Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is advocating to cancel out a $20 billion climate slush fund approved under the Biden administration.
Marshall, who is also a candidate for the U.S. Senate, joined a coalition of states Tuesday supporting the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) effort to shut down a Biden-era climate grant program.
EPA officials admitted the administration rushed nearly $20 billion in taxpayer funds out the door like “gold bars off the Titanic,” prioritizing political timing and ideological goals over accountability, oversight, and the rule of law.
“When federal officials admit they were throwing taxpayer money overboard like ‘gold bars off the Titanic,’ that’s not climate policy, it’s reckless mismanagement,” Marshall said. “Forcing EPA to keep paying out these grants would mean ordering the agency to violate federal law and the Constitution.”
According to the brief, the Biden administration funneled nearly $20 billion to just eight nonprofit entities, many with little to no financial track record, through a novel funding structure that stripped EPA of meaningful control over taxpayer dollars.
Internal admissions revealed officials viewed the program as an “insurance policy” against losing power, hastily rewriting grant agreements after the 2024 election to limit EPA’s authority to intervene.
“That’s not how government is supposed to work, and it’s not something the courts should endorse,” Marshall added. “EPA has a duty to stop a scheme designed to evade oversight and lock in billions before voters could hold anyone accountable.”
The states argue the grants violated the Inflation Reduction Act’s requirement that funds be awarded on a competitive basis and failed to serve the general welfare, as required by the Constitution.
The brief also details how the program disproportionately harmed energy-producing states like Alabama by directing taxpayer dollars toward ideologically driven projects while undermining reliable, affordable energy and local economies.
The coalition is asking the court to allow EPA to proceed with rescinding and reassessing the grants to ensure federal funds are spent lawfully, transparently, and in accordance with Congress’s intent.
The West Virginia led coalition included Alabama and attorneys general from: Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
