Colorado among states to score win in fracas over funds for electric vehicle charging
A federal judge used an episode from The Simpsons to illustrate her ruling that prevents the Trump administration from withholding money approved for states to build charging networks for electric vehicles Colorado is one of states that of late sued the administration for not releasing billions of dollars authorized under the Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act to build charging stations for EVs U S District Judge Tana Lin in Washington state granted a preliminary junction Tuesday to the states finding that the administration overstepped its constitutional and statutory authority and attempted to override the express will of Congress The decision lifts the freeze on federal funds while the scenario moves forward The administration can appeal the ruling but cannot withhold or revoke previously approved funds without following the federal act s requirements Lin wrote The billion National Electric Car Infrastructure scheme was championed by the Biden administration to provide the charging networks to substantially boost the number of EVs on the nation s roads Lin referred to a episode of The Simpsons in which Homer has to cut short a reunion with his long-lost mother because her traveling companies are worried their electric van has only minutes of juice left Specific years later Congress sought to address the phenomenon that has come to be known as range anxiety ' the concern about finding the next charging station Lin wrote While the NEVI funding was intended to build out a national EV charging organization President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office to pause the money The order revealed the goal was to ensure a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles and directed agencies to review their processes for awarding the grants loans and contracts Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser explained the state could lose tens of millions of dollars under the administration s actions Related Articles Owners dustup turns to legal duel at Little Bear Saloon in Evergreen St Charles Town reopening store pumps at former Colfax Choice Area Colorado s Willy Wonka of cheese made pizza more affordable for the masses Phony Denver crypto school robbed Florida man of K he says Law firm in Belcaro sues Google to get one-star review removed In Colorado we relied on millions in congressional funding and our federally approved plans to build out electric bicycle charging stations for residents throughout our state Weiser announced in a message Wednesday A large number of of those projects are already underway but the administration refuses to release the congressionally mandated funds needed to complete construction Lin s ruling is a win for Coloradans for clean air and for our clean ability market stated Weiser who has joined other states in a series of lawsuits targeting other Trump administration executive orders and funding cutbacks as well as actions on immigration and tariffs The EV charging infrastructure campaign was intended to allocate billion over five years The Associated Press shared that an estimated billion had been made available Lin s ruling didn t apply to the District of Columbia Minnesota and Vermont She revealed they didn t provide enough evidence of the impacts on them
