanda Gorman ›
Trending
Three men are paying $55 million each to travel to space, the AP reported.
By Jessica Corbett
With temperatures across the globe — and particularly in the Arctic — rising due to lackluster efforts to address the human-caused climate crisis, one of the coldest towns on Earth is throwing its hat in the ring to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.
- Winter Sports Enthusiasts Call for Action on Climate Change ›
- Rising Temperatures Imperil Winter Sports Industry ›
A tornado tore through a city north of Birmingham, Alabama, Monday night, killing one person and injuring at least 30.
- Tornadoes and Climate Change: What Does the Science Say ... ›
- Tornadoes Hit Unusually Wide Swaths of U.S., Alarming Climate ... ›
- 23 Dead as Tornado Pummels Lee County, AL in Further Sign ... ›