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Federal Hydrogen Program Is Cutting Out Local Groups,
Threatening Climate Goals, Advocates Say
By
Nicholas
Kusnetz
June 2, 2023
![](images/images_06_05_2023/jennifer-granholm_tom-williams-cq-roll-call-getty-1024x683.jpg)
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.”
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