Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Funds Frozen, 16 States Sue Trump

JAKARTA - The United States (US) government under President Donald Trump is once again facing a legal challenge related to clean energy policies. A total of 16 states, along with the District of Columbia, on Tuesday, December 16, filed a lawsuit against the federal government for suspending two important grant programs for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.

The lawsuit is led by the states of California, Washington, and Colorado. California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused the Trump administration's Department of Transportation (USDOT) of unilaterally refusing to approve new funding from two programs that Congress had actually mandated as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure law in 2022.

"This is just another frivolous attempt that will hinder the fight against air pollution and climate change, slow down innovation, thwart the creation of green jobs, and leave people without access to clean and affordable transportation," said Rob Bonta, underlining the serious impact of this action, reported by Reuters, Wednesday, December 17.

One of the programs being challenged provides $2.5 billion in funding to states and cities to build EV and hydrogen charging infrastructure.

This is not the first time that the Trump-era USDOT has faced legal issues related to EV funding. In June, a US judge had blocked the Trump administration's attempt to withhold funds previously granted to 14 states including California, New York, Illinois, and Washington, from a separate EV charging infrastructure fund worth 5 billion US dollars which was also approved in 2022.

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A Series of Anti-EV Steps by Trump

This suspension is in line with a series of steps taken by President Trump targeting the electric vehicle sector.

In June, President Trump signed a resolution to overturn California's ambitious plan to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035.

Trump has also signed legislation ending the $7,500 EV tax credit.

This month, he even proposed cutting fuel economy standards that former President Joe Biden finalized last year, a move designed to make it easier for automakers to sell gas-powered vehicles.

Previously, in February, the Trump-led USDOT had also suspended an EV charging program worth 5 billion dollars, which was part of the