The Trump administration is asking a federal appeals court to overturn a judge’s order to restart its climate justice grant program, while the EPA says the money and staff are already gone.
Justice Department attorneys representing EPA on Friday filed an appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looking to overturn a pair of orders from Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
Gergel, who was nominated by then-President Barack Obama, ruled in June that EPA illegally terminated the $2.8 billion Environmental and Climate Justice Block Program. Two weeks ago, after the agency declined to release any money, Gergel ordered EPA to revive the program through Sept. 30, when the funds expire.
U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling also filed an accompanying emergency motion on Friday asking Gergel to put the orders on hold while the appeals process plays out. The judge denied that motion Monday afternoon, because the government attorneys “have not made a strong showing that they will succeed on the merits, repeating arguments the Court has already considered and carefully rejected.”
