Minnesota sued the EPA and Citibank for fraudulently frozing $25 million in green energy subsidies.
Attorney General Keith Ellison’s action is part of a larger court dispute over the Trump administration’s climate-related funding stop.
The argument centers on the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created under the Inflation Reduction Act to help green banks that fund clean energy projects.
Minnesota’s state-run green bank planned to utilize its portion for geothermal heating in public housing and solar panels in schools.
In March, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the program a “gold bar scheme” and accused it of placing billions in government cash in unregulated financial firms.
A conservative group Project Veritas’ hidden-camera video showed an EPA staffer calling grant distribution before Trump’s election “throwing gold bars off the Titanic.”
Minnesota’s lawsuit claims the EPA’s actions violate the Administrative Procedures Act and Impoundment Control Act, which prohibit federal agencies from withholding congressionally approved monies.
A federal judge has temporarily prevented the EPA from removing the money, but a final ruling is uncertain.
With $5 billion in loan requests to Minnesota’s green bank, this case might determine state-led renewable energy projects’ future.
As judicial processes continue, the debate exposes the Biden administration’s climate measures and the Trump administration’s push to roll them back.
