The 2027 budget proposed by President Donald Trump would cut billions in funding for renewable and clean electricity development as part of a continued push to eliminate what he dubs "Green New Scam" policies put forward by the administration of former president Joe Biden.
The 2027 fiscal year budget would eliminate $15.2bn allocated to the US Department of Energy (DOE) under a 2021 bipartisan infrastructure package "to deploy unreliable intermittent energy infrastructure, remove carbon dioxide from the air, and buy other costly technologies burdensome to ratepayers and consumers", according to the proposal put forward by the Trump administration on 3 April.
The budget would similarly repurpose $4.7bn granted to the DOE under the 2021 law, allocating $3.5bn to "rapidly deploy firm baseload power", tacitly technologies such as natural gas, coal and nuclear which, unlike solar and wind, can generate electricity around the clock. Another $1.2bn would go toward artificial intelligence computing.
The administration also aims to eliminate $1.1bn for climate change research conducted by the DOE's Office of Science and cancel $150mn for DOE studies on technologies like electric vehicles and direct air capture systems.
The proposal would end renewable energy programs worth $45mn at the US Department of the Interior, with the administration endeavoring among other things to "put a stop to disastrous offshore wind energy projects".
In addition, it would eliminate $1.6bn for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after its educational grant programs "consistently funded" initiatives that "radicalize students against markets" and promoted "baseless environmental alarm", according to the administration.
The budget would also cut $204.5mn from the US Treasury Department's community development financial institutions fund, which uses federal and private money to support economically disadvantaged areas. The reductions will prevent tax revenue from supporting policies to which the administration is opposed, including "wind farms that degrade America's natural landscape and fail to serve American energy consumers".
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D–New York) criticized the cuts, including "massive" reductions to energy affordability, while promising that Democrats would fight "tooth and nail" to prevent the budget from becoming law.
"Trump is already spending massive sums on never-ending wars abroad, and now he's pushing for a record-breaking $1.5 trillion in defense spending while slashing programs that Americans and seniors care about and rely on," Schumer said.
