Last October, President Biden and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) announced seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, spanning 16 states, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) hydrogen hub (H2Hubs) program. As NRDC noted after the announcement of the $8 billion program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: “The process to distribute a pot of money this big with the potential to shape entire industries and state economies shouldn’t be a black box….Thus far, transparency in the administration of the hubs program has been sorely lacking.”
Seven months later, a lack of transparency and community engagement remains the case. Despite concerted efforts by groups across the country, environmental justice advocates and frontline communities have largely been kept in the dark on key details and basic information about many of these projects….