Essay by Eric Worrall
But two companies have vowed to push forward anyway.
Trump continues clean energy assault with cancellation of $700 million in battery and manufacturing grants
Joshua S Hill
Oct 23, 2025United States president Donald Trump’s continued assault on clean energy has claimed a raft of new victims, including $US700 million in battery and manufacturing awards and continued uncertainty in the offshore wind sector.
Despite clean energy’s dominance in the United States’ new electrical generating capacity – not to mention renewable energy overtaking coal generation in the global electricity mix for the first time this year – Donald Trump and his administration continue to wreak havoc on the country’s clean energy industry, following through on years of anti-climate change, anti-renewable rhetoric and posturing.
The latest to feel the brunt of the administration’s wholesale attack on clean energy are a handful of battery manufacturing companies.
…
That both American Battery Technology Co. and Ascend Elements are able and planning to proceed regardless of the lack of DoE funding speaks volumes about the voracity of the DoE’s claims.
Read more: https://reneweconomy.com.au/trump-continues-clean-energy-assault-with-cancellation-of-700-million-in-battery-and-manufacturing-grants/
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I don’t see why author Joshua Hill is taking such a negative view of Trump’s actions.
Cancelling the grants pruned away the companies which weren’t confident in their business plan, and left the two companies which believe their battery investments will pay off.
Bringing sound economics to the renewable industry, or at least letting private investors carry the entire risk of green speculation, sure sounds like a win for US taxpayers.
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Does it have anything to do with an ICE raid on a Georgia battery plant constructed by South Koreans and a repatriation of 300 Korean engineers?
So Trump is restricting subsidy mining?
It’s about time!
If companies can’t survive on their own resources, then they should go out of business, and not get a payment from the taxpayers.
Taxpayers have nothing against battery factories. If a battery factory can be profitable on its own, more power to them. If they can’t be profitable without taxpayer subsidies, then they should go out of business.
Don’t you love how the Climate Alarmists pretend that windmills and industrial solar are cheaper than all the rest. The only real way windmills and industrial solar survive is by getting taxpayer subsidies. Warren Buffet said taxpayer subsidies were the only reason to invest in windmills. They are not economically viable on their own without extra money from taxpayers.
Trump is at war with windmills and industrial solar, as he should be. Climate Alarmists should get used to it.
All this effort, and all the TRILLIONS of dollars spent on windmills and industrial solar and their infrastructure, and it is obvious now that these are not economically viable alternatives to coal, natural gas and nuclear, and despite all the effort and money spent on reducing CO2, the amount of CO2 going into the atmosphere continues to increase year after year.
What Climate Alarmists are doing, isn’t working, and won’t work, ever. And we don’t need it as there is no evidence CO2 is anything other than a benign gas, essential for life on Earth. Windmills and industrial solar are a waste of time and a huge waste of money.
Trump is right to declare war on windmills and industrial solar. It’s just common sense.
“Despite clean energy’s dominance in the United States’ new electrical generating capacity”.
Put the tax credits, low interest loans, accelerated depreciation allowances, grants, mandates, and curtailment payments on CCGT and end all subsidies for wind and solar and see what happens to “clean energy dominance”.
My mailbox has the capacity to hold millions of dollars of gold.
Spot on!
“Cancelling the grants pruned away the companies which weren’t confident in their business plan, and left the two companies which believe their battery investments will pay off.
Bringing sound economics to the renewable industry, or at least letting private investors carry the entire risk of green speculation, sure sounds like a win for US taxpayers.”
Sick of the whining that these renewable energy advocates cannot see the waste of resources in this continually failed business model depended on federal subsidies, grants and loans. Recently, a battery manufacturer (Chinese) scheme in MI has gone under along with MI taxpayer money and likely federal monies as well. No uproar each time this happened, but cancel a funding source and all hell breaks loose.
Our country is 38T in debt and this spending makes sense is nonsensical.
For sure – let’s hope the sanity continues
So layoffs at Rivian and canceled EV vehicle production by Ford and GM have no impact? Down is up again.
As has been stated many times there is nothing clean nor renewable about solar panels or wind turbines. The amount of money wasted over 30+ years is staggering.
“ there is nothing clean, nor renewable, about solar panels or wind turbines”
+100 !!
They certainly are renewable.
You have to renew them often as we keep saying.
I bet neither of them make it. I’d say it left the two that are able to limp on for some ways before plowing in.
The fact that two companies are prepared to “try it on their own”…
.. shows that subsidies and grants were never necessary in the first place. 🙂
Oh sure they were.
Without all the subsidies and grants (AND tax credits that can be “sold” to businesses that actually make profits and have a use for the “credits” AND mandates that garbage intermittent power be given preference AND mandates for ‘zero emission’ vehicles which are actually just “displaced emission vehicles’), there would be no customers for their products and no business model at all.
Note my comment below at 9:01.
True but only because China and India have very little wind and solar as a proportion their electricity supply..
The regions like EU and USA that already have high penetration of wind and solar have hit the wall. They either shift back to essential generation or continue to de-industrrialise and let China develop unhindered by green tape and high electricity costs.
This from the referenced report:
Fossil fuels remained mostly flat, with a slight decline. Fossil generation fell in China and India, but grew in the EU and the US.
If you want industrial development – burn coal.
Australia is well on the path to de-industrialisation and being run off rooftop solar and batteries. Average cost of rooftop solar and battery power in Australia is 12c/kWh. Grid power is now 52c/kWh in South Australia and not far behind elsewhere.
No not true. See my comment further on.
You did not read far enough – hydro, wind and solar produced 5072TWh and coal 4895TWh in H1 2025. USA has replaced a lot of copal with gas and only now going back to coal.
Only developed countries are hitting the wall with WDGs and de-industrialising. Both China and India have a long way to go before they try to push above 30% penetration of wind and solar. China by 2030. That is when they will take over the UN and change the CO2 narrative.
You cheated by including hydro which produced some 85% of the total.
If they can afford to continue on their own, then they didn’t need the subsidies in the first place.
They needed the artificial market created by government mandates, subsidies, grants, tax credits etc. in related businesses. Which amounts to the same thing.
Strip away all government aid to worse-than-useless ideas like EVs, industrial wind and solar, and grid scale batteries and it will all wilt and die like an unwatered flower.
Voracity of claims indeed. The fake energy scammers are rapacious and voracious. The most efficacious act is to cut off their subs. Thank you 47.
Stopping the handing out of taxpayer subsidies is now known as “wreaking havoc” in the woke media.
What that same media will never tell you is that government approved and subsidized industry is a key element of all fascist governments.
“… Donald Trump and his administration continue to wreak havoc on the country’s clean energy industry, following through on years of anti-climate change…”.
_____________
Anti-climate change? Absolutely. I demand that the natural drivers of climate change cease immediately.
The manner in which those forces have been driving the Earth’s climate for eons now is becoming intolerable. The governments of the world must do whatever is necessary to bring an end to this dangerous ongoing crisis.
And while they are at it, CO2 and methane emissions must also end. Shut down the entire economy if you must. Net Zero climate change now!
(Sarc) in case someone isn’t sure.
Poe’s Law.
I had not heard of Poe’s Law until now. I just read the definition of it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
If Joshua S Hill is a journalist, I suggest he is not a good one. He should have said, “President Trump is opposed to action on the climate crisis“.
$700 million sounds like a lot and it is…but for perspective, its about 3 hours worth of US public debt increase.
And you can run the military for almost 8 hours with it.
Which would be useful if the US military “coerces” Venezuela into a new regime that is more willing to
hand over its oilfight the war on drugs.I love the Donroe Doctrine.
Trump is sending an aircraft carrier to the area now.
I think Trump wants to oust Maduro. He is putting pressure on Maduro now. Maduro should be preparing his “safe haven” in China, otherwise more drastic measures will be coming.
I wouldn’t rule out a U.S. military attack on Maduro. There are about 10,000 U.S. Marines with the current strike group.
It will start out with U.S. forces hitting Maduro’s military and the Criminal Gangs infrastructure and people, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump did something to stop the shipment of chemicals from China to Maduro and the Criminal Gangs.
Something like 100,000 Americans die of drug overdoes every year. Trump wants to put a stop to that.
Bringing drugs into the United States is an Act of War, and Trump is going to treat it that way.
I always look at by how much in taxes have I paid over my life. What my life would be like without paying those taxes. And if this program never existed how many people like me would have their money back and their lives change. Or you can look at how many homes or health insurance policies that would buy. Puts it in better perspective of how evil the waste is.
Another perspective along the lines you’re suggesting is about $2 for every man, woman and child in the US. That doesn’t buy much health insurance.
They scream just like babies that had Mama’s teat pulled away.
Over mention of the ‘clean’ dishonesty
And the delusional assertions of “dominance” of renewable energy. 😆😅🤣😂
I see. So the Government has just withdrawn “awards” for the technological brilliance of these companies.
I suppose they will just have to show the Government that they don’t need “awards” by making immense profits, all by themselves!
Yes, I’m being sarcastic.
The green lie, skillfully camouflaged.
”renewable energy overtaking coal generation …”
https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-mid-year-insights-2025/
It is the GROWTH in capacity that was larger, not the total of MWHs generated. That still is only 5% of the total globally. Carefully camouflaged in language which misleads gullibles like Joshua.
“Donald Trump and his administration continue to wreak havoc on the country’s clean energy
industrymega profits”what he meant to say
I think you mean “make believe profits.”
Lots of profits as long as the subsidy mining continues.
“That both American Battery Technology Co. and Ascend Elements are able and planning to proceed regardless of the lack of DoE funding speaks volumes about the voracity of the DoE’s claims.”
Excellent! Then they don’t need taxpayers money.
But… Oh dearie me: “American Battery Technology Co (NASDAQ: ABAT) crashed as much as 40% late on Wednesday following surprise announcement that the Department of Energy (DOE) has rescinded a previously announced grant.”
And… well there is this too.
”The company lacks meaningful revenue, has negative cash flow, and rather limited visibility into commercial-scale production. Its valuation – previously inflated by speculative hype – still lacks grounding in tangible metrics.”
Just goes to show.
The ups and downs recently suggest investors are still trying to figure out what is happening. Look at the 5 year, month, week, and day jerkiness. Who’s doing what and why?
The. Chinese battery plant in Michigan is dead. Supposedly owes state $23 million. More good news.
Battery production is a disaster for the planet. Dirty filthy toxic nightmare.
Mmmm. Likely a coincidence and/or the fact that these are states more likely to try to take advantage of the “green energy” scam. But the grasp-at-straws implication is that this was a conspiracy. LOL. Nice try.
American Battery Technology Co is a “battery materials” company. This appears to be different than a company that makes and installs batteries. Whether this is a survivable business model will be known in a couple of years. I just checked the Company’s description and its Key Executives. If I really cared, I’d follow-up for the next couple of years looking for stability.
{Meanwhile, owning a large mutual fund does place me in the interested category.}
The real point is if we didn’t have so much crappy, expensive and undependable wind and solar we wouldn’t need these batteries. Coal, gas and nuclear don’t need batteries, they can back each other up and a bonus is they don’t endanger the grid. It is that simple.
Nice, Pres!
Now, who is doing the battery and assault here, because Green politicians are taking my money, giving it to people who destabilize the grid and raise the cost of my electricity, cause brown outs, decrease supply and increase demand, and in the case of batteries, increase fire hazards and raise insurance rates, and that is just for starters!
So let me see, that is Battery and Assault, Grand Larceny and Arson by the political class behind Green energy. Fixed it.