RHODE ISLAND — Today, the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island granted summary judgment to plaintiffs challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s termination of the $7 billion Solar for All program, declaring EPA’s termination unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and ordering it vacated. The Court set aside EPA’s program-wide termination decision, clearing the way for Solar for All to resume in Rhode Island and across the country.
Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), together with the Conservation Law Foundation, Southern Environmental Law Center, and Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, brought the lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of workers, homeowners, businesses, and nonprofits harmed by EPA’s termination of the congressionally funded program.
Jillian Blanchard, Senior Vice President of Climate Change & Environmental Justice at Lawyers for Good Government, issued the following statement:
“Today’s ruling confirms what we have argued from the beginning: EPA could not simply erase a $7 billion program that Congress created and funded to lower energy bills and bring affordable solar power to communities across the country. The judge makes clear that EPA’s unlawful termination must be vacated.
“For more than a year, families, workers, businesses, and communities have been forced to pay the price for EPA’s unlawful decision while billions of dollars intended to lower electricity costs and strengthen local energy systems sat out of reach. Low income communities from Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and the Southwest deserve better.
“The administration may appeal, and we’ll be ready if it does. But today’s ruling is another reminder that congressionally approved clean energy investments cannot be disappeared by administrative fiat. We will continue fighting to ensure these funds reach the communities they were intended to benefit, strengthening our energy resilience and lowering costs for American families.”
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Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) is a nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of 125,000 lawyers, law students, and advocates in the fight for justice. We identify where lawyers can make the greatest impact and mobilize them to defend democracy and the rule of law, protect civil and human rights, and advance environmental justice through coordinated legal action and advocacy efforts that create meaningful change for all Americans.