Clarification: 8:50 p.m. Jan. 29, 2025: This story was modified to distinguish Nicole Lee’s personal statements from those made on behalf of her business and the programs that contract it.
Following the issuance late Monday of a White House memo ordering federal agencies to freeze all grant and loan disbursements, Coastal Georgia environmental grant recipients are scrambling to understand how they’ll be affected.
“We just don’t know how this will impact us,” said St. Marys Riverkeeper Emily Floore, whose nonprofit recently won a $716,000 grant partially funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to develop plans to protect local communities from the effects of climate change.
“We haven’t heard from the (grantor) National Fish and Wildlife Foundation yet. We’re waiting with bated breath.”
Environmental advocates worried about programs run through states and municipalities as well as through nonprofits.
“Cutting off Southern communities from critically important funding sources that are providing much needed support and resources is alarming and will have far reaching impacts,” said Geoff Gisler, Program Director for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “If these funds are withheld, even for a short period of time, communities and businesses in our region will be unnecessarily and irreparably harmed.”
SELC noted that the memo “uses broad terms, failing to specify which programs will be affected, creating confusion for agencies and the public alike.”
The freeze could extend to EPA’s Solar for All program, which accelerated and expanded access to solar projects. The Georgia BRIGHT program received a $156M grant from Solar for All to install rooftop solar and batteries in disadvantaged communities in the state. The funding was poised to allow the solar lease program to bring solar panels to an estimated 5,000 rooftops in Georgia.
Nicole Lee is the owner of Savannah-based Be Smart Home Solutions, which has installed about 20 rooftop solar arrays on homes and churches as a Georgia BRIGHT contractor.
“We at Be Smart are hopeful this issue will be resolved,” Lee said on behalf of the company. “We are grateful for the work that is being done with all the programs that we work with and the impact that is making on families.”
Lee employs a staff of 14. A funding pause would mean a loss of work for them, she said.
“Funding is being taken away just because clean energy is a bad word,” Lee said, speaking personally. “It is viewed as something that isn’t attractive to your administration, although it goes to help the greater good, even those who are your constituents who vote for you.”
Lee is also contracted to work with the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority in its weatherization program, which received more than $84.3 M to provide energy conservation measures to income-eligible households.
“For GEFA, they’re like, continue to work and move forward,” Lee said. “We’re going to make sure that those who are part of the program currently, they’re gonna get the benefits of the program.”
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources relies on federal funding to keep its programs running. In 2023, for example, about 56% of the Wildlife Resources Division’s $77 million budget came from federal funds.
Spokesman Rick Lavender wrote in an email that the DNR is not providing comment on how the Trump Administration’s grant freeze will affect it.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., released a statement Tuesday about the pause: “The President’s suspension of Federal grants for Georgia threatens chaos. This erratic decision risks serious damage to health care, education, public safety, and local governments across our state.”
The Tide brings regular notes and observations on news and events by The Current staff.
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