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Federal funding for climate and environmental projects remains frozen. Republicans are considering cutting tax credits that have spurred investment in clean energy programs, although a lot of those projects are in GOP districts. Leaders from some of those communities traveled to D.C. last week to advocate for programs they say deliver big benefits back home. NPR's Michael Copley has this report.
MICHAEL COPLEY, BYLINE: Tom Atkinson's standing in one of D.C.'s marble buildings, a long way from home in northwest Alaska. He'd rather not be here.
TOM ATKINSON: It's extremely frustrating.
COPLEY: Grants to pay for big batteries that would store electricity for Atkinson's community have been held up by the Trump administration, which is trying to roll back Biden-era climate initiatives. So he's in D.C., waiting for a meeting with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski - a Republican - whom he's pleading with for help.
ATKINSON: The current pause on federal funding has caused us to miss the deadline to ship materials up here for one of our projects.
COPLEY: Atkinson runs the Kotzebue Electric Association 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. He says the batteries would store electricity from wind and solar plants, cutting down how much diesel fuel has to be shipped in to run generators. Now the project's delayed for at least a year.
ATKINSON: And it will only cost more to do it next year, and we will either have to find more money or reduce the scope of work on the project.
COPLEY: The Trump administration has made it a priority to boost the fossil fuel industry and is trying to hold back money Congress approved for climate and environmental projects under former President Biden. It's become a big political fight, and Atkinson says the people who rely on his company for energy aren't interested.
ATKINSON: They just want the lights to go on. They want the rates to be affordable. And we can't continue to do that without continued support.
COPLEY: A spokesperson for Murkowski said the senator's working with the administration to unfreeze grant funding.
In a crowded hallway, Lenise Peterman is talking to a staffer for Senator John Curtis, a Republican from Utah. Peterman's the Republican mayor of Helper, Utah, a couple of hours south of Salt Lake City. A grant's been held up from the Environmental Protection Agency that's supposed to support job training and to weatherize homes on the Navajo Nation. Peterman came to D.C. to try to help get the money unstuck.
LENISE PETERMAN: It's not Republican. It's not Democrat. It's about helping those people who are most disadvantaged in our communities.
COPLEY: A spokesperson for Curtis pointed to a previous statement in which the senator expressed support for clean energy tax credits. Marcie Kindred says the government's climate and clean energy investments are boosting economies across rural America. Kindred's executive director of the Wyoming AFL-CIO, a federation of trade unions.
MARCIE KINDRED: When rural communities receive their tax dollars back, we build our communities with our own hands. We need our congressional delegations to advocate for these tax dollars to come back home.
COPLEY: But Kindred says she mostly just heard political talking points from lawmakers in Washington. Wyoming's congressional delegation didn't respond to messages seeking comment. The EPA told NPR it's reviewing grants to ensure they're being put to good use and that they align with the Trump administration's priorities.
Michael Copley, NPR News.
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