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Farmers in Trump country were counting on clean energy grants. Then the government moved the goalposts.

In its announcement, issued Tuesday night, the USDA said grant recipients will have 30 days to review and revise their project plans to align with President Trump’s Unleashing American Energy Executive Order, which prioritizes fossil fuel production and cuts federal support for renewable energy projects.

Adjusting the projects to the current ideology will be difficult for many farmers, especially if the project has already been implemented and the farmers are “only” waiting for the promised money. For many of them, the realization was only possible with the prospect of funding.

On top of that, Rabe said, the state’s [Iowa] net metering policies — in which solar users get credits for any excess power they send back to the grid — are set to expire in 2026.

The feed-in tariff, in addition to direct subsidies for many renewable energy projects, is a second pillar for long-term profitability. If ideological adjustments are also made here, these projects will no longer be worthwhile.

Using USDA data, Floodlight identified the top 10 congressional districts that received the most grants. They’re all represented by Republicans who have said little publicly about the funding freezes affecting thousands of their constituents. It’s impossible to tell from the USDA data which REAP grants will get paid out.

It is well known that the red states or constituencies disproportionately benefit from the US government’s funding programs, which Republican Party members reject and demonize.

The congressional district that received the most REAP grants was Iowa’s 2nd District, in the northeastern part of the state. Farmers and business owners there got more than 300 grants from 2023 through 2025. The district is represented by U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who has previously voiced support for “alternative energy strategies.” … Hinson’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the matter.

Whether those were convictions or opportunistic statements doesn’t matter, because now, when push comes to shove, he’s leaving his voters alone.

What surprises me – or maybe it doesn’t:> Despite it all, he remains a Trump supporter.

“Under the current administration, I think we’re doing things that are necessary for the betterment of the entire United States,” he said.

Even though Trump and the Republican Party will destroy the economic foundations for those affected in many cases, not everyone is drawing the conclusions you’d expect.

Not really surprising, since the experience of the last 20 years has shown that a critical mass has never drawn the consequences and, despite the GOP policies that are negative for them, has continued to stick with this party and its candidates - or just this one candidate.