Theo Daniels | Second Nature | October 2025
This month, the Department of Energy (DOE) cancelled more than $1 billion in research and infrastructure projects tied to higher education institutions across the United States. The cancellations, found in DOE’s public USAspending database, halt at least 150 active projects that had been awarded to 73 universities and colleges nationwide, with only 16% of the original awards ever reaching campuses. While the DOE has yet to issue a comprehensive explanation, the scope and concentration of these cancellations offer an early glimpse into shifting federal priorities and the potential cost to the nation’s climate innovation pipeline.
The Scale of the Pullback
According to the federal spending data, roughly $1.06 billion in funds had been obligated to higher education institutions before the cancellations took effect. Only $167 million had been outlayed, meaning work had begun, labs had been outfitted, and graduate students were already conducting research when the funds were frozen.
Among specific universities, Colorado State University faced the most significant loss, with approximately $336 million in cancelled DOE obligations, followed by the University of Texas at Austin ($62.6M), New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology ($56.2M), and the University of Wyoming ($52.3M). Together, these institutions anchor some of the nation’s most ambitious regional energy transition initiatives, carbon capture hubs, geothermal pilots, and advanced manufacturing corridors. Their cancellations mark not just the loss of funding, but also the loss of federal coordination between government agencies and climate-forward institutions.
Impact on Regional Innovation
The pattern is clear: the Mountain West and Great Plains are the most severely affected.
Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, and New Mexico, states that the Biden-Harris DOE had previously identified as energy transition “testbeds”, now face uncertainty about whether their university-led research networks can sustain ongoing work without federal support. These projects were not purely academic or merely symbolic. They were the connective tissue between federal climate goals, local workforce pipelines, and industry partnerships. When universities lose this funding, local economies lose jobs, states lose research capacity, and the clean-energy economy loses momentum.
A Setback for Clean Energy and Higher Education
Land-grant and public research universities make up the majority of the affected institutions. For many, DOE partnerships represent their most tangible link to national decarbonization efforts. The cancellations will likely slow progress in areas such as hydrogen production, carbon storage, and advanced geothermal, sectors that rely heavily on university research infrastructure. At a time when the higher education sector is being asked to do more with less, these cancellations send a chilling message to institutions trying to align their research portfolios with national climate priorities. The Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure, Investments, and Jobs Act’s promise of durable, science-based clean-energy deployment depends on academic capacity, and that capacity just took a major hit. For universities already balancing shrinking state budgets, the loss of DOE support will force tough decisions about staffing, facilities, and the future of federally supported clean-energy education.
Looking Ahead
Second Nature and our partners will continue tracking the implications of these cancellations on climate-focused research, workforce training, and university-led decarbonization efforts.
We encourage campus leaders to assess affected projects, engage with DOE regional offices, and communicate how these changes could impact their institutional climate goals. Long-term federal investments in climate research are essential, not just for innovation, but for credibility. The clean-energy transition doesn’t happen without universities, and the universities can’t lead it without commitment from Washington.
