Trump Cancels Billions In Clean Energy Grants As $2.2 Billion California Solar Farm Announces Shutdown

The Trump administration has confirmed that it will be canceling nearly $8 billion worth of federal grants that had previously supported hundreds of clean energy initiatives across 16 U.S. states.

Interestingly, all of the affected states were ones that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the most recent presidential election, a detail that has not gone unnoticed by political commentators.

The decision follows weeks of tension in Washington, where Donald Trump has been pushing for deep spending cuts as part of his ongoing standoff with congressional Democrats over the current government shutdown.

The shutdown itself stems from the inability of Republicans and Democrats to reach an agreement on legislation to fund key government operations beyond October. Because of this impasse, many non-essential federal functions have been suspended until a deal is reached. Essential services remain operational, but much of the government has effectively been frozen since the shutdown began on Wednesday, October 1. As of October 3, there is still no resolution in sight.

Despite the freeze, the U.S. Department of Energy remains active. In a new statement released this week, officials announced that 223 clean energy projects are being terminated following an internal review. The review concluded that these projects either failed to meaningfully advance the country’s long-term energy goals or were not economically sustainable.

While the department has not yet released a detailed list of which projects will be impacted, officials confirmed that the discontinued funding had come from programs under the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and other related divisions within the Energy Department.

The Trump administration is cutting funding for over 200 clean energy projects Win McNamee/Getty Images

The canceled projects are expected to affect a wide range of clean energy developments — including electric vehicle battery plants, hydrogen technology research, upgrades to the national power grid, and carbon capture initiatives, according to the environmental nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The timing of these budget cuts comes right after news that one of the country’s largest solar farms, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California, will be shutting down much earlier than expected.

Costing an incredible $2.2 billion to build, the massive solar project was once hailed as a groundbreaking investment in renewable energy. However, after consistently failing to meet its energy production targets, it is now set to be permanently decommissioned next year.

The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility will shut down next year David McNew/Getty Images

Of that staggering $2.2 billion, approximately $1.6 billion came in the form of funding from then-President Barack Obama’s Department of Energy. The closure of Ivanpah has reignited debate over the long-term value of such government-backed green projects.

Critics have been quick to call the solar farm a symbol of wasteful spending and government overreach, claiming that taxpayer money was poured into a project that failed to deliver on its promises.

"It another left-wing taxpayer-funded boondoggle turns out to be a useless waste of money," one user complained online, expressing frustration over the billions lost in funding.

Another person echoed the same sentiment, writing: "Both a waste of money and an environmental disaster that will take decades to clean up."

Aside from financial concerns, several environmentalists have also pointed out that the facility had its own share of ecological issues. Reports claim that the intense heat generated by the solar mirrors caused thousands of birds to die each year, with estimates as high as 6,000 annually. According to a 2016 report by Science Alert, the birds would often fly into the beams of concentrated sunlight and 'burst into flames,' highlighting the unintended consequences of the technology.