Four Republican lawmakers are backing a push to save a $1.2 billion “clean” hydrogen hub in California, as new details emerge about the Trump administration’s potential cuts to the Department of Energy’s low-carbon energy projects.
The majority of California’s congressional delegation — including GOP Reps. Vince Fong, David Valadao, Jay Obernolte and Young Kim — say eliminating the hub would violate existing contracts and threaten 220,000 jobs across the state. Their letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright comes as DOE considers eliminating some of the hydrogen production hubs funded with $7 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law.
The hub known as the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, or ARCHES, “plays a critical role in securing American energy dominance, advancing world-leading energy technology, creating new manufacturing jobs, and lowering energy costs for American families,” the lawmakers wrote.
The hub projects “are dispersed across the state of California from the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland to the reservation of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians to Lancaster, California. The investment is already being used to bring together private industry, local governments, and community organizations to collaborate and build a secure, American-made energy future,” the letter said.
