EPA should not have been blocked from terminating green bank funds, appeals court says

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press A federal judge was wrong to block the Trump administration from freezing billions of dollars and terminating contracts for nonprofits to run a green bank aimed at financing climate-friendly projects a divided appeals court ruled Tuesday Related Articles Trump will announce Space Command is moving from Colorado to Alabama Trump s use of the National Guard during Los Angeles immigration protests is illegal a judge says Putin says Trump administration is listening to Russia s arguments on Ukraine war Maduro says Venezuela ready to respond to US military presence in the Caribbean ICE is showing up to interview parents hoping to reunite with their children who entered US alone The ruling is a win for the Trump administration that had blasted the scheme as a waste of taxpayer money and tried to claw back funding The groups sued the EPA its administrator Lee Zeldin and Citibank which held the grant money saying they had illegally denied the groups access to funds awarded last year They craved access to those funds again saying the freeze had paralyzed their work and jeopardized their basic operations Those arguments have no place in federal court according to the split D C appeals court panel In sum district courts have no jurisdiction to hear declares that the federal governing body terminated a grant agreement arbitrarily or with impunity Declares of arbitrary grant termination are essentially contractual the majority wrote Instead the divided panel revealed they should go to federal alleges court a loss for Circumstances United Fund and other nonprofits who required the federal court system to ensure it fleetly received its funding The Associated Press receives aid from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental procedures The AP is solely responsible for all content For all of AP s environmental coverage visit https apnews com hub climate-and-environment