USDA prods rural energy grantees to ditch climate, equity goals

By Marc Heller | 03/26/2025 01:37 PM EDT

With up to hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, the Agriculture Department is giving grant recipients 30 days to revise their projects.

Solar panels at a farm in Thurmont, Maryland.

Solar panels at a farm in Thurmont, Maryland. Julio Cortez/AP

The Trump administration is giving rural energy grant recipients a month to show that their projects don’t seek to reduce climate change or promote diversity, equity and inclusion — or potentially lose the funding.

In a news release, the Agriculture Department said farmers and small businesses awarded grants through the Rural Energy for America Program will be called on to revise their projects to meet the new administration’s policy priorities.

In doing so, the USDA said, grant recipients will be asked several questions and to provide a description of the revisions to their projects.

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“President Trump made tackling America’s energy emergency a top priority from day one, and this review allows rural energy providers and small businesses to realign their projects with that mission,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in the news release. “We’re ensuring these investments support U.S. energy production while putting America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses first.”

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