Leah Garden

Washington, D.C.

Climate Tech Reporter at Trellis

Climate Tech Reporter at @GreenBiz, 2021 Environment Fellow @ypfp. Master's in Sustainability Management at @AmericanU. Open to tips: [email protected]

Articles

Climate United Fund v. Citibank (and EPA): What you should know

2 weeks ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

Climate United sued the EPA and Citibank for freezing nearly $7 billion in funding towards decarbonization projects. The first suit of its kind during the second Trump administration, its ruling will set a precedent for any future litigation accusing the federal government of illegally withholding funding. Climate United, often referred to as America’s green bank, sued the EPA and Citibank over its congressionally appropriated funds being frozen.
EU's carbon pricing scheme lowers emissions to 50% of 2005 levels

2 weeks ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

The EU’s cap-and-trade scheme — the Emissions Trading System (ETS) — released data showing that participating sectors have reduced emission to 50 percent of 2005 levels. The reductions keep the EU on track to meet its 62 percent emissions decrease by 2030 goal — thanks, in large part, to a 12 percent emissions reduction seen in the power sector. The ETS’s progress proves climate mitigation economics can be a success, right as the EU has been slowly shifting right after its 2024 elections.
Why a green cement bill might just make it into law

2 weeks ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

The IMPACT Act, a low-emissions cement bill, passed with a large majority in the Republican-held House. The bill allows states to decide whether they want to take advantage of a $15 billion to implement low-emission cement, concrete and asphalt R&D and initiatives. The bill was successful in this anti-climate era because funding was already designated and lobbying was strategic.
Trump's tariffs endanger California-Mexico clean energy deal

3 weeks ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

California Governor Gavin Newsom thought he’d delivered a clean technology manufacturing boon to his state with a new four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alfonso Durazo Montaño, the governor of Sonora, Mexico. Then President Donald Trump announced rounds of tariffs. To say the story is still developing is an understatement, but how it does will matter a great deal to a great many people and businesses on both sides of the border. Here’s what we know so far.
Clean energy reps lobby Congress to save tax credits. You can too

4 weeks ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

Clean energy industry representatives are taking to Capital Hill this week to protect clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Organized by Clean Energy for America (CE4A) and representing more than 100 companies, lobbyists are asking Republican representatives to maintain crucial clean energy tax credits. “The default position is full repeal of these energy tax credits,” said Andrew Reagan, president of CE4A and organizer of the lobbying push.
These states are picking up the corporate climate disclosures slack

1 month ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

The European Union is scaling back its landmark CSRD corporate climate disclosure law, while the SEC recently stopped defending in court its corporate emissions disclosure law. But as a result of existing and on-the-way state-level laws, companies will have to keep moving forward with plans to monitor and report Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Here is a list of states that already have laws mandating corporate emissions disclosure or have introduced such bills.
Why federal efforts to expedite environmental permitting probably won't

1 month ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

In an effort to expedite the federal permitting process, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) rescinded its power to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), likely achieving the opposite result and further slowing an already long permitting review.
What the EPA's rollback announcement means right now

1 month ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

EPA Chief Lee Zeldin announced what he’s calling the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” within the EPA by overhauling 31 environmental rules dating back to the Obama-era. “[The EPA’s] announcement could put millions of Americans’ health in jeopardy and is antithetical to EPA’s core mission, said Conrad Schneider, U.S. senior director at the Clean Air Task Force.
Climate United sues EPA and Citibank for frozen IRA funds

1 month ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

Climate United, one of the three coalitions selected by President Joe Biden’s EPA to lend $20 billion to local decarbonization projects — aka America’s “green bank” — sued Trump’s EPA head Lee Zeldin and Citibank for freezing the funds March 10. According to Climate United, neither the EPA nor Citi produced the evidence to justify suspending the accounts.
Citibank and EPA spar over frozen Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

1 month ago | trellis.net | Leah Garden

In a February 12 social media post, Lee Zeldin, newly installed head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), leveled accusations of financial mismanagement and rushed oversight against the Biden-era Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). Soon after, nearly $20 billion in GGRF funds held by Citibank were suddenly frozen and the FBI questioned EPA employees about the program, turning the allegations into a criminal probe.