- The EPA allocated $27 billion to eight nonprofits through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, with several recipient groups formed shortly after grants were announced.
- The Trump administration has frozen these funds, characterizing them as a 'slush fund' with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attempting to 'claw back' approximately $17 billion currently sitting in Citibank accounts.
- Critics like Judge Glock argue the program lacks accountability measures, claiming the funds are directed toward 'small and low-return projects' unlikely to make significant environmental impacts while requiring 'an obscene amount of overhead.'
As part of former President Joe Biden’s $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act, the Environmental Protection Agency was allocated $27 billion to implement the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Now this initiative is facing criticism by the Trump administration. EPA Director Lee Zeldin said in a letter to the inspector general that he’s launched an investigation into potential fraud related to the grants and he is working with the Department of Justice and FBI on their investigations.
The original intent for the fund was to “combat the climate crisis by mobilizing financing for greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects in communities across the country.” A recent investigation by the Free Press followed the money to eight nonprofits, many of them connected to former Biden and Obama administration staffers.
Between Nov. 5 and Jan. 20, all but $7 billion of the greenhouse gas reduction fund was awarded to the eight nonprofit groups.
In his letter to the inspector general, Zeldin said the groups were meant to act as pass-through entities for the funds, which would then be given out to smaller groups.
Some of these groups were formed in the months following the announcement of the high-value grants by the Biden administration, and several are headed by individuals closely connected to the Obama and Biden administrations, according to a New York Post report.
“The Biden administration used so-called ‘climate equity’ to justify handouts of billions of dollars to their far-left friends,” Zeldin told The Free Press. “It is my utmost priority to get a handle on every dollar that went out the door in this scheme and once again restore oversight and accountability over these funds. This rush job operation is riddled with conflicts of interest and corruption.”
Trump administration freezes funds
The Trump administration put a freeze on funds authorized by Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act on President Donald Trump’s first day in office, and while many funds are again accessible, money allocated to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund are not.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities added that the freeze was accompanied by EPA employee David Widawsky being put on leave.
On Feb. 18, Climate United said it was shut out of its account with the reduction fund money, per Politico.
Judge Glock, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, believes the goal of the fund was to give recipients money “with minimal strings and allow them to lend it to people they favored.”
“It is an absolutely wild program,” Glock told The Free Press. “I haven’t seen the likes of in previous government-lending history.”
Glock continued, “There’s not really a lot of requirements within the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to show that this lending is actually working. And these groups can pretty much do what they will with it, and that’s very dangerous.”
Zeldin is trying to “claw back” the money that hasn’t been spent, but Glock said he is skeptical this is possible.
The 8 nonprofits receiving $20 billion
The following are the eight nonprofits receiving funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, according to The Hill.
- Climate United Fund — Established in November 2023, the nonprofit was granted $6.9 billion. Beth Bafford has served as CEO since April 2024. Previously Bafford worked as a special assistant in the Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration. Bafford works alongside Phil Aroneanu, the nonprofit’s chief strategy officer. Aroneau also worked as a “strategic adviser” in the Department of Energy from April 2023 to September 2024.
- Coalition for Green Capital — Established in 2009, granted $5 billion. Jahi Wise worked as policy director for Coalition for Green Capitol for less than a year between 2020 and 2021 before joining the Biden administration’s Climate Policy office. The EPA reported Wise “personally oversaw a $5 billion grant to his previous employer.” The coalition’s CEO, Richard Kauffman, served as an energy policy adviser during Obama administration, as The Free Press reported.
- Opportunity Finance Network — Established in 1986, granted $2.8 billion. Biden appointed now CEO Harold Pettigrew Jr. to serve on the U.S. Treasury Community Development Advisory Board in 2021. In 2023, the nonprofit disbursed around $31 million, per a federal filing.
- Inclusiv — Established in 1974, granted $1.8 billion. Cathie Mahon is the acting CEO and president of Inclusiv. Mahon helped found the Justice Climate Fund, which also received $940 million.
- Power Forward Communities — Registered in August 2023, granted $2 billion. The Free Press reported that 22 employees at Power Forward Communities make over $150,000, and their CEO, Tim Mayopoulos, makes $810,000.
- Justice Climate Fund — Established in 2023, granted $940 million.
- Appalachian Community Capital — First dispersing funds in 2015, granted $500 million. This nonprofit’s CEO, Donna Gambrell, served as directory of a Treasury Department advisory board for several years during the Bush and Obama administrations.
- Native CDFI Network — Formed in 2009, granted $400 million. The coalition has always maxed out its expenditure at around $1.2 million per year.