On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency sent letters of inquiry to the eight nonprofit recipients chosen by the Biden administration to receive grants from the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in April 2024. The letter asks, among other things, what exactly the nonprofits plan to do with the money.
The letters were sent on the same day that a Free Press investigation revealed that the $20 billion was shoveled into around 129 Citibank accounts in the interregnum between President Trump’s election and his inauguration. Currently, $16.9 billion remains in those accounts, which have been frozen by Citibank. The Free Press investigation also uncovered connections between the nonprofit CEOs and executives and the Biden and Obama administrations.
In the letter sent by the EPA’s acting deputy administrator, W.C. McIntosh, to the nonprofits, the EPA asks them to:
Provide an itemized breakdown of funds spent to date, including personnel, contractual, subawards, and program-related expenses.
List all projects funded to date, including project descriptions, status, and locations, amounts awarded, success rate, and anticipated environmental impact.
Provide a list of all current employees or contractors who previously worked at the EPA or other federal agencies in the last three years.
Lee Zeldin, Trump’s new EPA administrator, who is working to regain control of the program, told Fox News this week that the program was set up in such a way as to limit government oversight. “If you ask me where all this money is going, I actually don’t know,” said Zeldin.
Though he hopes to claw back the $20 billion, The Free Press investigation revealed that could prove difficult thanks to a trigger clause built into the contracts that would release the money to the eight grant recipients if the Trump administration tries to recover it. Zeldin has asked the EPA’s inspector general to investigate the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, citing conflicts of interest and “lack of financial competency” on the part of the nonprofits, the largest of which, Climate United, was granted $6.9 billion and had gained nonprofit status only in June 2023, one month before the EPA opened applications for the $20 billion fund.
According to the letter, the nonprofits have until March 28 at noon to respond, or else risk violating the grant agreement. “There will be zero tolerance of any waste, fraud, or abuse,” wrote McIntosh. “I hope you share in EPA’s concerns and have some of the same questions yourself.”
On Tuesday, the same day the EPA sent its letter to the eight nonprofits, a lawyer for Climate United wrote to the EPA demanding they reinstate their access to funding, describing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as “Congressionally appropriated” with “strong EPA oversight and direct impact on American families and small businesses.”
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