By  Nicholas Kusnetz
June 2, 2023

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm testifies during the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Committee hearing titled Fiscal Year 2024 Request for the Department of Energy, in Rayburn Building on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

As a key piece of President Joe Biden’s climate agenda takes shape, environmental groups are warning that his administration is undermining its own goals by shielding a federal grant program from public scrutiny. 

The Energy Department’s $8 billion clean hydrogen program is poised to begin funding projects later this year, but officials have refused to disclose information about who has applied or how applicants plan to use the public money.

Some of the nation’s largest environmental groups joined with local organizations in a letter sent last month to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, saying that the lack of transparency was leaving communities “entirely in the dark about planned projects, with little to no opportunity to meaningfully weigh in.”

The clean hydrogen program was established by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to help finance the construction of “hubs” around the country that would produce and use the climate-friendly fuel. The goal is to help cut carbon pollution from sectors of the economy that will be difficult to electrify, like heavy manufacturing and long-haul transport.

But many scientists and climate advocates have warned that new hydrogen projects could also have local impacts and safety risks that need to be disclosed and addressed, and might fail to substantially cut climate pollution if they are not developed properly.

“It’s a huge opportunity there that we’re really excited about,” said Pete Budden, who leads state and regional-level hydrogen policy work for the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the groups that signed the letter. But “there’s risks that if we do it wrong we can delay other climate action and we can even increase emissions if we’re using dirty hydrogen,” he added. ”We want to make sure that there’s an appropriate level of scrutiny on these plans.”