Colorado State University would lose about $340 million in funding for seven energy projects as part of billions in cuts proposed by the Department of Energy amid the federal shutdown.
More than $324 million of that funding was already approved and earmarked for three active projects the university had not yet begun. Another nearly $19 million was for four ongoing research projects.
Among the seven grants canceled is a methane emissions reduction program that had been awarded nearly $300 million.
“It breaks my heart, actually, because CSU was doing some very good and important work, and the Department of Energy scrubbed that,” said former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, who was the Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at CSU until last year and was a clean energy champion during his time in office.
- See a full breakdown of the canceled projects released by CSU at the bottom of this story.
CSU would be hit the hardest of Colorado’s schools. Colorado School of Mines would lose almost $50 million in funding as part of the cuts, and the University of Colorado would see $8 million stripped.
It comes as the DOE nixed nearly $8 billion in climate-related funding from more than 200 projects across 16 blue states.
While different entities released different figures for the total impact, a list of canceled grants from the House Appropriations Committee shows north of $600 million being slashed from more than three dozen projects across Colorado, including a $70 million Xcel Energy grant.
“The attempt to use a government shutdown to unlawfully rescind already appropriated funds and terminate federal employees is illegal, pure and simple,” Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO-2) said in a statement. “The Trump administration’s unlawful and politically motivated attacks on communities across our state will inflict direct harm on Colorado’s students, schools, businesses, and many others. It is shameful.”
Gov. Polis urged lawmakers to reopen the government and reinstate the funding.
“This is very important research, very important work that benefits our country tremendously, and I hope it gets restored,” he said.
Polis said his office would “pursue all means we can support the research that we need that powers our future.”
