Trump Team Proposes Ending Clean Energy Office, Cutting Billions

The US Energy Department is proposing to shut down its Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and cut some $9 billion in awards for programs regarding carbon capture, direct air capture, solar and hydrogen, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.

Under the plan, which isn’t final, the $27 billion agency’s staff would be reduced to 35 employees, and about $10 billion in projects, including $3 billion for so-called hydrogen hubs, would be kept “as is” and transferred to other parts of the Energy Department.

The office employed about 250 people before President Donald Trump, a climate change skeptic, returned to office. ...