Congress Must Pass H.R. 1023 to Repeal EPA’s Green Bank

President Biden’s so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” provided the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with $27 billion—nearly three times more than the agency’s entire FY23 appropriated budget—to launder money to a limited number of extreme, liberal non-profits to promote green programs and technology.

In reality, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) is a slush fund of taxpayer money that will be used by the Biden administration to fund its special interest friends to advance a radical rush-to-green agenda.

The GGRF is ripe for waste, fraud, and abuse. This week, the House is considering H.R. 1023, the Cutting Green Corruption and Taxes Act, led by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL), which repeals and rescinds the EPA’s $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Here’s why it’s important we take action:

1. China controls the components needed for renewable energy. By mandating technologies that are fully dependent on resources from China, the President is taking taxpayer dollars and using them to line the pockets of one of our greatest adversaries. 

• China controls the critical minerals supply chain, accounting for roughly 60% of the world’s production of rare earth minerals and materials. 
• Nearly half of the U.S. solar panel market share is controlled by China.

2. The EPA is not well-equipped to effectively and efficiently hand out $27-billion in taxpayer dollars.

• Under law, the EPA must obligate the funding by September 2024—an incredibly quick timeline that the EPA Inspector General has cautioned could lead to waste, fraud, and abuse.
• When asked during an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing if the EPA could guarantee none of the funds from the green bank slush fund would go to China, an EPA official conceded, “it’s a little more complicated” than a yes or no.
• American taxpayer dollars will be wasted on risky investments through the GGRF. According to the EPA, the program will “leverage public investment with private capital” to finance clean energy projects, despite the agency having no experience administering such a funding vehicle, referring to it as “a first-of-its-kind” program.

3. The Biden administration faces possible conflicts of interest with fund recipients.

• Some think tanks have raised alarms that the EPA could use this program to subsidize favored special interest organizations.
• Others have noted that current EPA appointees have ties to potential recipients of these sizeable awards, raising ethical concerns.

Bottomline: To reduce the budget deficit, protect against government corruption, and stop China from receiving American taxpayer dollars, Congress must pass H.R. 1023, the Cutting Green Corruption and Taxes Act.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the GGRF.

CLICK HERE to read the letter E&C Republicans sent to EPA Administrator Michael Regan in October 2023 sounding the alarm on the GGRF.