BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 5 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement after the Trump administration moved to cancel $7 billion in funding for the Solar for All program — legislation that Sanders wrote to provide loans or grants to working class families to help cover the cost of installing solar rooftops or participating in community-based solar projects:

I introduced the Solar for All program to slash electric bills for working families by up to 80% — putting money back in the pockets of ordinary Americans, not fossil fuel billionaires. 

Now, Donald Trump wants to illegally kill this program to protect the obscene profits of his friends in the oil and gas industry. That is outrageous. 

Solar for All means lower utility bills, many thousands of good-paying jobs and real action to address the existential threat of climate change. At a time when working families are getting crushed by skyrocketing energy costs and the planet is literally burning, sabotaging this program isn’t just wrong — it’s absolutely insane. 

We will fight back to preserve this enormously important program.