CHAMPAIGN: Budzinski Visits University of Illinois Projects Cancelled By Trump Administration

CHAMPAIGN, IL - Today, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) visited the University of Illinois' Prairie Research Institute to meet with researchers and tour projects whose federal grants were canceled by the Trump administration in an act of retaliation for the government shutdown.

"The projects I toured today would have tackled critical public health challenges - improving access to clean water, reducing carbon emissions, and creating new opportunities to responsibly source critical minerals right here in the United States. These investments would have strengthened our national security and public health - something this administration claims to prioritize. Instead of supporting these vital initiatives that protect our communities and create good-paying jobs, the Trump administration has chosen politics over people by cancelling Congressionally-approved funding to punish Democratic lawmakers. This is unprecedented, and I will continue to fight to ensure our communities receive the federal resources they are owed," said Congresswoman Budzinski.

The cancellations affected more than $23 million in grants for groundbreaking projects at the institute, including work on carbon sequestration, monetizing coal combustion residuals, direct air capture, and more. These projects have strong potential to grow the Central Illinois economy and create long-term, good-paying jobs in energy and critical mineral sectors.

Specifically, the cancelled funding includes:

• $15,201,822 for the Illinois Basin West CarbonSAFE Phase III project which aimed to enable the safe, permanent storage of 50 million metric tons (Mt) of CO₂ over 30 years. The project would have enabled long-term CO₂ storage to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at Springfield's Dallman 4 power plant.
• $6,824,413 for Direct Air Capture Hubs that capture CO₂ from the air and use it to generate critical minerals, materials, and products, in turn supporting local jobs and businesses.
• $1,355,174 for a project researching coal combustion residuals in ash ponds in Illinois and Ohio and to develop pathways for businesses to monetize the critical minerals and materials contained in this wastewater.

Nationwide, the canceled projects total $8 billion in lawfully approved funding targeting 16 Democratic-led states.

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