NEW YORK – Inclusiv has filed an emergency appeal seeking to overturn the latest decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia supporting the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and the Naitonal Clean Investment Fund.
As the CU Daily reported here earlier, the federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration can cancel nearly $16 billion in green energy grants, overturning a lower court order that had forced the government and Citibank to keep making the payments. The decision affects more than 100 credit unions that had been awarded grants from the funds.
In August of 2024, Inclusiv had been awarded $1.87 billion as part of the GGRF to distribute to credit unions.
Inclusiv is a plaintiff in the ongoing federal litigation challenging what it called the EPA’s “unlawful attempt” to terminate the NCIF and GGRF.
‘Contractual Disputes’ Cited
In a 2-1 opinion written by Judge Neomi Rao and joined by Judge Gregory Katsas, Inclusiv noted the majority of the panel ruled that the plaintiffs’ claims pose, in essence, contractual disputes rather than challenges to EPA’s actions in violation of the Constitution and federal law.
The ruling maintains that the District Court lacks jurisdiction over this case, and therefore the claims must be heard in the Court of Federal Claims, Inclusiv explained.
“This was not an unexpected ruling, but it is incredibly disappointing and, we believe, wrong,” Inclusiv President and CEO Cathie Mahon said in a statement. “This latest court decision continues to block communities from receiving essential investments they need to lower their energy bills. As we continue our litigation with this new appeal to preserve this groundbreaking community based clean energy lending program, Inclusiv is also committed to continuing to support hundreds community lenders across the country in making energy affordable and accessible in rural and low-income communities.”
‘Well-Reasoned Dissent’
In what Inclusiv called Judge Cornelia Pillard’s “thorough and well-reasoned dissenting opinion,” the judge wrote, “EPA’s violations of law are so clear that the agency hardly contests them. And the imminent, irreversible harm to Plaintiffs is incontrovertible. These circumstances cry out for preliminary injunctive relief, as the district court rightly recognized. The majority’s contrary conclusion accepts the government’s gambit to strip district courts of jurisdiction over the government’s blatant violations of basic principles of constitutional and administrative law.”
Emergency Petition Filed
Inclusiv noted that it and the other plaintiffs have now filed an emergency petition for en banc review by the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking a reversal of the majority’s decision. A copy of that petition is available here.
The organization explained that the latest ruling, issued on Sept. 3rd, four months after oral arguments, vacates the preliminary injunction order issued on April 15th by Judge Tanya Chutkan at the lower court level, which found that EPA had no lawful or factual basis for its attempted termination of the GGRF program.
Inclusiv said the $1.87 billion it was awarded through the CCIA is expected to bring $4.5 billion in combined new private capital investment and grant funds to clean energy solutions to benefit 900,000 households and small businesses in low-income areas.
Five Years of Training
“For more than five years, Inclusiv has been training and mobilizing hundreds of community lenders to build, launch, and scale affordable clean energy and energy efficiency loan programs,” the organization stated. “The need for affordable financing is more critical than ever. Inclusiv’s commitment to clean energy lending will continue regardless of the status of our litigation, because the reality is that many Americans are still navigating rapidly increasing utility bills, and aging energy equipment they can’t afford to replace. We will continue our work to make energy cheaper, safer and cleaner for all.”
