“These aren’t optional programs—these are investments approved by bipartisan majorities in Congress, and the president doesn’t get to cancel them simply because he disagrees with them,” Bonta said in a press conference. “California won’t allow President Trump and his administration to play politics with our economy, our energy grid, and our jobs.”
California has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, claiming that the Trump administration’s decision to terminate $1.2 billion in energy and infrastructure funding threatens more than 200,000 jobs throughout the state.
In a press release, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said that the administration has canceled $1.2 billion in funding under the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems grant and an another $4 million through the Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation program. These cancellations, Bonta alleges, most likely violate constitutional separations of powers, as Congress—not the White House—approved and directed the appropriation.
“We will not allow Trump to sell out our future to his biggest donors,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
“Trump didn’t just tear up a contract: he defied Congress, jeopardized more than 200,000 good-paying jobs, and robbed billions of dollars in health savings from communities that have been hit the hardest by pollution. We’re not letting that stand.”
The Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy System program, Newsom’s office notes, was originally designed to create a network of clean, renewable hydrogen supply and demand throughout the state, potentially reducing California’s reliance on fossil fuels. The state estimates that the program would have helped it “remove 2 million metric tons of carbon per year.”
The lawsuit alleges that the funding cut constitutes “partisan retribution” from the Trump administration, which has taken a number of significant and retaliatory steps against Democrat-led states. It was filed in coordination with a broader coalition of attorneys general, including the attorneys general for Washington state, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
“These aren’t optional programs—these are investments approved by bipartisan majorities in Congress, and the president doesn’t get to cancel them simply because he disagrees with them,” Bonta said in a press conference. “California won’t allow President Trump and his administration to play politics with our economy, our energy grid, and our jobs.”
The lawsuit broadly accuses the Trump administration of violations of the separations of powers clause in the Constitution, as well as the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which requires government agencies to follow a set of standard procedures when proposing new guidelines or significant alterations to existing programs.
Newsom’s office emphasized that the eradication of clean energy programs not only hurts Californians but could endanger the United States’ foreign policy priorities, too.
“California will fight for these jobs, this infrastructure, and the global clean energy competitiveness that the Trump administration has ceded to China,” Newsom said.
Sources
California sues Trump administration over billions in canceled clean energy funding
Join the conversation!