紐時賞析／美環保署擬取消70億美元家用太陽能補助

全美太陽能專案旨在協助中低收入屋主安裝太陽能板及拓展社區太陽能倡議。 （紐約時報）

E.P.A. May Move to Cancel $7 Billion in Grants for Home Solar

美環保署擬取消70億美元家用太陽能補助

The Trump administration is preparing to terminate $7 billion in federal grants intended to help low- and moderate-income families install solar panels on their homes, according to two people briefed on the matter.

兩名知情人士指出，川普政府正準備終止試圖協助中低收入的家庭在房屋安裝太陽能板的70億美元聯邦補助款。

The Environmental Protection Agency is drafting termination letters to the 60 state agencies, nonprofit groups and Native American tribes that received the grants under the “Solar for All” program, with the goal of sending the letters by the end of this week, according to the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

兩人透露，環保署正草擬終止函，準備寄給全美60個州政府機構、非營利團體與美洲原住民部落，這些機構與團體皆在「全民太陽能」計劃下獲得補助。環保署的目標是在本週結束前寄出這些信件。兩位知情人士因未獲授權公開發言，所以要求匿名。

If finalized, the move would escalate the Trump administration’s efforts to claw back billions of dollars in grants awarded under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s signature climate law. And it would be certain to draw legal challenges from grant recipients, many of whom have pursued projects in Republican-led states.

若此決策最終定案，將進一步升高川普政府回收資金的行動力度，這些資金原先是根據2022年的《降低通膨法案》發放，而該法案是拜登擔任總統時的代表性氣候法。這項行動勢必引發受補助單位的法律挑戰，其中許多項目甚至是在共和黨執政的州推動的。

Representatives for the EPA did not initially respond to a request for comment. After this article was published, Carolyn Holran, an EPA spokesperson, said no final decision had been made on the grants.

環境保護署的代表們最初沒有迴應置評請求。本篇報導刊出後，環保署發言人卡洛琳．霍蘭表示，目前尚未對這筆補助作出最終決定。

“EPA is working to ensure Congressional intent is fully implemented in accordance with the law,” Holran wrote in an email.

「環保署正努力確保國會的立法意圖能夠完全按照法律落實，」霍蘭在電郵中寫道。

Already, the EPA has sought to cancel $20 billion out of the $27 billion in climate grants authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. That move has prompted a legal battle and a widening controversy involving the EPA, the Justice Department, the FBI and Citibank, where the funds are being held.

在此之前，環保署已經試圖取消《降低通膨法案》授權的270億美元氣候補助中的200億美元。該舉動已引發法律戰，並牽連環保署、司法部、聯調局以及代管資金的花旗銀行。

The Solar for All program was not only intended to help low- and moderate-income homeowners go solar. It was also meant to expand community solar initiatives, which bring solar power to people who don’t own their own homes or otherwise can’t install their own panels.

全民太陽能專案不只是試圖協助中低收入屋主使用太陽能。這也意味着拓展社區太陽能倡議，讓沒有房屋和無法安裝太陽能板的人們也能使用太陽能。

The program was projected to help 900,000 households access solar energy, according to estimates by the Biden administration. The idea was to reduce the use of fossil fuels, the burning of which is dangerously heating the planet, while also helping to lower electricity bills. The participating households were expected to collectively save more than $350 million each year on utility costs.

拜登政府估計，這項專案預計協助90萬戶家庭獲取太陽能。這個想法是爲了減少化石燃料使用，因爲燃燒化石燃料正危險地導致地球升溫，而該計劃同時也有助於降低電費。參與計劃的家庭預計每年將共節省3億5000萬美元的水電費。

Under the Biden administration, the EPA awarded all $7 billion Congress had allocated to the Solar for All program. Of that money, roughly $53 million has been spent so far, according to an analysis by Atlas Public Policy, a research firm.

拜登政府執政期間，環境保護署將國會撥給全民太陽能專案的70億美元款項全數核發。研究機構「亞特拉斯公共政策」分析指出，這筆款項目前爲止已有約5300萬美元被使用。

文／Maxine Joselow 　　　譯／羅方妤

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