U.S. appeals court blocks Trump administration's cancellation of billions of dollars in climate grants

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday ruled against the Donald Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its decision to cancel about 20 billion dollars in clean energy grants awarded to several nonprofit groups during the Joe Biden administration.

In a divided vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed an April 2025 injunction against the EPA decision to terminate the grants in March 2025.

"Today, the DC Circuit Court judges affirmed what we have always known: EPA took actions to unlawfully freeze and dismantle the National Clean Investment Fund grant program," Climate United, one of the nonprofits, said in a statement Tuesday.

"Despite efforts to harm the awardees with false allegations and misinformation, there remains no legal basis for terminating our grant award and clawing back funds that were already disbursed in our bank accounts," the statement said.

Under Administrator Lee Zeldin, the Trump administration's EPA has moved aggressively to roll back Biden-era clean energy and climate policies. Actions include deregulation, repealing emissions standards, terminating climate-related funding, and challenging the scientific basis for climate regulations.