She Trusted the Government’s Promise to Help Farmers. Then Trump Stepped In.

“People are super stressed and angry,” says Laura Beth Resnick, owner of Butterbee Farm, a regenerative flower farm in Maryland. She’s one of many across the country whose lives were upended after President Trump froze billions of dollars in federal funds guaranteed to folks like Resnick earlier this year.

Resnick started Butterbee just out of college more than a decade ago, after learning that 80% of blooms sold in the U.S. are shipped from overseas. She wanted to do better by selling higher quality, longer-lasting flowers with a lower carbon footprint.

In 2024, Resnick went through a grant-writing process to take advantage of agriculture funds through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the $391 billion climate-solutions bill passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2022. The program would have helped lower her high energy costs by subsidizing the installation of solar panels on her farm. Resnick agreed to pay the entire cost upfront, about $72,000, after the federal government promised to reimburse her for half through the IRA.

Solar panels were installed at Butterbee Farm in White Hall, Maryland after the owner, Laura Beth Resnick, was awarded a grant through the IRA to reimburse half the cost. The grant was later withdrawn by the Trump administration. (Alyssa Schukar for Earthjustice)

Resnick was driving a van full of flowers to D.C. the day she found out her reimbursement request — after previously having been approved — was rejected.

“I started to panic,” says Resnick. “I finished my delivery to a couple of florists, and then I remember feeling too messed up to drive home, so I just parked the van and walked around D.C. in a daze. It was just shocking.”

Resnick is just one of thousands of Americans suddenly left in the lurch by the funding freeze. Small farmers like Resnick rely on federal grants to stay afloat and care for their land so that they leave it in better shape for the next generation. She emphasizes that farmers need these types of grants — or there won’t be farms.

“If contracts aren’t honored and farmers can no longer trust the government,” says Resnick. “I’m worried about what that means for the future of farming.”

Earthjustice is working to help Laura Beth and other farmers, small business owners, and everyday Americans who have been hurt by funding freezes to the IRA.

What has the IRA accomplished so far?

• Created jobs: more than 400,000 across 48 states and Puerto Rico.
• Built clean power: IRA investments have helped advance more than 750 clean energy projects like solar and wind and helped millions of Americans tap into clean energy programs.
• Cut pollution: slashed greenhouse gas emissions in the agriculture and transportation sectors.

The Trump administration froze climate funding. Now there’s chaos.

• President Trump is breaking the federal government’s promise to provide IRA-funded grant programs that benefit small businesses like farms, low-income communities, tribes, and other groups in every state in the country. Republicans in Congress are also working on legislation to claw back previously appropriated funding in the IRA.
• Clean energy projects everywhere are now at risk. Nearly $30 billion in funds were allocated to help build clean tech factories that were scheduled to begin construction this year, including manufacturing facilities for solar, wind, batteries, and electric vehicles. More than half are now predicted to face delays or cancellations according to a report from Bloomberg NEF.
• Red states face the biggest losses: So far, 80% of the IRA’s investments have gone to Republican congressional districts, creating a manufacturing boom. Now, uncertainty is halting investments, disproportionately hurting areas that voted for President Trump.

Wind turbine towers sit under construction at CS Wind in 2023 in Pueblo, Colorado. CS Wind, the largest wind turbine tower manufacturer in the world, planned to expand operations as a direct result of the Inflation Reduction Act. (Michael Ciaglo / Getty Images)

As the government walks back on its commitments, Americans are stuck with the bill. Here’s who will suffer:

• Farmers who received millions in grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, including energy efficient irrigation systems and solar panels. Now, thousands of farmers face unplanned expenses — some so large it threatens their farm businesses.
• Local governments and community groups that received grants to install air pollution monitoring in their neighborhoods.
• Tribes that received grants to fund solar projects.
• School districts that received grant money for electric school buses and microgrids.
• Workers, who are losing compensation as companies and organizations dependent on IRA funds are forced to halt projects and lay off or furlough their staff.
• Regular people who pay their utility bills who would benefit from investments in clean energy and battery storage, which is proven to be cheaper and more reliable than traditional energy sources. By gutting this funding, the Trump administration is weakening our chances of averting more deadly and costly impacts from worsening climate change.