More Than 20 States Unite Against Trump: Sue EPA Over Canceled Grants for Solar Power

It may feel like we continue to regress as a nation by the day, and that is partially true with all of the moves Trump has made since he took office. But the truth is that people across the nation are fighting back, we just do not highlight that resistence enough. Focusing on the negative things that he does is justified, but an equal amount of time should be put in the fight people across the nation are putting in as well.

VIA Hoosier AG Today

After the Environemental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to cancel a $7 billion program aimed to make solar power accessible to low-income households, more than 20 states moved to sue the EPA.

The program was a Biden era initiative established in 2022 called “Solar For All” as a part of the Inflation Reduction Act. It appointed grants to deploy rooftop and community solar panels as a push to reduce carbon pollution and it was supposed to make solar power more accessible to about a milion additional households who wouldn’t traditionally be able to afford it.

Fast forward to August, the EPA announced the program had been canceled and took back about 90% of their grant funds from the accounts that the states had recieved the recieved the award, per the lawsuit that was filed.

This new lawsuit is an attempt at testing wether the agency has overextended its reach with the move. Trump’s administration has been aggressively attempting to roll back clean energy funding that Biden approved, and the states behing the lawsuit were hoping that the funding would boost their solar supply, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and more.

All of the states pioneering the lawsuit have either Democrat attorney generals, governors, or both. But the official complaint was filed in the Western District of Washington.

In the lawsuit, they allege that the EPA:

“… Unilaterally and illegally terminated” the program, violating the Administrative Procedures Act, which determines how federal agencies can operate. It also says EPA overreached its “constitutional authority” by trying to cancel a program and funding that Congress had approved.”

This is a part of a two way approach that states are taking to fight back Trump administrations EPA rollbacks, with a similar group of plaintiffs and several states/state energy organizations filing a seperate complaint over the cancellation of individual grant agreements int he U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

There is also a third lawsuit filed this month in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island by solar companies, homeowner, nonprofits and unions, which relied on similar arguments. So far, taking the Trump administration to court has been the best line of defense to fight him, because before Biden left he packed the courts across the nation with liberal judges. So he tends to lose a lot of the cases, unless they get reviews by the conservative majority SCOTUS.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the constant rollbacks and attack on progressive policies of the Trump administration. Still, the reaction against these reversals is rich, active, and becoming increasingly organized.

The suits, brought by over 20 states, solar companies, and advocacy groups, against the EPA’s cancellation of the “Solar For All” program show that there is a strong and concerted opposition to the reversal of clean energy initiatives.

The suits are not about preserving funds, they’re about protecting the ability of communities and states to build a sustainable future. The courts, at least in the short term, are still among the most effective weapons to hold the administration accountable.

It’s worthwhile to record these attempts as well as the failures, for they are what represent the relentless fight for progress, equity, and environmental justice, even in the face of backsliding federal action.