Jennifer Balkcom: DOGE Cut Billions In EPA Funding Meant For Rebuilding Homes And Providing More Efficient Energy In Areas Recovering From Helene

DOGE Cut Billions In EPA Climate Grants For Rebuilding Homes In Areas Recovering From Helene

Headline: “How Trump's Move To Kill Clean Energy Cash Is Stunting Helene Recovery.” [Politico, 8/22/25]

Trump’s Cuts To Billions In EPA Climate Grants That Were Earmarked For Rebuilding Homes Was Hindering Efforts To Address “Chronic Housing Shortages” In Areas Recovering From Helene. “President Donald Trump has vowed to revive the Appalachian towns devastated by last year’s Hurricane Helene. But his cuts to billions of dollars in Biden-era spending are hampering efforts to ease the region’s chronic housing shortages and rising energy prices. […] EPA has spent months fighting in court to reclaim $20 billion of Biden-era climate grants, with climate groups expecting a decision from an appeals court soon. The feud has frozen millions of dollars that had been earmarked for rebuilding homes in the same Appalachian communities that Trump had accused President Joe Biden’s administration of abandoning after Helene.” [Politico, 8/22/25]

August 2025: The National Institute Of Minority Economic Development Slowed Down A Project To Finance Construction Of Affordable Housing In Western North Carolina After The EPA Canceled Funding For A $7 Million Loan

The National Institute Of Minority Economic Development Was “Slowing Down A Project To Finance Construction Of Affordable Housing In Western North Carolina After Trump’s EPA Canceled” Funding For A $7 Million Loan. “One community lender said it is slowing down a project to finance construction of affordable housing in western North Carolina after Trump’s EPA canceled the federal dollars backing the $7 million loan it was counting on. […] ‘The needs have not changed,’ said Kevin Price, president of the first group, the National Institute of Minority Economic Development. ‘This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. Everybody was impacted.’” [Politico, 8/22/25]

• The President Of The Organization Said Cancellation Of The Loan “Significantly Delayed Timelines For Completing New Units From One Year To Between Three To Five Years.” “Price's organization had earned conditional approval for $7 million to finance affordable housing in western North Carolina — a region already experiencing an affordability crisis that was exacerbated by the storm. About 450,000 households in Helene-affected counties were defined as housing cost-burdened by spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing even before the storm, according to policy nonprofit NC Budget and Tax Center. The loss of cheap capital supported by the EPA program significantly delayed timelines for completing new units from one year to between three to five years, Price said.” [Politico, 8/22/25]

March 2025: Appalachian Community Capital Cancelled New Applications For Funding Energy Efficiency And Housing Projects In Areas Recovering From Helene Due To The EPA Funds Pullback

Appalachian Community Capital Cancelled New Applications For Funding Energy Efficiency And Housing Projects In Areas Recovering From Helene “When It Became Clear No Resolution Over The EPA Funds Was Within Reach.” "Appalachian Community Capital, one of the EPA fund’s eight recipients, set aside what it called a ‘significant’ portion of its $500 million award specifically for communities emerging from the storm’s wreckage. It halted new applications for funding on March 18 through its Green Bank for Rural America, the lending institution it created to handle the federal funds, when it became clear no resolution over the EPA funds was within reach. The $64 million the organization had already approved to give investors in the region, which would have leveraged up to $256 million in energy efficiency and housing projects, never materialized.” [Politico, 8/22/25]