Trump’s latest cuts to solar power, briefly explained

This story appeared in The Logoff, a each day e-newsletter that helps you keep knowledgeable concerning the Trump administration with out letting political information take over your life. Subscribe right here.Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration plans to claw again some $7 billion in grant funding for photo voltaic power, its newest assault on renewable power within the US.What are the grants for? The cash the administration is concentrating on is meant to assist with photo voltaic panel set up for low- and middle-income households and has been awarded to 60 entities, together with 49 state businesses, as a part of the Photo voltaic for All program. This system is a legacy of the Inflation Discount Act, the 2022 legislation that devoted almost $370 billion to wash power, electrical car tax breaks, and extra.Can the administration do that? We’re going to seek out out. Whereas Congress efficiently clawed again cash from unobligated Photo voltaic for All grants in final month’s recissions package deal, this funding has already been awarded. That makes terminating the grants much less easy, and the transfer is more likely to be challenged in lawsuits.The New York Instances reported that grant cancellation notices may very well be despatched out as quickly as this week.How else is the administration going after clear power? It’s a protracted listing. To call a couple of, the Environmental Safety Company tried to cancel a further $20 billion in already-awarded local weather grants earlier this yr, solely to be blocked by a federal choose, and Trump’s reconciliation package deal minimize clear power subsidies and electrical car tax credit whereas including new subsidies for coal energy.What’s the massive image? This newest assault on solar energy, and the administration’s broader assault on renewables, is dangerous information for efforts to maneuver away from fossil fuels and advance a extra sustainable future. However the larger image remains to be optimistic. Renewable power buildout all over the world remains to be robust, and even within the US, there’s a number of inertia behind the continued transition. Clear power enlargement will proceed — regardless of the entire antagonistic insurance policies popping out of the Trump administration.And with that, it’s time to log out…Right here’s some excellent news from my colleague Kenny Torrella: The fur trade is collapsing worldwide, and the variety of animals farmed and killed for his or her fur has plummeted within the final decade, from round 140 million yearly in 2014 to twenty.5 million final yr. As Kenny factors out, greater than 20 million animals dying per yr means there’s nonetheless a protracted approach to go — however such a steep decline is critical progress in opposition to an extremely merciless trade, and it’s more likely to proceed from right here.