Federal government sued by 16 states over Trump’s decision to halt EV charger programs – Jalopnik

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have sued the federal government in response to President Trump’s decision to suspend two electric vehicle charging infrastructure grant programs. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the president’s Department of Transportation has declined to approve new funding under two EV charging infrastructure programs created by Congress. They were part of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed by former President Biden in 2022.

This latest lawsuit is led by the attorneys general of California and Colorado, but has been joined by AGs from Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.

In June, a US judge blocked Trump’s plan to withhold funding awarded to 14 states from a separate $5 billion electric vehicle charger infrastructure fund approved in 2022, so there is precedent here. By Reuters:

“This is just another reckless effort that will delay the fight against air pollution and climate change, slow innovation, thwart green job creation and leave communities without access to clean, affordable transportation,” Bonta said.

One of the programs provides $2.5 billion in funding to states and cities for electric vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. The lawsuit, led by California, Washington and Colorado, said Trump’s action “put at risk $1.8 billion in federal awards to dozens of state and local governments and made the vast majority of these funds unavailable.”

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Trump has targeted electric vehicles on a number of fronts. In June, the Republican president signed a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to ban California’s landmark plan to end the sale of gasoline-only cars by 2035 and two other vehicle regulations.

Trump has also — rather infamously — signed legislation that eliminated the $7,500 EV tax credit, and earlier this month he proposed lowering fuel economy standards that the Biden administration finalized last year. It’s all part of an effort to make it easier for American automakers to sell gas-powered cars.

Let’s hope this money can start flowing again so that our EV infrastructure can be built up where it needs to be. And before you all start complaining about subsidies for the EV industry, ask yourselves what kind of subsidies the oil and gas industry gets.