OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The state is suing the EPA over cuts to $7 billion in renewable energy funding.
Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown is co-leading the lawsuit with 22 other states after the EPA ended the Solar for All program two months ago.
The program was created by Congress three years ago in an effort to install solar power in low-income and disadvantaged communities across the country.
According to the AG’s office, the EPA’s decision to cut the program freezes $156 million in funding for solar projects across the state.
“The administration is again targeting people struggling to get by in America, this time by gutting programs that help low-income households afford electricity,” Brown said. “Congress passed a solar energy program to help make electricity costs more affordable, but the administration is ignoring the law and focused on the conspiracy theory that climate change is a hoax.”
On top of that, the state Department of Commerce had invested more than 5,000 employee hours into developing programming for next year with the solar funds that may no longer be available.
The group of states claims that the EPA violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Separation of Powers Doctrine when the program was cancelled.
Brown also joined a second lawsuit against the EPA in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to recover damages.
