When the cold fell the size of the marble on Alabama in 2023, Camp Hill, a town of 1000 where nearly half of the population lives below the poverty line. The floors were demolished, cars were destroyed, surfaces were destroyed, and a few people had insurance.
Society expected assistance this month in the form of a $ 20 million federal grant to help home owners to make reforms-money from the Biden era law to address climate change.
But this money has now been suspended by President Trump’s order to stop all federal climate spending. Although the White House this week He abolished a sweeping direction He would have stopped trillion dollars from grants throughout the federal government, a Separate executive It is still valid that stops tens of billions of dollars in energy and environmental spending.
This temporary suspension paralyzes federal agencies, causing confusion in the states and cities, which delays construction projects and forcing some companies to be subjected.
Warren Tedwell, director of the Alabama Center for Rural Organization and Systematic Solutions, said, which leads the efforts made to fix many damaged Camp Hill and leakage. “We have one woman in her eighties who lives alone, and if her ceiling is not fixed, we will have senior in late eighties without shelter,” said Mr. Tedwell.
On the day he swore an oath, Mr. Trump released Executive order On “ending the new green deal”, the Catchalle period for climate policies. The White House informed the federal agencies of stopping and reviewing all authorized funding under the Law of Inflation and the Law of the two -party infrastructure – two signed projects for former President Joseph R. Vehicles and other low carbon energy technologies.
Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Energy In compliance with stopping Grants, loans and other spending.
The temporary suspension affected a wide range of programs.
Countries were banned from receiving funds from A $ 7 billion program To help low -income societies to install solar panels. Not sure that the educational areas in Virginia, New York City and Nevada Rural are not sure whether electric school buses have signed contracts for their arrival. Ports in South Carolina and Tamba, Florida have been granted approximately $ 2 million each to clean pollution, money that can be frozen now. Battle companies that have received federal scholarships to build factories that do not know when to be salaries.
White House officials declined to comment on the record.
Although the law of reducing inflation was approved by Democrats, 80 percent of the law investments have so far gone to the Republican Congress regions. So far, many Republicans have declined to criticize the freezing of spending. Democrats Click on the agencies to get answers and Claiming legal justification To work.
“It was messy and confusing,” said Marin Mahaouni, director of the Arizona Governor’s Governor’s flexibility office. The country received a $ 156 million grant last year through the Environmental Protection Agency to deploy 61 megawatts of solar energy throughout the state, with a focus on low -income and tribal societies.
Ms. Mahouni said that she was about to obtain her first four employment when Mr. Trump was opened and her collection was unable to reach her money through the automated government system. Ms. Mahouni said that calls to the Environmental Protection Agency had not been returned.
Jeff Landes, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency was carrying out the executive order of Mr. Trump.
This week in Washington state, it is called a company called Zero Emissions Northwest, which helps rural communities to secure federal scholarships to save energy costs, Leave Three employees after the government stopped paying.
David Fonk, president of the company, said that farmers and business owners who were currently working with $ 1.9 million in projects are under construction after participating in the rural energy program for the American program. Participants often decline in their savings or borrow their money to do things such as isolating their buildings, upgrading pizza ovens or installing solar panels to compensate for irrigation costs. Then they expect the federal government to respect its promise to pay them to part of the costs.
But on Tuesday, when Mr. Funk to provide bills to his customers, the Ministry of Agriculture told him that the interventions had been stopped. He said that his clients are currently in debt at least $ 250,000.
“Farmers lose money every day.” He added that the program was “providing the goals of the new management – we are working to reduce operating costs, we generate energy locally, and we buy American products.”
It is normal for the new administration to slow down the agency’s procedures for a short period while setting its priorities. “What differs is the scope and depth of these executive orders,” said Emily Hammond, a professor of law at George Washington University who previously worked as Deputy General Adviser for the Environment and Loading at the Ministry of Energy.
For example, the EPA internal note orders to stop the exchange of funds that the government has already signed a contract to submit the funds. This means that the government can be prosecuted if its obligations are violated.
Friday, federal judge I command Trump administration to stop preventing federal funding to 22 states for all programs approved by Congress. It remains unclear whether the agencies may resume spending.
Under the Biden Administration, the Ministry of Energy has granted tens of billions of dollars in grants and loans to companies that upgrade transport lines, build batteries, and revive a closed nuclear factory and more. Some companies and contractors say they have begun to make investments with expectation that they will be compensated, but now they do not know when it will be.
According to Mr. Trump’s executive order, in front of the agencies 90 days to temporarily suspended spending, and to move forward only after the approval of the main political officials. The White House says that this will ensure that all spending is in line with its political priorities.
Critics say the result can be paralysis. “If this appears crazy, then this is because of this,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick, chief director of local policy on the third road, a research center in the legs. “This process may take months. We are talking about thousands of contracts and hundreds of thousands of late jobs and perhaps canceling them.”
Some experts are concerned about the effects of prolonged uncertainty. Since the adoption of the law to reduce inflation, companies have announced plans to invest more than 167 billion dollars in American factories to build solar panels, batteries, electric cars and other clean energy technologies, According to the data From the Atlas of General Policy, which is a research company. In addition to tax credits, some of these factories have been granted loans or federal scholarships.
“We are in the middle of a very large investment cycle,” said Mike Car, CEO of solar energy manufacturers. “But there is a risk of losing this momentum if the uncertainty is served.”
Other federal climate grants go to poor or rural areas.
Actress Jennifer McLelalan, Democrat Virginia, said that the Henrico’s public school system is still awaiting hearing whether a $ 1.3 million grant for electrical school buses approved by the Environmental Protection Agency will be honored during the Biden administration.
In the center of Illinois, the coalition, which includes 13 rural schools, won a $ 15 million grant for the Ministry of Energy to install small networks and buy at least one electric school bus, now you are concerned that the regions will not have new equipment for another year, if any.
“We are only ghost,” said Tim Farrow, the supervisor of Mercer County Province in Illinois, who runs the program.
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