Trump’s DOE Cancels Billions in Funding for Projects in Red States

The Department of Energy withdrew more than $3.7 billion in funding for manufacturing projects across the U.S.

Secretary of the Department of Energy Christopher Wright.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently criticized the Biden administration for approving projects after the election. Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA via AP

The Trump administration has canceled nearly $4 billion in funds for industrial projects mostly planned for rural and conservative areas in states including Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama and Ohio.

The Department of Energy withdrew more than $3.7 billion in funding for 24 projects, the agency announced on Friday. Aside from a handful of projects in California and New York, the companies that lost funding were mostly planning to invest in industrial and manufacturing facilities in areas of the country that voted for Trump, according to a NOTUS review of the cancellations. More than $2 billion in the canceled funds would have gone to conservative states.

The majority of the canceled funding was for projects intended to advance new technologies in heavy industry and in capturing carbon dioxide emissions and storing it, either underground or in usable products like cement.