The attorneys general of more than a dozen states, including Maine, sued the Trump administration on Thursday over the cancellation of $7 billion in funding for affordable solar energy projects across the United States
The coalition, which included the District of Columbia and other stakeholders, argued in the lawsuit that the Environmental Protection Agency's termination of the Solar for All program violated the Federal Agencies Act and the constitutional separation of powers. The program was introduced in 2022 as part of former President Joe Biden's landmark climate law, which aims to make renewable energy accessible to nearly a million Americans.
The increasing use of solar energy reduces dependence on coal, oil and natural gas. Burning these fossil fuels to generate electricity is one of the main drivers of global climate change, as they emit greenhouse gases that trap the Earth's heat.
The EPA repealed the solar-for-all funds in August after President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill was passed in Congress a month earlier. Administrator Lee Zeldin called the program “bullshit.”
The EPA said in an email Thursday that it would not comment on pending litigation.
The motion, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, was filed by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, arguing that the termination of funding was unlawful. The EPA and Zeldin are named as defendants.
Joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general in California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, all of whom are Democrats, as well as the Governor of Kentucky, the chairman of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
“Congress passed a solar energy program to make electricity costs more affordable, but the administration is ignoring the law and focusing on the conspiracy theory that climate change is a hoax,” Brown said in a statement.
Advocates have touted the program not only for its benefits for low-income communities that need access to funds for clean energy projects, but also for its benefits to local workers and for maintaining reasonable electricity prices.
“At a time when energy bills are at record highs and continuing to skyrocket, the Trump administration is unnecessarily hindering an industry that can produce safe, reliable and cost-effective energy,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
A similar group of states filed a separate lawsuit against the Trump administration in federal court on Wednesday, arguing that cutting program funding amounted to a breach of contract and saying they were seeking damages.
This week's litigation increases pressure on the Trump administration over the program. Nonprofits and other groups filed a lawsuit over Solar for All funding earlier this month on similar grounds, and Harris County, Texas, filed a lawsuit over the award last week. More than two dozen Democratic senators also wrote a letter to Zeldin this week calling for the program to be restored.
Solar for All was tied to another $20 billion in green financing, officially known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was dismantled by the Trump administration in March.
The $27 billion cut is just one example of the administration's anti-clean energy efforts. Trump has invested in fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal while drastically cutting climate regulation, standing in the way of clean energy development and upending environmental policy.