After Trump’s attempt to halt $20 billion in climate projects for vulnerable communities, Fox falsely frames climate initiatives as “embezzlement” and “a slush fund”

Media Matters / Andrea Austria

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After Trump’s attempt to halt $20 billion in climate projects for vulnerable communities, Fox falsely frames climate initiatives as “embezzlement” and “a slush fund”

Special Programs Climate & Energy

Written by Evlondo Cooper

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As the Trump administration moves to claw back $20 billion in climate funding allocated through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), right-wing media are playing a crucial role in shaping the public’s perception by framing these climate investments as “embezzlement” and a “slush fund” for “self-dealing” politicians and “leftist activists.” 

The Trump administration and right-wing outlets like Fox News are working in tandem to minimize the program's benefits to the climate and environment, and obscure the devastating impact its rollback will have on vulnerable communities.

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  • The Trump administration is freezing $20 billion in climate funding that was set aside to help marginalized communities

    • Authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was created to accelerate the transition to clean energy. The GGRF was created to accelerate the country's transition to clean energy while prioritizing historically marginalized communities. It includes the National Clean Investment Fund ($14 billion), the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator ($6 billion), and the Solar for All program ($7 billion). These initiatives are aimed at mobilizing private capital, funding community lenders, and expanding solar access in low-income areas. [Environmental Protection Agency website, accessed 2/26/25; EPA website, accessed 2/26/25; EPA website, accessed 2/26/25; EPA website, accessed 2/26/25]

    • The Trump administration misleadingly claimed that these funds were rushed out the door. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin called the process a “rush job,” but plans to distribute the $20 billion in grants were publicly announced in April 2024, and the funding was legally committed months before the election, well in advance of the September 2024 deadline. [The New York Times, 2/20/25]

    • The freeze is already disrupting planned investments, putting critical clean energy projects in limbo. More than 200 projects intended to benefit underserved communities are now at risk, including affordable housing developments, local green banks expanding renewable energy access, and infrastructure improvements. Over $1 billion in scheduled investments is now stalled, creating uncertainty for businesses and communities relying on these funds. [The New York Times, 2/20/25; EPA website, accessed 2/27/25]

    • The Trump administration froze the $20 billion allocated for clean energy projects under the GGRF and is attempting to launch a politically motivated investigation. The EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, under pressure from the administration, attempted to initiate an investigation into alleged mismanagement of GGRF funds despite no credible evidence of wrongdoing. As part of this effort, federal prosecutors were reportedly pressured to build a case against Citibank and the nonprofit grantees. [Inside Climate News, 2/16/25; Reuters, 2/19/25]

    • Veteran federal prosecutor Denise Cheung was asked to resign after she resisted political pressure to investigate the funds. In her resignation letter, Cheung stated that she was ordered to initiate a grand jury investigation into a Biden-era contract without sufficient evidence and to pursue an asset freeze against her legal judgment. She emphasized her commitment to uphold the Constitution and expressed concern over the misuse of prosecutorial authority. [The New York Times, 2/18/25]

  • Fox News portrayed climate funding as corrupt political payoffs, while celebrating cuts as eliminating waste

    • On Fox & Friends, a Trump administration official suggested Biden-era climate funding was corrupt. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones, “You look at what Lee Zeldin has found at the EPA, $20 billion that the Democrats pushed out the door in final weeks of Joe Biden's presidency, $2 billion of that went to an NGO that was run by Stacey Abrams.” Abrams is senior counsel to the group Rewiring America, part of a coalition of organizations that formed Power Forward Communities, which received funding to help decarbonize homes. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/26/25; Rewiring America press release, 3/14/23] 

    • On Sunday Morning Futures, EPA administrator Zeldin suggested that the $2 billion tied to Stacey Abrams’ organization was recklessly appropriated. He said, “This group in 2023 only received $100. This isn't even like it’s a longtime group that has some reputation of handling large budgets. They received $2 billion in 2024.” Zeldin continued, “What we've seen is a lot of self-dealing, a lot of conflicts of interest. … They were throwing gold bars off the Titanic. We found the gold bars, and we want them back.” [Fox Business, Sunday Morning Futures, 2/23/25]

    • Fox News' Special Report framed the EPA's attempts to claw back the funds as “a battle” against “a slush fund to reward left-wing political groups.” Correspondent Steve Harrigan reported, “A battle is underway by the new head of the EPA to take back more than $20 billion awarded for green energy programs in the final days of the Biden administration. Lee Zeldin claims the money was basically a slush fund to reward left-wing political groups, including one where Georgia Democrat and two-time failed candidate for governor Stacey Abrams worked as senior counsel.” [Fox News, Special Report, 2/21/25]

    • Fox amplified claims that the $20 billion EPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is “a slush fund to reward leftist activists.” Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan reported, “The new head of the EPA says he is determined to try to claw back $20 billion. This money used by the Biden administration in its end days to try to fund green energy projects. Lee Zeldin said basically it was a slush fund to reward leftist activists including Georgia’s Stacey Abrams.” Power Forward Communities CEO Tim Mayopoulos told Politico that Abrams was not paid by the organization. “Stacey Abrams has not received a penny of this EPA grant,” Mayopoulos said. “It was never the plan for her to receive any money from this grant.” [Fox News, America Reports, 2/21/25; PolitiFact, 2/26/25]

    • Fox personality Larry Kudlow characterized the GGRF appropriations as “self-dealing” and “embezzlement of funds.” Kudlow stated, “This has nothing to do with climate, nothing to do with climate. This has to do with slush funds, self-dealing, and embezzlement of funds.” He alleged that "$5 billion … came out of this Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund" and claimed, “The guy overseeing it sent the $5 billion to a firm that all his friends were running and that he, himself, was involved with before he held the office. ... It was a George Soros operation.” He concluded by characterizing the timing of the funds' distribution in “late 2023 and early mid 2024 just before the election” as “election-year payoffs.” [Fox News, America Reports, 2/21/25

    • Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) framed climate initiatives as harmful to the economy. He stated, “We've had a lost decade in productivity, we've been playing around with all this Green New Deal stuff and all this woke culture, which is really sending our industry back, it’s sending our economy back almost a decade.” [Fox Business, Mornings With Maria Bartiromo, 2/21/25]

    • On Fox & Friends, Fox co-anchor Dana Perino said that “Lee Zeldin … found billions of dollars going to so many climate projects and not getting any results, and one of them is connected to a free Palestine.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/19/25]

    • During an interview on Fox's America Reports, Zeldin characterized the GGRF as a “scheme” aimed at “reducing accountability and oversight.” Zeldin stated, “Starting September 18 of 2024, there was a financial agent agreement entered into between the Biden Treasury Department and this outside bank. … They were amending these account control agreements right up to the week before inauguration. Now $20 billion going out the door up front should be a big red flag.” He added, “They deliberately, in writing, make sure that they are drastically reducing accountability and oversight by the EPA, by government. ... So, the whole scheme was something that was extremely irresponsible.” Zeldin also claimed that protests were occurring because “there are a lot of left-wing organizations that are beneficiaries of the money.” [Fox News, America Reports, 2/18/25]

  • In reality, low-income communities and vulnerable groups benefit from this program, and the cost of inaction is far greater than $20 billion

    • The GGRF was designed to benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. The freeze is already stalling critical programs, including environmental justice grants, affordable housing energy retrofits, and clean energy access for marginalized communities. The Solar for All program alone was expected to bring solar power to 900,000 low-income families, reducing both energy costs and pollution-related health impacts. Meanwhile, local governments and nonprofits are bracing for layoffs, stalled infrastructure projects, and a loss of critical community services as they await funding that was legally committed but now frozen. [Inside Climate News, 2/16/25; Shelterforce, 9/3/24]

    • While right-wing media frame climate funding as wasteful, the economic costs of inaction continue to mount. In 2024, global economic losses from natural disasters hit $368 billion, with insurers covering only about 40% of these costs. As climate disasters worsen, insurance companies can raise rates and have already pulled coverage entirely from disaster-prone states like California and Louisiana, placing additional financial strain on low-income families. [Reuters, 2/26/25]