A plan to help energy companies, local governments and others pay for programs to reduce harmful methane and other gas emissions was canceled by President Donald Trump’s administration this week.
The grants included other initiatives, including improvement to the electric grid.
Nearly $600 million in previously promised government grants to more than 30 applicants from Illinois was abruptly halted by Trump’s Department of Energy, according to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s office.
According to Duckworth, the cancellations fell in line with others across the country that appeared to be targeting states where Trump did not win in the 2024 presidential election.
In a statement, Duckworth called the moves “vindictive.”
Methane, a component of natural gas, contributes to global warming as well as harmful pollution that can exacerbate respiratory illness.
The biggest grant affected by Trump’s move appears to be a more than $200 million initiative to reduce methane emissions studied by the nonprofit research organization GTI Energy in Des Plaines.
GTI researches technologies for the energy industry, including natural gas companies. Its government grant was to be used to also detect methane leaks.
A spokesperson said GTI had not received official word about the grant cancellation and declined to comment.
Other grants nixed by Trump involved the “capture” of carbon dioxide gas, which is created from the burning of fossil fuels, including oil, and is the largest source of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
Cook County, University of Illinois, ComEd, Exelon and Naperville are among the grantees to see their previously guaranteed funding yanked.
ComEd and its parent company Exelon were hoping for funding for electric grid improvements, according to Duckworth’s office.
U.S. Department of Energy representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
In a posting on the social media platform X, Trump’s budget director Russ Vought said Wednesday that across the country “nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being canceled.”
He then listed California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington as states, in addition to Illinois, that are seeing climate-fighting funding repealed.
Other politicians criticized the president’s actions.
“Revoking billions of dollars for critical energy and research projects, cherry-picked from states that did not vote for President Trump in the 2024 election, is just the latest abuse of power,” Sen. Dick Durbin said.
A spokesman for Gov. JB Pritzker had a similar view.
“Energy investments fuel our economy, support workers, and keep homes, schools, and businesses running smoothly, yet blocking them for political reasons weakens our energy systems and burdens working families,” the spokesman said.
Contributing: Tina Sfondeles