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Earthjustice represents five farms in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Mississippi along with three nonprofit organizations who were awarded USDA grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. Farmers were awarded Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants to install solar panels on their farms and improve energy efficiency, measures that would greatly lower energy costs for the small businesses and enable them to pay higher wages to workers, invest in cover crops, and expand their businesses.

“USDA grants exist for a reason. Without them, there wouldn’t be farmers,” said Laura Beth Resnick, sustainable farmer and owner of Butterbee Farm in Maryland. “We’re not able to save for retirement or invest in the farm until we pay back our loans. If our contracts with USDA are not honored, we’re going to have to make difficult cuts somewhere else that will cause us to struggle.”

Faith in Place and GreenLatinos were awarded USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry grants to support tree equity in historically underserved communities in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and California.

“Faith in Place carefully planned our Tree Canopy and Workforce Community grant to ensure critical funding reached the communities that need it most. We hired staff, built infrastructure and followed every federal requirement—fully expecting the government to uphold its commitment as we did ours,” said Rev. Brian Sauder, President and CEO of Faith in Place. “Now, the administration is not only abandoning our most vulnerable communities but also jeopardizing the very organizations that make crucial federal programs work on the ground. The federal government must honor its promises and serve the people, not corporate interests.”

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