EPA’s $27 Billion ‘Clean Energy’ Plan Triggers Fraud Concerns, Creating ‘Taxpayer-Funded Slush Fund’

A windfarm is seen near Palm Springs, Calif., on Dec. 30, 2006. Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released initial guidance on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program that commits $27 billion for “clean energy and clean air” projects, but concerns are being raised as to whether the funds are at high risk of fraud.

The GGRF was proposed as part of the $739 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed last year. Out of the $27 billion the EPA has set aside, $20 billion will go for the General and Low-Income Assistance Competition program that will disburse grants to projects which lower energy costs and cut down pollution. This program is said to be administered by a group of up to 15 nonprofits together with financial institutions.

The remaining $7 billion will be allocated for the Zero-Emissions Technology Fund Competition, with the funds going to state and local governments as well as tribes for various solar energy projects.

“The EPA will implement these programs in alignment with President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which directs that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities, including those facing disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental impacts,” the agency said in a news release on Feb. 14.

Sean Kelly, spokesman for House Energy and Commerce chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), pointed out that the fund lacks necessary accountability and transparency measures about how the resources will be deployed, despite allocating an “incredible amount of authority and resources” to the EPA.

“In other words, this provision creates a taxpayer-funded slush fund for Wall Street and heightens the risk for overspending, fraud, and abuse,” he said, according to Fox.

Coalition for Green Capital Bidding on $20 Billion GGRF Fund

The $27 billion fund has attracted the attention of “green” funding entities. The Coalition for Green Capital, a nonprofit supporting regional green banks, is insisting that it is in the best position for being the main repository of the $20 billion General and Low-Income Assistance Competition program. Doing so would make the coalition a clearinghouse for the funds nationwide.

“The plan here is to maximize leverage with a national entity that can get the greatest amount of investing” so it can be deployed in underserved communities, coalition chairman Reed Hundt told reporters in a December briefing, according to Bloomberg.

“If $20 billion were put into a single national entity over the course of a decade, it could cause more than $250 billion of investment.”

However, some experts have questioned the credentials of the coalition. In a tweet on Feb. 11, author Michael Shellenberger pointed out that the Coalition for Green Capital “hasn’t even maintained updated IRS tax filings.”

The organization’s last tax filing was in 2020, revealing that it brought in less than $3 million in revenue, he noted, while questioning why the EPA would consider giving a single nonprofit $20 billion of American taxpayer money.

“Where does Coalition for Green Capital get its money from? Why won’t it disclose its donors? What specific investments does its founder, staff, and board of directors have in energy? How in the world could they act like objective ‘bankers’ given their conflicts of interest?” Shellenberger said.

Green Energy Agenda Issues

The GGRF is part of the Biden administration’s agenda of transitioning the United States to a green energy economy, reducing the use of fossil fuels in the process. However, this green energy push comes with great cost and can even consume more resources than equivalent fossil fuel projects.

For instance, the recent “Renewables, Land Use, and Local Opposition in the United States” report by the Brookings Institution notes that solar and wind generation takes up to 10 times more land when compared to gas or coal-fired projects. Some other estimates put this number at 75 times.

“Most wind turbines being installed in the United States today are the height of a 35-story building,” the report stated. “The expanding land needs of a renewable energy system raise concerns about ‘energy sprawl,’” referring to the amount of energy produced within a given space.

Many wind and solar power projects are facing community opposition in the United States. According to the Renewable Rejection Database, 79 local governments either restricted or banned solar power projects in 2022, up from 19 in 2021 and just two in 2020.