DENVER — The U.S. Department of Energy is canceling more than $7.5 billion in funding for clean-energy projects across the country, including more than $500 million earmarked for Colorado projects.
Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, announced on Wednesday that funds would be canceled for 223 projects across 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.
According to a list by House Appropriations Committee Democrats, 34 projects in Colorado are on the chopping block.
The cancellations affect places like Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines and the Colorado Energy Office, among others, whose grants have been marked for termination.
"Following a thorough, individualized financial review, DOE determined that these projects did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars," the Energy Department wrote.
Denver7 political analyst Alton Dillard said the cuts send a clear political message.
"One, it is always going to be concerning that having a clean climate is somehow become politicized," said Dillard. "But it also is sending the message that if you are in a state that supported Harris, that you're going to pay."
Dillard warned of significant consequences for Colorado's energy sector.
"In a state like Colorado that's known for innovation and entrepreneurship, the downstream effects, I think, are going to be dire," he explained. "So you add this back in again to the fact that we're also in the middle of a government shutdown, and I know it's an overused term, but we are at a major inflection point in not only clean energy, but just government in general."
Dillard added that no one should be surprised by this move, as it delivers on exactly what the Trump administration said it was going to do.
The cancellations are likely to face legal challenges. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, recipients of those awards will have 30 days to appeal the department's decision.
Reaction from Colorado's lawmakers
In the wake of the cuts, Denver7 is hearing from Colorado lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who represents Colorado's 4th Congressional District, said the move was connected to the government shutdown and blamed Senate Democrats.
"This wouldn't be an issue if Senate Democrats would stop their temper tantrum and vote to open our government. Their failure to act is hurting Colorado, from federal employees working here to ranchers and farmers depending on stability whose future is now uncertain. If anyone needs to answer questions about this, it's Senate Democrats who are voting to shut our government down."
Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper, meanwhile, said the cuts "punish Americans who dared to vote against" the Trump administration.
“The cancellation of this funding for political vengeance is blatantly illegal. Congress approved this funding to create jobs and to generate cleaner, cheaper power. Even if for some dark reason you are against cleaner energy, these projects are well underway. To abandon them now wastes the funds already invested, and needlessly cripples dozens of honest, hard-working small businesses that believed having a legal contract with our country meant something. The White House strategy during their shutdown is to punish Americans who dared to vote against them.”
Scripps News Group and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
