Fresh off its decision to claw back $20 billion in "greenhouse gas reduction" money the Biden Environmental Protection Agency parked at Citibank, the Trump administration is setting its sights on another massive chunk of planned green spending receiving less attention.
The $7 billion Solar for All program -- part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund -- is meant to "enable over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from distributed solar energy," according to the EPA's website.
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While Solar for All (and much else) remains in limbo, supporters continue to defend it as essential to fight climate change. But critics are denouncing it as a green boondoggle aimed at lining progressives' pockets. Sixty Solar for All grants have been earmarked for various state and tribal agencies, as well as other green energy nonprofits that rely on public funding for much of their work.
A RealClearInvestigations review of Solar for All's records reveals a tight circle of publicly funded environmental outfits and government agencies, with the lion's share of the now-frozen funds slated to go to Democrat-run states. So far, $30.8 million of Solar For All grants have been distributed, according to the EPA.
"These grant programs are the most blatant instances of self-dealing I've ever witnessed," said Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, one of 50 free market-oriented groups that called on Congress to repeal the IRA's climate spending.
"The Biden administration and Democrats in Congress loaded the IRA with billions of dollars of walking around money to fund organizations -- some of which didn't even materialize until after the bill was passed -- to promote and advance the green agenda at the expense of American taxpayers and families," Pyle said.
Almost $450 million of Solar for All was supposed to go to various Native American groups. A group called Three Affiliated Tribes was set to receive $135.2 million, while another $304.4 million was to be divided between four other Native American entities, records show.
The biggest award to a green nonprofit, $311.4 million, was won by Grid Alternatives, an Oakland-based nonprofit that said it would use the money to help 37,000 households gain access to solar energy. Prior to the Solar for All freeze, Grid Alternatives had received $756,791 from its grant, records show.
"This groundbreaking program, funded by the EPA and led by Grid Alternatives, is designed to bring the benefits of clean energy to income-qualified and environmental justice communities across America," it announced on its website.
Tax-exempt since 2014, Grid Alternatives' work notably includes government contracts with the state of California and the District of Columbia. The company's website states its four guiding principles are "equity, anti-racism, economic justice (and) environmental justice." One of its founders, Tim Sears, was named a "White House Champion of Change for Solar Deployment" during the Obama administration in 2014.
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The second largest batch of awards involved nearly $1 billion divided among four recipients. Those four grants -- all for the same amount, $249.3 million -- were awarded to entities in Democratic strongholds. Three went to the California Energy Commission, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and Harris County, Texas' deep blue 18th Congressional District in Houston, according to the Treasury Department's usaspending.gov.
The fourth award of $249.3 million went to Inclusive Prosperity Capital in Hartford, Connecticut. That nonprofit provides financing for "traditionally underserved markets" and lists as one of its partners Inclusiv Inc. in New York City, which itself was given a separate award of $1.9 billion from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund money deposited in Citibank.
Inclusive Prosperity Capital, which did not respond to a request for comment, has been tax-exempt since 2014, and in 2022, its salaries and compensation exceeded its revenue, according to its tax return. All told, a half dozen people at Inclusive Prosperity make more than $200,000 annually, and another five make more than $100,000, tax records show.
Endless, fathomless corruption.