Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

IRA funding for Catholic organizations’ green energy uncertain under Trump administration

IRA funding for Catholic organizations’ green energy uncertain under Trump administration

solar panels

Andres Siimon/Unsplash

Tucked away behind a Catholic organization building in northeast Washington, D.C., lies a vast solar farm soaking up the sun’s rays as energy for Catholic buildings.

Dan Last, the co-executive officer of Mission Energy, which is partnered with the Catholic Energies Program, helped build this solar farm for Catholic Charities along with 18 other solar farms for Catholic organizations in the Washington metropolitan area. But most recently, Last said he has been taking screenshots of the United States Department of Energy websites because of the “uncertainty” President Donald Trump’s administration has introduced into the industry.


“Rather than going out and trying to give nonprofit organizations equal access to solar and help develop new projects so that I can employ my people, I am a highly paid CEO who is taking screenshots,” Last said.

Since taking office, The New York Times reported the Trump administration has taken down more than 8,000 web pages from across more than a dozen U.S. government websites. This includes more than 3,000 pages from the Center for Disease Control and more than 1,000 pages from the Office of Justice Programs.

Several pages mentioning environmental policy initiatives have also been taken down from the Department of the Interior website.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

What Last is screenshotting in response are Energy Community Maps. Last said these are areas “disproportionately” impacted by power production, meaning they are communities surrounded by infrastructure like power plants or mining sites.

One of Last’s screenshots of Energy Community Maps, blurred for security purposes. (Courtesy of Dan Last)

These screenshots Last took shows individuals in areas eligible to receive an extra 10% of direct pay for renewable energy projects affiliated with the Inflation Reduction Act.

Former President Joe Biden passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022 which partly helped individuals and businesses receive tax credit if they install renewable energy on their property. For Last and his clients at Catholic nonprofits at Mission Energy, the Inflation Reduction Act subsidizes 30% to 50% of the costs for their projects through direct pay.

“It really was a game changer for nonprofit organizations,” Last said.

On Trump’s first day in office on Jan. 20, one of 26 executive orders he signed titled, “Unleashing American Energy,” stopped individuals and organizations from receiving funding for projects like the ones from Mission Energy. This order still remains in effect.

“All agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” the executive order stated.

Last said he is not sure what will happen if IRA funding completely goes away. But if it stops, the funding of renewable energy projects will shift back towards Power Purchase Agreements, a method organizations used before the IRA. These agreements have third party developers pay for renewable energy projects and are paid back from the organizations to investors over a set amount of years.

“[Third party developers] like working with our groups because churches, Catholic healthcare systems, religious communities are not going anywhere and in some cases have been around for hundreds of years,” Last said in a previous Planet Forward article.

Third party developers for renewable energy projects are only allowed in at least 29 states and Washington, D.C.

Out of Mission Energy’s 40 completed projects, 26 of them have used a Power Purchase Agreement. Since the passage of the IRA, only two out of the 14 projects under construction are having a Power Purchase agreement. All 14 projects are using some IRA benefits with 12 of them using direct pay.

Besides working with Catholic institutions, Mission Energy also works with other nonprofits. Last said before the IRA, most groups chose to go the Power Purchase Agreement route. Last year Last said only one Power Purchase Agreement was settled for a project.

“I’ll proudly say this as a CEO of a solar company, I think it would be ludicrous to repeal the direct pay,” Last said.

IRA funding for Catholic organizations’ green energy uncertain under Trump administration was first published on Planet Forward and was republished with permission.

Maggie Rhoads is a student journalist attending George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. At The Fulcrum she covers how legislation and policy are impacting communities.

Read More

Debate on Antisemitism Awareness Act Weighs the Restraint of Freedom of Speech

Committee ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) delivers remarks during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee vote on the nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the next Secretary of Labor February 27, 2025 in Washington, DC

Getty Images,

Debate on Antisemitism Awareness Act Weighs the Restraint of Freedom of Speech

WASHINGTON—Some Senate Democrats voiced concerns this week about damage to free speech due to a new law that would define antisemitism. However, several Democrats co-sponsored the bill with most Republicans.

“I worry that this bill is unconstitutional and will move us far along the authoritarian direction that the Trump administration is taking us,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at Wednesday’s hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

Keep ReadingShow less
A Missed Opportunity

Broken speech bubbles.

Getty Images, MirageC

A Missed Opportunity

en español

In a disappointing turn of events, Connecticut has chosen to follow the precedent set by President Donald Trump’s English-Only Executive Order, effectively disregarding the federal mandates of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Keep ReadingShow less
The DOGE and Executive Power

White House Senior Advisor, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The DOGE and Executive Power

The DOGE is not the first effort to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in government. It is the first to receive such vociferous disdain along what appears to be purely political lines. Most presidents have made efforts in these areas, some more substantial than others, with limited success. Here are some modern examples.

In 1982, President Reagan used an executive order to establish a private sector task force to identify inefficiencies in government spending (commonly called the Grace Commission). The final report included 2,478 recommendations to reduce wasteful government practices, estimated savings of $429 billion over the first three years and $6.8 trillion between 1985 and 2000. Most of the savings required legislative changes, and Congress ignored most of those proposals.

Keep ReadingShow less
World Vaccine Congress Washington Tackles Anti-Vaccine Rhetoric in U.S. Politics

The World Vaccine Congress Washington is held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, April 23, 2025

(Erin Drumm/Medill New Service)

World Vaccine Congress Washington Tackles Anti-Vaccine Rhetoric in U.S. Politics

WASHINGTON—A vaccine policy expert challenged attendees of the World Vaccine Congress Washington to imagine a deadly disease spreading in various places around the country. We have the tools to stop it, but lawmakers were instead debating whether or not to use them.

In fact, that describes what is currently happening across the United States, according to Rehka Lakshmanan, M.H.A.

Keep ReadingShow less