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By Andrew Hazzard and Cynthia Tu, Sahan Journal

Frogtown Green was going to plant more trees this year. 

The small nonprofit in the diverse, working class Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul goes door-to-door in the spring looking for residents who would like to plant a tree in their yard. It’s important work in Frogtown, which has less tree canopy coverage than the city as a whole. They’ve planted 150 new trees in recent years, but were ramping up to plant 300 for the next three years with help from a new $300,000 federal grant, according to Frogtown Green Outreach Coordinator Xiem Vuong. 

But when the funding was cut off in March, Frogtown Green had to call the nursery and cancel this year’s order, Xoung said. Now, they’re back to planting their normal allotment of 150 trees. 

Several local climate and environmental advocacy organizations will have to make due with less after President Donald Trump’s administration made sweeping cuts and cancelled climate-related contracts, many specifically aimed to serve diverse, historically polluted communities like Frogtown known as environmental justice areas. 

“That’s been pretty tough,” Vuong said. 

The state, cities, tribes and community based organizations like Frogtown Green are all impacted by massive cuts made by the Trump administration. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin canceled more than $1.5 billion in grants nationwide focused on environmental justice areas, the Associated Press reported. 

Former President Joe Biden’s Administration labeled neighborhoods with a high percentage of people who are either low-income or people of color, or that were historically polluted or underserved, as environmental justice areas. The distinction includes federally recognized tribal nations. 

Many grants tied to Biden’s administration that included the phrases “environmental justice” or “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) were rescinded by Trump’s administration. 

At least $42 million dollars dedicated to environmental justice in Minnesota have been cancelled as of April 15, according to data compiled from the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget and the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk. Another $3.6 million awarded to the state for climate resiliency infrastructure is paused.

“The previous Administration used DEI and Environmental Justice to advance ideological priorities, distributing billions of dollars to organizations in the name of climate equity,” Zeldin said in a written statement. “This ends now. We will be good stewards of tax dollars and do everything in our power to deliver clean air, land, and water to every American, regardless of race, religion, background, and creed.”

Democratic lawmakers have called the cuts illegal, especially for grants funded by Congress that have signed contracts and have already begun work. 

“The breach of trust and the breach of contract, how is this allowed?” Vuong said.  

Focusing investments on communities historically burdened by pollution makes sense, said Pete Wyckoff, an assistant commissioner for energy at the Minnesota Department of Commerce. The state is pushing for the funding to be fulfilled. 

“We will keep fighting for these monies that are owed to us to do work that is important to Minnesotans,” he said.

Community Power, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that works with low-income households to lower their energy bills and decrease their carbon footprint, had a $500,000 grant cancelled,  said Co-Executive Director Brian Krohnke. 

The money was intended to help the organization grow its energy navigator program, which plans to go through four environmental justice neighborhoods in the Twin Cities and connect residents with rebates, discounts and programs to save money. 

Community Power was in the process of hiring outreach staff from St. Paul’s Frogtown and Rondo neighborhoods, and the north and south side green zones in Minneapolis — areas the city has identified as diverse, low-income and historically polluted. Two of those workers have already been hired, Kronhke said, and Community Power plans to keep them on staff despite the funding shortfall. 

“We’re going to try to get to the goals however we can, but we’d love to have two more people,” Krohnke said. 

When Trump was elected in November, Community Power realized the money could be in jeopardy and started to spend what it could, Krohnke said. They used about $70,000 in grant funding before the EPA announced cuts on March 10.

The grant money was appropriated by Congress via the Inflation Reduction Act. Community Power is working with Lawyers for Good Governance and DFL Sen. Tina Smith’s office to appeal the cut. 

“It’s frustrating. If we don’t fight back, we’re acquiescing and agreeing with authoritarianism, and we don’t agree and we’re fighting back,” Krohnke said. 

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe was awarded a nearly $20 million grant from the EPA to move offices off a superfund site and remediate the area. Tribal Secretary Treasurer Leonard Fineday appealed the cancellation at a Feb. 25 hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. 

“While this grant has all the buzzwords that raise flags for the recent executive actions, this grant has nothing to do with diversity, equity and inclusion, and everything to do with the federal responsibility to protect our treaty rights and the health and safety of our employees,” Fineday testified. 

Some organizations were lucky to spend the money before the cuts took place. HourCar, the nonprofit that runs the Twin Cities’ Evie Carshare and HourCar networks, received a $200,000 grant in August 2024 to build out its network in environmental justice communities. When the grant was cancelled, there was just $254 left unspent. 

The state is concerned about the host of climate cuts and federal agency staffing reductions, Wyckoff said. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently fired all the staff responsible for administering the federal energy assistance program, and is now targeting workers at the related weatherization program that helps fund home improvements to make low-income households more energy efficient, which lowers costs. 

For now, funding approved by Congress for clean energy initiatives is still flowing, and environmental justice projects have borne the brunt of the attacks, Wyckoff said. But the state is prepared to fight through the courts for what it was promised. 

“Most of that money is moving forward; it’s just going to be a constant struggle,” he said.  

Federal funding targeted at environmental justice areas was seen as a rare opportunity to direct money to communities that usually get left behind. 

“I was really excited,” Vuong said. “This was it for us.” 

Navigating federal grants can pose a challenge for local governments, tribes and community organizations. The EPA announced in 2023 that the University of Minnesota would host a technical assistance center to help get funding for organizations working in environmental justice areas.

The Great Lakes Technical Assistance Center was a partnership between the U, the Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association and the Great Plains Institute. It worked with university extension systems across the Midwest. 

The center helped smaller organizations develop project ideas, identify funding sources and write federal grant applications, according to University of Minnesota professor Gabe Chan, who co-led the center. In 18 months, it helped facilitate projects that leveraged $400 million in funding, Chan said. The center had three full-time staff and was in the process of hiring a fourth when the EPA announced the cuts. 

The center responded to more than 600 requests from organizations, and had 100 ongoing requests to address when its remaining $3.7 million in funding was cancelled in March. The university will be OK, Chan said, but he worries about the groups the center was helping. 

“Such a hard part of it is that these were historic investments and commitments,” Chan said.  

Tree Trust, a St. Paul-based nonprofit, also lost a $500,000 three-year contract, according to director of community forestry* Karen Zumach. Tree Trust planned to use that money on programming in Dakota County, she said. 

Tree Trust has a diverse portfolio of funding, Zumach said, expressing confidence that the organization will be able to piece together the funding. But the cuts mean they’ll have to get creative, and they’re looking for volunteers for this year’s upcoming planting season. 

“We’re still chugging along,” Zumach said.

The state, cities, tribal nations and dozens of community organizations lost funding to support work reducing pollution and energy costs in historically polluted, diverse neighborhoods.

Several climate and environmental organizations in Minnesota are left in a pinch after the Trump administration cut more than $40 million dollars in grants. This funding was largely tied to projects in environmental justice areas across the state.Andrew Hazzard, who reported on it for Sahan Journal, discussed more about what it means. 

Trump administration cuts millions in funding from environmental justice groups in Minnesota

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