Members of environmental groups as well as clean energy stakeholders gathered with U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove, on Friday for a roundtable to discuss how the temporarily halted federal funding freeze may impact climate action.
Although President Donald Trump’s funding freeze has been paused by a federal judge, much uncertainty remains over the future of clean energy solutions such as solar and wind.
For the near future, one of Casten’s biggest concerns is a Constitutional crisis due to the new administration.
“We have a president who does not feel constrained by the Constitution or the law,” Casten said. “We have laws that we passed that are rapidly decarbonizing our energy system and bringing on low [energy] cost assets.”
“Those are the laws.” Casten said. “You can change the laws, but to change the laws you need to get votes.”
“The current administration does not feel compelled to honor the bounds of…
