Washington state’s two senators and a group of more than 30 others are demanding the federal government restore federal funding for hydrogen energy projects.
The $1 billion in canceled funding by the Trump administration includes millions once dedicated to projects in Lewis County.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, announced Wednesday that a coalition of lawmakers had officially demanded the U.S. Department of Energy reinstate Biden-era hydrogen funding canceled by the Trump administration.
The letter, sent to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, called for restored funding to support 223 projects canceled in October of last year.
The motion to send the letter was led by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Washington, and Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico. According to the letter, it was prompted by a recent admission in court documents by Trump administration officials that they had canceled or withheld clean energy funding based on if the grant recipient was in a Democrat-controlled state.
“Now that court documents have confirmed what we knew to be true, we write to demand that you restore previously awarded funding that the Trump administration has weaponized in an attempt to punish perceived political enemies,” reads the first lines of the letter.
The letter from the group of senators specifically cites reporting from The New York Times published late last week that located the admission from federal officials in federal court documents for a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration.
According to a news release from Cantwell, the canceled funding halted more than $1 billion intended for projects in Washington, including the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub intended to benefit Bellingham, Richland and Lewis County.
More than $45 million for projects in the Lewis County area was canceled. That included $10 million for a CleanFiber production plant and more than $36 million for Lewis County Transit to aid the agency's foray into hydrogen fuel production.
Lewis County Transit broke ground on its hydrogen production and fueling station in August of last year. The hydrogen hub fund was cut just over a month later.
The project, which was funded in part by the federal grant money and is moving forward, will go without much of the regional infrastructure originally planned as part of the hydrogen hub.
There have been no public announcements concerning the status of the CleanFiber facility originally planned for Chehalis since the funding was cut last year.
For previous reporting by The Chronicle addressing the federal funding cuts, visit https://tinyurl.com/4becxbx4.
