What could happen to Oregon climate funding under Trump
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With a new Trump administration set to get underway in a matter of months, advocates are worried that significant funding for some of Oregon's recent climate legislation could be at risk.
Why it matters: Oregon lawmakers passed a package of bills in the 2023 session aimed at increasing the resilience of buildings in the state by incentivizing a transition to electrical appliances.
- The bills were crafted to take advantage of federal money from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which included a record $369 billion in funding to fight climate change.
State of play: President-elect Trump has repeatedly questioned whether climate change is real — calling it a "hoax" and a "scam" — despite an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community it is largely caused by humans.
- Trump's first term saw nearly 100 environmental rules and policies rolled back, rescinded or dismantled, per an analysis from the New York Times.
- He has already indicated his preference to do away with major parts of the IRA.
- "We will rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act," Trump said in September.
Catch up quick: The package of bills was created to cut down on fossil fuel use in buildings, Oregon's second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
- The bills included subsidies and rebates for low-income and minority homeowners looking to swap out gas furnaces for heat pumps, with a goal of installing half a million heat pumps statewide by 2030.
- It also included funding for energy efficiency retrofits of residential and commercial buildings.
- At the time it passed, the package of bills was expected to cost the state roughly $100 million while unlocking hundreds of millions in federal funds through the IRA in the form of tax credits, grants and matching funds.
By the numbers: As of August, Oregon had already secured some $285 million of funding through the act, but future federal money could be in jeopardy.
What they're saying: Claire Prihoda, buildings policy manager at Climate Solutions, one of the organizations that lobbied for the package, said a loss of IRA funds would mean marginalized groups would be left without the tax credits, rebates and subsidies aimed at helping them electrify their homes.
- "Folks that can afford to have resilience in their homes will get it, and those who can't will have to struggle," she told Axios.
Between the lines: Jana Gastellum, executive director of the Oregon Environmental Council, said the state-run aspects of the legislation will stay in place and function as intended, but noted there are "a lot of question marks" about the federal funding aspect of the bills.
- "The federal funding piece is key to reach more people, more quickly," she told Axios. "Having any of that pulled back just puts more people in harm's way."
Caveat: It's illegal for an administration to refuse to spend funds Congress has appropriated, so a Trump administration would need legislators to act to cut off IRA funds.
- That didn't stop Trump from withholding funds from Ukraine in his first term, an act the Government Accountability Office found to be illegal and which led to Trump's first impeachment.