An alliance of grassroots environmental groups could lose $60 million in federal funds after calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) was named one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s “donors” more than a year ago, putting it in charge of distributing grants for locally led environmental projects. But of EPA's 11 donors, CJA is the only one that has not yet received funding. The group has faced a barrage of attacks for publicly opposing the war between Israel and Hamas, and some EPA Staff They say the group has been singled out as a result.
“We are deeply disappointed to see EPA's current decision. Withholding of $60 million to the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA)the only one of the eleven grantees who spoke out courageously against the environmental cost and human rights violations in Palestine,” wrote a group of anonymous EPA and Department of Energy employees in a open letter in December.
The money could disappear if it is not distributed before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The money could disappear if it is not distributed before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has said he would terminate unspent Inflation Reduction Act funds that set aside money for grants. And if his second term is anything like his first, he'll likely gut the EPA and roll back environmental protections.
With a nationwide deregulatory agenda, local efforts become even more crucial to safeguarding Americans' air, water, and climate. It's those types of grassroots initiatives that EPA donors are supposed to support and that are at risk if the agency doesn't disburse funds before it's too late.
“What this would do is further strip away funds that our communities have been counting on,” says CJA Executive Director KD Chávez. “We need people to have resources so that, at least locally, they can do cleanup projects and monitor air quality,” Chavez says, citing examples of how the money could be used.
Money for EPA's Environmental Justice Prosperous Communities Grant Program came from the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $369 billion for clean energy and climate action. The 11 grant donors include universities and nonprofit organizations tasked with doling out a total of $600 million to locally-led environmental projects.
That was supposed to make it easier to access funding for smaller grassroots groups, especially those living with the most pollution. which are often communities of color in the United States. The CJA includes about 100 organizations across the United States, many of them rooted in communities of color like the NAACP Climate and Environmental Justice Program and the Indigenous Environmental Network.
The CJA, in particular, was chosen to distribute grants to EPA Regions 8 through 10, which cover most of the western United States. It is also the national donor responsible for reaching out to tribal communities. The CJA says it has already spent $1.6 million of its own operating budget to establish the organizational infrastructure needed to allow community groups to apply for grants. It is supposed to receive $50 million for those grants, plus an additional $10 million for technical capacity.
“Why have we been singled out as un-American?”
As of Jan. 3, only $461 million of grant program funding had been awarded, according to data from the EPA websiteleaving the rest of the funds vulnerable to the incoming Trump administration.
“There are questions we have about how to stand out as an organization. Why have we been singled out as anti-American? Is it because we are led by working-class people, Black Indigenous people, and communities of color? Chavez says.
Over the past year, conservative media and some Republican lawmakers have accused the CJA of being “radicals” antisemiticand “anti-american” for his stance on the war between Israel and Hamas. Even before the EPA announced its selection of 11 donors, the CJA had issued a statement in October 2023, calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to demand a ceasefire from Israel and Hamas.
“I was surprised to learn that $50 million has been allocated to the Climate Justice Alliance, a group that explicitly posts a 'Free Palestine' section on its website. There are dozens of anti-Semitic and alarming images on the website,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) told former EPA Administrator Michael Regan when testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in July of last year. (Regan low from his position in december.)
The CJA has published its ceasefire declaration on their website. “We call on Biden and the US Congress to support an immediate end to the violence by publicly demanding a ceasefire in the region. “We stand firmly on the side of peace and support the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, decolonization and life,” the statement said.
“At its core, the CJA has always been against war and in favor of communities,” says Chávez. “We are nothing more than collateral damage in a war against regulations,” they add.
The group has also been criticized for its environmental advocacy. TO letter from Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Buddy Carter (R-GA) to Regan, last May accused the CJA of supporting “partisan and, in some cases, extreme environmental activism,” including “massive organizing of protests over climate alarmism” and “fossil fuel project litigation.” The letter similarly criticizes other donors chosen by the EPA, but the CJA has faced more criticism as protests in the United States against the war in Gaza gained momentum.
He letter published by EPA and DOE staff last month (first reported in by The interception) urges agencies to “end their collaboration with israel until there is a permanent ceasefire” and “release all federal funds designated to the Climate Justice Alliance.” He says the funding is necessary for indigenous communities and other groups that have historically been “excluded” from environmental protections.
According to Chavez, the EPA told the CJA at a meeting in September that it was under investigation by the agency's office of general counsel (OGC) without any explanation as to why. The group says the agency's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights told the group to expect to receive funding by Jan. 6, even though it was initially anticipated that donors could begin doling out grants. in summer 2024.
EPA did not verify CJA's claims or answer specific questions from The edge about an investigation into the CJA. “EPA continues to review the grant for the Climate Justice Alliance,” EPA spokesperson Nick Conger said in an email to The edge. “EPA continues to work through its rigorous process to obligate funds under the Inflation Reduction Act, including the Thriving Communities Grantmakers program.” The agency is “on track” to provide more than 90 percent of funding by the end of the Biden administration, Conger added.
When The edge When the EPA was asked last year how it chose donors for the program, Regan said in a call with reporters that each of them “demonstrated a very strong governance structure that creates accountability” and that the agency selected the 11 “knowing that they would be able to put these resources to use in a way that the communities that need them most absolutely get them.”
