Judge Rules Trump Administration Must Unfreeze Climate Funding

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A federal judge ruled yesterday that five government agencies must release billions of dollars in funding for climate and infrastructure-related projects that had been paused by the Trump administration. Via the Washington Post:

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary injunction that instructs the administration to release the funds while the lawsuit proceeds. The injunction applies nationwide.

Environmental nonprofit groups filed the lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island after the federal government froze funds approved by Congress under two Biden-era laws to fight climate change and improve infrastructure, among other goals. President Donald Trump paused the awards given through the two statutes — the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — with an executive order on his first day in office.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Agriculture, Energy, Interior and Housing departments, along with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and Budget. It alleges that the funding freeze they carried out was illegal and imperiled climate and infrastructure projects, including programs to protect ancient trees and monitor species that can infest and kill them.