The Department of Energy’s “clean” hydrogen hubs are setting up a critical test for President Donald Trump on how to handle funding for one of the signature climate initiatives from the bipartisan infrastructure law.
DOE canceled multiple meetings scheduled this week on the program, which is backed by $7 billion from the 2021 law to produce low-carbon fuel at seven hubs. One meeting was to discuss an environmental review for the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub. That followed similar cancellations for public meetings on the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub and a webinar to discuss funding for the Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub.
The cancellations “might be the first indication of a change in posture towards the hydrogen hub program in the new administration,” said Tom Torres, an organizer with the Ohio River Valley Institute, a nonprofit group opposed to the Appalachian Hub (ARCH2) spanning parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.
The moves come as DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, which funds the program, has taken down multiple hub pages from its website since Trump was inaugurated, including links to fact sheets and announcements outlining the program.
