Timeline: The "Gold Bars" Fight over $20 Billion in EPA Funding
Two sides to a story, referencing largely the same facts
This week, the New York Post ran “$375B EPA slush fund handled by John Podesta gave billions to charities founded only months earlier.” The article revived a recent controversy involving $20 billion in disputed climate change funding moved by the EPA to the Citibank before inauguration, explaining that the money was distrubuted by former Special Climate Envoy John Podesta.
The news controversy started on February 12, 2025. New EPA administrator Lee Zeldin stirred the pot with a tweeted video announcement, claiming “We found the gold bars and they are now being recovered for you, the hardworking American taxpayer.”
What followed was a classic house-divided news phenomenon, in which conservative media focused on one set of true details, and blue-leaning media another. Zeldin said he acted in response to a Project Veritas video showing a Biden EPA official claiming “We’re on like, the Titanic, throwing gold bars off the edge.” In essence, the Biden administration moved $20 billion in funds designated for “climate change things” to Citibank, preventing the next administration from cutting them.
Was Biden right to make sure congressionally-obligated funds were spent, or was Zeldin right to try to recover the money?
As always, we welcome your analysis and/or any thoughts about overlooked source materials. Please write to library@racket.news with commentary or contributions.
The News Cycle
December 3rd, 2024
EPA official Brent Efron discusses how many billions he spends on climate change and explains the “gold bars” concept in the Project Veritas video:
January 29, 2025
Senate confirms Zeldin, a former New York congressman.
February 6th, 2025
EPA puts 168 EPA staffers on leave.
February 10th, 2025
Newly confirmed EPA chief Zeldin tweets a response to the Efron video, saying he’s directed staff to track the “bars” down.
February 12th
Zeldin tweets a “BIG UPDATE!” that includes his video address about finding the bars.
February 13-16, 2025
Reaction stories. Washington Post quickly runs feature about Zeldin’s claims using standard “without evidence” phrase. Politico runs a feature on February 14th saying the programs may be new, but featured “detailed work plans.” Some of those are featured below.
February 19, 2025
The Washington Free Beacon runs “DOGE Finds $2 Billion in Taxpayer Funds Earmarked for Stacey Abrams-Linked Group,” tying a group called Power Forward Communities and a parent organization called Rewiring America to $2 billion of the “gold bars” money. Georgia politician Stacey Abrams tweeted about Rewiring America and Power Forward Communities:
Power Forward’s 2023 990 form showed it with $100 in assets:
February 24, 2024
Power Forward Communities puts out a press release detailing where it intends to spend $539 million of its $2 billion grant. The document explains where money is meant to be spent (for instance, it pledges to spend $74 million building 900 homes). It also contains some curious lines. Power Forward has very little history, for instance, but the release notea “the members of the Power Forward Communities coalition” have “collectively deployed or invested over $100 billion in community-based housing.” The document:
March 5, 2025
The New York Post runs a story, “$375B EPA slush fund handled by John Podesta gave billions to charities founded only months earlier,” explaining that the disputed “gold bars money” was part of a $375 billion appropriation over which former Special Climate Envoy John Podesta had discretion.
The Backstory
1863
The National Bank Act of 1863 creates a template for financial agent agreements.
August 16th, 2022
Joe Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides the funding for the “gold bars” money.
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April 4, 2024
Biden administration announces 8 recipients of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants, part of an Inflation Reduction Act Award.
August, 2024
The “Clean Communities Investment Accelerator” workplan.
August 19, 2024
The workplan for Climate United, one of the larger recipients.
September 13, 2024
Snapshot of website for Climate United, recipient of $7 billion in funds, from last fall. It has undergone recent changes.
Special Climate Envoy John Podesta. SPECIAL CLIMATE ENVOY! SPECIAL CLIMATE ENVOY JOHN F’ING PODESTA!!! $20 BILLION!($20,000,000,000); $375 BILLION!!! ($375,000,000,000)!!! GRIFT!! GRAFT!! TREASON!!!!! The scale of this is staggering!!!The Hubris to name this slimy democrat party operative a Special Climate Envoy is staggering!!! And it’s obviously the tip of the iceberg. Gee, I wander if they have anything on John Robert’s or Amy Coney Barret…hmmm?
Just skimmed the Opportunity Finance Network’s “workplan”. I have a number of decades experience as an environmental scientist and attorney, including in air quality science. I’ve personally written federal contract proposals for $10,000 jobs that had more pages, methodology, and specifically defined results than does this “workplan” for over $2 billion dollars. There are no specific deliverables in this workplan. None. In theory it is for NGOs to give loans for building energy retrofits. There are zero specifications for these retrofits. The grantees will not perform the retrofits. The numbers for greenhouse gas emissions avoided is utterly meaningless because the retrofits have no specs. It’s all 100% bullshit, an accountable slush fund, and we damn well need to get our money back before it forever disappears into the aether.