VIDEO: Capito, Ricketts: EPA, Vice President Harris Doling Out Inflation Reduction Act Funds for Radical Groups

To watch the full press conference from Senators Capito and Ricketts, click here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Senator Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), led a press conference Wednesday to discuss more oversight findings of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding radical, extremist groups through the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Ranking Member Capito highlighted a new group receiving funds, listed the positions of other groups (pasted further below), and discussed the leading role Vice President Kamala Harris has played in funding multiple groups that hold extreme positions such as defunding the U.S. military and the police, and actively engage in activities that are anti-American, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic.

The funding, continues to flow from the Inflation Reduction Act's $3 billion in Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program.

Ranking Member Capito highlights:

"We've really been digging into who is getting these massive amounts of grants through the EPA. There's $3 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRA, that will go for different climate buckets. And in our investigation, we found that a lot of this money that's going out really has little to do with the environment and a lot to do with funding groups that are basically engaged in what I characterize as anti-American activities. They're anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-police and anti-border security."

"I'm also going to say that Vice President Harris…is quoted here, 'I put equity at the center of our nation's largest investment in climate in history, to reach the organizations that know their community best.' That's what she said when they rolled out and actually named these organizations. And interestingly, today, there was a news article today, saying that the green groups have now formed a coalition today, and guess who they're endorsing for president? Vice President Harris."

"This uncovers quite a bit of the $3 billion. We're up to $200 million, actually a little bit more than that if you count everything all in, and this is just the lack of accountability. The administrator of the EPA has been questioned about this. He says the money hasn't gone out, that was their first thing. 'Well, they haven't gotten the money yet.' Now they're saying, 'well, we don't check out the partner organizations.' So this NDN [Collective] would be a partner organization as opposed to an actual grantee. So, why aren't you vetting these people? I mean, this is taxpayer dollars, and what do they have to do with telling people how to live and cope better and clean up their environment?"

"So what are we doing about it? Well, we're shining a light on it, and urging the EPA to not disburse this money and coincidentally, they haven't disbursed all of this money yet, so we'll see what happens. I pushed in the Appropriations Committee for more money for the EPA Inspector General, somebody to follow the money within the EPA, because they know best, an inspector general would be able to do that. And then I think the most important thing is when we take control of Congress after January, we will be able to defund a lot of this, but we also be able to follow it and do much more oversight."

Senator Ricketts highlights:

"When you're giving money to organizations like the Climate Justice Alliance, and they are funding the march on Washington and they are waving the Free Palestinian flags and so forth, we're paying them to lobby our government. Everyday Nebraskans don't think that's a good idea that our tax dollars should go to radical organizations to lobby our own government. That's just crazy. And you're talking about the NDN collective and the things they want to do like abolishing the military, abolishing the police, abolishing Customs and Border Protection, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Everyday Americans think those organizations are important organizations. And we want to keep them to keep us safe. This is really, really radical stuff that they're promoting."

"So on the one hand, the EPA has got legitimate business they're not getting done. On the other hand, they're funding these radical environmentalists and other sorts of organizations. And again, just gets back to everyday Americans. That's not how they want their money spent. They want their money spent here in Washington, D.C. wisely."

"When you see the frustration that people have Washington D.C., this is a prime example of why they have that frustration."

LIST OF RADICAL GROUPS BENEFITING FROM THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT:

• On May 21, Ranking Member Capito highlighted the anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas group, Climate Justice Alliance, which the EPA has announced is set to receive $50 million from the IRA.

• The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote more about the group here.

• On June 12, Ranking Member Capito highlighted two radical anti-borders, anti-ICE, and anti-police groups, the "New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice" and "New York Immigration Coalition," which the EPA has announced is set to help administer $50 million from the IRA.

• The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote more about the two groups here.

• On July 16, Ranking Member Capito released a report highlighting the anti-American group, NDN Collective, which is set to administer $100 million in taxpayer money NDN Collective believes the United States is a "so-called country" and supports defunding the police and military.

• At today's press conference, Ranking Member Capito highlighted the above groups again as well as the "Ella Baker Center for Human Rights," which is set to receive between $1-3 million from the EPA through the IRA. The group strongly favors defunding the police, decriminalizing shoplifting, and abolishing prisons.
  
  

To view the full press conference, click here.

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