Money is due to flow again Friday afternoon in grants to nonprofits running EPA’s biggest climate law program.
Unless an appellate court intervenes.
The $20 billion has been frozen at Citibank for two months while the Trump administration tried to rake the money back into the U.S. Treasury. But a federal judge ordered EPA and Citibank on Tuesday to thaw frozen accounts for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund awardees — community development and affordable housing finance nonprofits aiming to expand lending for renewable energy, lowering housing’s carbon emissions and electric transportation.
Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia directed Citibank not to release the funds until Thursday afternoon to allow EPA to make its case for why the cash should remain frozen while the agency appeals her decision. EPA did appeal the injunction and asked the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to stay Chutkan’s order while it hears the appeal.
