Washington (AP)-a non-profit organization, which has received almost $ 7 billion from the bid administration for the financing of clean energy and climate-friendly projects, has sued the president Donald Trumps Environmental Protection Agency accused her not to be properly freezing a legally awarded scholarship.
Climate United Fund, a coalition of three non -profit groups, called for access to a Citibank account that she received via the Treenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a program that was created in 2022 by the non -partisanity Inflation reduction of the law And generally known as the green bank. Freezing threatens its ability to spend loans and even pay employees, the group said.
“The combined measures of the Citibank and the EPA effectively record a prescribed and financed congress program,” wrote the climate united based in Maryland in a court registration on Monday.
In a associated campaign, the coalition sued Green Capital, a separate group that received $ 5 billion from the bid era program, on Monday and claimed violations of contract due to the refusal to contain the scholarship committees granted by the EPA.
“CGC's actions prevented CGC from reducing suitable funds from the congress for energy projects in order to reduce electricity costs and provide all Americans clean air and water,” said the group based in Washington in a statement.
The two non -profit organizations belong to eight groups, Tens of thousands of projects to combat climate change and to promote environmental justice. The money was officially awarded in August.
While the Green Bank preferred by the Congress Democrats immediately criticized the Republicans, which she routinely denounced as an inexplicable “Slush Fund”. Regan This claim strongly denied.
The bank was quickly aligned by the EPA administrator Lee Zeldinwhich was confirmed at the end of January. In A Video posted on XZeldin said the EPA would revoke contracts for the still occurring program. Zeldin quoted the hidden hidden video of a conservative journalist at the end of last year, in which a former EPA employee said that the agency had thrown “Gold Bars from Titanic” – probably an indication of the expenditure before Trump's second term.
Zeldin has repeatedly used the term “gold sticks” to accuse the recipients of the greenhouse gas reduction fund of misconduct, waste and possible fraud.
According to the lawsuit submitted to the Federal Supreme Court, Citibank lowered access to Climate United's bank account on February 18 – a lawsuit that the bank had not explained for weeks.
The limit took place when Zeldin had several public appearances in which Climate United and other misconduct groups accused, and finally announced that the funds were frozen according to the lawsuit. Climate United said the EPA refused to meet the group.
Several democratic legislators banged Zeldin's attacks on the Green Bank as “bogus examination and unfounded financing freezing data”.
The “unfounded attacks by the Trump government on these investments will only cost jobs, increase prices and damage our communities,” said the Senator of Maryland, Chris van Hollen, Massachusetts sen. Ed brandy and Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, in a statement on Monday. The three Democrats pushed for the creation of the Green Bank.
Citibank said it checked the air conditioning united.
“As we have already said, Citi worked with the Federal Government in its efforts to clear up the concerns of the government officials regarding this federal scholarship program,” said the bank on Monday in a statement. “Our role as a financial representative does not include any discretion of which organizations receive scholarships. Citi will of course comply with every judicial decision. “
The EPA rejected a statement and cited pending legal disputes. A hearing for the case before the US district court for the District of Columbia is planned for Wednesday.
In his court report, Climate United pointed out to Denise Cheung, a high-ranking public prosecutor's office in the US lawyer Washington, who said she was forced to do so Step dow n After rejection of the claims from TOP officials from the Trump administration, to freeze the wealth of the climate groups.
Zeldin asked questions in a letter to the agency's wax dog about the use of Citibank by the EPA to keep the money, a structure that enabled the eight companies to become a “round” for any subsidy receiver. The process undermined transparency, Zeldin claimed.
He also questioned the qualifications of some of the units that monitor the grants and said that some were connected to the bidges or democratic politics, including Stacey AbramsA former democratic candidate for Georgia's governor. Trump picked Abrams out of her connections to the Green Bank in his Speech to the Congress Last week.
In a letter to EPA official on March 4, Climate United Zeldin's allegations. The lengthy application material of the group is publicly available and the EPA has used a strict selection process, said Climate United and added that its expenses are transparent.
In addition to Climate United, the new fund has other non -profit organizations forgive money, Including the coalition for Green Capital, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, including and the Justice Climate Fund. These organizations have teamed up with a number of groups, including the new wiring of America, Habitat for Humanity and the Community Preservation Corporation.
The Green Bank represents ideas that the Congress does not like the Trump government: to combat climate change and to help communities, which are often with a low or majority black and Hispanic language, said Ilmi Granoff, expert for climate finance at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
“The resources have already been spent, which means that they are trying to develop preliminary walls in order to do something that the government should not do, namely the resources that the congress made available, said Granoff and compared the investigation by the Trump government with” fishing exhibition “.
The Trump government said it was on Friday Pull 400 million US dollars from Columbia University, Cancellation of grants and contracts based on what the government describes as the failure of the Ivy League School to suppress anti -Semitism on campus.
___
Phillis reported St. Louis.
___
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for reporting on water and environmental policy. The AP is only responsible for all content. Visit to all environmental reporting from AP https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-envirste