The Trump administration crackdown has escalated to freezing the bank accounts of multiple non-profit organizations.
Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: climate change is real and is human caused. That is fact that has been scientifically proven many times over. No matter how much climate change denialists (a number of which are funded by big oil companies who would rather see the world burn to a crisp) will try and bullshit you into thinking otherwise, that is just the reality. Moreover, it is an existential threat to the human race and the sooner humans get off of burning fossil fuels, the better the chance that humanity can survive for the long term.
A major problem in all of this, however, is that science denialists have gotten a huge boost with the Trump administration taking power. As a result, people who believe in science and reality now have to deal with the fact that there is an administration in the US who would rather seek to destroy everything they worked hard to achieve. A number on the far right have been desperately trying to brand those who want to fight climate change as “eco-terrorists” or “climate terrorists” for the crime of trying to make the world a better place. As such, they want crack down on science in general including climate science and punish those who speak the truth or further the chances of humanities survival on this planet. Trump, for those who have waged a war on reality, is just the man to carry out that mission.
So, it is no surprise that Trump views climate change realists as little more than members of his personal enemies list. As a result, he is apparently acting swiftly to crack down on organizations that are actively trying to make the world a better place. Apparently, the Trump administration has ordered the freezing of bank accounts of multiple non-profit organizations including the universally recognized evil organizations of checks notes Habitat for Humanity and checks notes again United Way. I wish I was joking. From TechCrunch:
Citibank revealed in court filings on Wednesday that the FBI, the EPA, the EPA inspector general, and the Treasury Department have all requested that the bank freeze accounts of several nonprofits and state government agencies.
The accounts were frozen in February, but the new documents make public details that had previously been unknown, including a full list of the nonprofits under FBI scrutiny.
The funds were disbursed as part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act, a law passed by Congress in 2022. Of that, the EPA received $14 billion for a National Clean Investment Fund, which provides grants to green banks.
Citibank was selected as the financial agent to administer that money, holding it in accounts under the names of the awardees. It is also administering a separate, $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator program. The EPA’s contract with Citibank was publicly announced in April 2024.
The FBI has requested that Citibank place 30-day administrative freezes on accounts held by nonprofits that were recipients of the green bank funding. It also asked the bank to freeze other nonprofit and state government agency accounts, including Habitat for Humanity, United Way, the Colorado Clean Energy Fund, and New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
In case you are wondering about the full list of organizations impacted, here it is:
Appalachia, Coal and Energy Communities, and Underserved America LLC (d/b/a Green Bank for Rural America)
Mountain BizCapital
CPC Climate Capital
Colorado Clean Energy Fund
Michigan Saves, Inc.
Montgomery County Green Bank Corporation
Solar and Energy Loan Fund
California Infrastructure & Economic Development Bank
DC Green Bank
Efficiency Maine Trust
Illinois Finance Authority
Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority
State Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority – Missouri
State of New York Dept of Taxation and Finance
City First Enterprises, Inc.
New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation
Connecticut Green Bank
Community Development Venture Capital Alliance
Ohio Air Quality Development Authority
ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA Inc.
Elemental GG LLC
New Jersey Green Bank
Enterprise Green Accelerator, Inc./Enterprise Communities
Habitat Capital LLC
Habitat for Humanity International, Inc.
LISC Green LLC
Rewiring America Community Investment Fund
United Way Worldwide
The pure insanity of all of this is off the charts. I know some people are going to be pointing out that this is funding that has received approval from congress, therefore, there’s nothing Trump can do about this. The fact of the matter is, that would only be true in an era where the rule of law was still valid in the United States. We don’t live in those times anymore. Last year, the US Supreme Court made it very clear that the president is above the law. If he declares anything an “official act”, then he breaks no law no matter what he does. With Trump being president, he is basically king and can do whatever the hell he likes to inflict cruelty onto his own people, end of story.
All of this is part of Trump’s broader war on anything, or anyone, he considers to be political opponents. It was only yesterday that we covered Trumps speech from the Department of Justice (DOJ) where he renewed his calls to jail political opponents. This is merely another front on his war on anyone he considers opponents to his campaign to support his personal ego and to crack down on anyone who dares to disagree with him – even if indirectly. This move only further serves to chill speech of those who dares to disagree with Trump and his terrible policies. Chances are, it won’t be the last move, either.
Further reading: related court documents
