Forty Democratic lawmakers Thursday urged a federal appeals court to take up a case that they hope would prevent EPA from clawing back more than $16 billion in climate finance grants.
The legislators urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review a Sept. 2 decision by a panel of its judges that permitted EPA to terminate the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the largest climate program in the Inflation Reduction Act, and repossess billions of dollars in grants that were awarded to eight nonprofits for the purpose of financing clean energy projects.
They argued in an amicus brief that the earlier ruling “would set precedent that any agency can simply unwind any congressionally-mandated program, unilaterally ending contracts without process, seizing money in private bank accounts, and clawing back already-disbursed funds.”
The lawmakers include Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.).
