Trump initiates abandonment of Department of Energy (DOE) initiatives, with the priority being the reduction of industrial carbon emissions.

The Trump administration has proposed the termination of the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) due to allegations of distorting energy markets and forcing taxpayers to shoulder the risk of new technology development. This decision, announced on Friday by the Department of Energy, has led to the cancellation of 24 projects, totaling $3.7 billion dollars.

One of the affected projects is the carbon capture and storage project by natural gas giant Calpine, which was expected to receive a federal cost share of up to $270 million. If completed, the project would capture 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually from their natural gas combined cycle power plant and provide 250 full-time jobs.

Another project, a chemical recycling facility by Tennessee-based Eastman Chemical, was awarded up to $375 million. ExxonMobil also began award negotiations with the DOE for up to nearly $332 million in federal cost share for emissions capture at a Texas petrochemical facility.

Many of the canceled awards were for smaller projects, some as low as $4 million, designated for heavy industry. The Calpine project, if completed, would provide steam and power to a chemicals manufacturing facility and the Texas grid.

Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, stated that these canceled carbon capture projects would have a significant economic multiplier effect around the country. According to Stolark, nearly 300 publicly-announced CCUS projects around the country have already created over $77 billion in private capital expenditures.

The DOE stated that the projects failed to advance the energy needs of the American people, were not economically viable, and would not generate a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars. In the case of every award given out by OCED, the deals contained strict cost-share requirements.

Program staff and grant management staff at OCED were not involved in the decision-making process. The OCED, before the recent award cancellations, managed more than $20 billion in project investments.

The House reconciliation bill passed last week may lead to a re-evaluation of canceling all $15 billion in awards by the DOE, but is unlikely to make a significant impact on the federal deficit. If projects fail without federal funding, communities in at least 12 states stand to lose at least the amount in private sector investment that was committed for the projects.

The 17 canceled projects under the Industrial Demonstrations Program began award negotiations with DOE in March 2024, eight months before the presidential election. All 25 of the canceled awards received conditional commitments from DOE long before the election.

The DOE proposal intends to "terminate as many awards as possible" using legal authorities, with canceled funds being used for deficit reduction. The responsibility for the decision to cancel 24 prizes by the Trump administration within the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations lies with the Trump administration itself; no specific individual is named in the available search results.

This move by the Trump administration has sparked concerns about the future of clean energy projects in the United States and the potential economic impact on communities across the country.

Trump initiates abandonment of Department of Energy (DOE) initiatives, with the priority being the reduction of industrial carbon emissions.