A coalition of nearly twenty U.S. states has filed a lawsuit against the administration of Donald Trump, accusing it of illegally terminating a $7 billion federal program aimed at expanding solar energy in low-income communities. The confrontation marks yet another escalation in the ongoing standoff between several Democratic-led states and the White House over environmental and climate policy.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that two lawsuits had been filed against Washington on behalf of the plaintiff states. The legal action seeks to restore the “Solar for All” program, previously managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before it was abruptly dismantled last summer.
According to Bonta, eliminating the program “denies millions of Americans access to clean and affordable energy” and poses a direct threat to “energy justice” in the country. California alone was set to receive $250 million to help households install rooftop solar panels.
Vulnerable Families Among the First Victims
In Arizona, where over 900,000 low-income households were eligible for the program, the federal decision could trigger a real energy crisis, warned state Attorney General Kris Mayes. She estimates that cutting this funding will lead to a 20% increase in electricity bills for more than 11,000 already struggling families.
Critics have denounced the move as an “ideological decision” designed to slow the growth of renewable energy in favor of coal and natural gas — two industries Donald Trump has vowed to revive. Since returning to power, the former president has been rolling back Joe Biden’s climate policies, which Trump has repeatedly labeled “economic sabotage.”
Legal Battle Escalates Over Trump’s Energy Agenda
One lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington seeks the immediate reinstatement of the solar program, while a second claim, submitted to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, demands financial compensation for the affected states.
This legal move adds to more than thirty lawsuits already brought by Democratic attorneys general against the Trump administration on issues ranging from immigration to environmental deregulation. States involved in this case include California, New York, Colorado, Maryland, Hawaii, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington D.C., among others.
Trump Doubles Down on Anti-Climate Policies
In August, Trump-appointed EPA director Lee Zeldin announced the termination of the solar initiative, calling it “bureaucratic waste.” Trump later defended the decision, arguing that renewable energy was “expensive, unreliable, and incompatible with American economic interests.”
Since returning to the White House, Trump has:
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Relaunched oil and gas drilling projects
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Signed executive orders to reopen several coal plants
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Withdrawn the U.S. from numerous international climate commitments
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Suspended federal funds for vulnerable communities
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Ordered a review of environmental justice initiatives introduced under Joe Biden
“An Attack on the Poor and America’s Energy Future”
Climate advocacy groups and clean energy unions have condemned what they describe as a “backward-looking policy” that locks the United States into fossil fuel dependence. Two weeks before the states’ lawsuits, several solar energy companies also took legal action in an attempt to save the program.
The Hopi Native American Tribe in northern Arizona was set to receive a $25 million grant to bring off-grid solar energy to remote villages. That project is now on hold.
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