Trump weighs billions more in cuts to clean energy projects. Here’s what’s at stake

The Trump administration’s war on renewable energy sources is escalating. Last week the administration Canceled Clean energy projects worth more than $7.5 billion. Now, reports indicate that an additional $12 billion in funding for clean energy and electric vehicles may be on the chopping block.

The so-called “kill list” of projects, first I mentioned From Semafor, it targets key decarbonization and clean hydrogen programs approved by the Department of Energy (DOE) under the Biden administration. They are said to include projects led by major oil and gas companies such as Occidental and Chevron. Reuters, which also reviewed the list, I mentioned It’s targeting more than $1.5 billion in electric vehicle projects as well.

Strikes for electric vehicles, decarbonization, and clean hydrogen

Many of the grants appear to be tied to electric vehicle manufacturing, according to Reuters. They are said to include a $500 million award for General Motors to convert its Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan to produce electric vehicles; $335 million for Stellantis to convert the defunct Belvidere Assembly plant in Illinois to build mid-size electric trucks; And another $250 million for Stellantis to convert its Indiana transmission plant in Kokomo to produce electric vehicle parts.

According to Politico newspaper E&E Newswhich also reviewed the list, reportedly said that the two largest federally supported live-air capture centers are also on the chopping block. Direct air capture extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The potential cuts threaten nearly $500 million in matching funds for Occidental Petroleum’s Texas hub project and another project in Louisiana.

The list also reportedly includes more than $4.5 billion in funding for five federally backed hydrogen centers authorized under the Biden administration, E&E News reports. The goal of these hubs was to showcase the production and transportation of clean fuels around the United States. Two centers on the West Coast have already been eliminated as a result of cuts that occurred last week.

Trump’s increasing attack on clean energy

On top of last week’s cuts – and the ones before Reduced $3.7 billion In May, the total amount of DOE funding targeted will reach nearly $23 billion. However, some of the projects on the new list include grants that the Energy Department said it was canceling in May, according to Reuters. It is unclear whether the Trump administration will implement additional cuts.

On the morning of the $7.5 billion cut last week, Trump said Described The ongoing government shutdown as an “unprecedented opportunity” to weaken “democratic agencies.” The cuts targeted projects exclusively in Democratic-leaning states

“My understanding is that this is the full list that was sent to the Department of Office and Budget a few weeks ago,” an energy lobbyist told E&E News. “Last week, they basically pulled out most, if not all, of the blue state projects, and that’s what they announced as cuts.”

If enacted, additional cuts to the new list would affect “a much larger number of red states and red areas,” one lobbyist said.

In a statement, DOE press secretary and spokesperson Ben Dietderich told Gizmodo that “no decisions have been made beyond what was previously announced,” and that “the Department continues to conduct an individual and comprehensive review of the financial awards made by the previous administration.”