Today: Direct-air-capture startups Climeworks and Heirloom hit by cuts; IEA lowers U.S. renewable energy growth outlook on Trump policies; administration's assault on wind energy stings Republican states.

Welcome back: The U.S. Energy Department is slashing nearly $24 billion of funding for climate projects, as the Trump administration moves to further unwind Biden-era climate policies during the government shutdown.

Early-stage climate projects across the U.S. are on the chopping block, putting thousands of jobs at risk, especially in burgeoning carbon-capture and hydrogen sectors, according to a list reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Funding for more than 600 projects is set to be axed, totaling $23.8 billion, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Yusuf Khan reports.

Last week, the Trump administration announced climate funding cuts amounting to more than $7 billion, targeting mostly Democratic-led states and districts. The latest move from the DOE builds on these cuts and now impacts Republican-led districts too.

Among the companies facing cuts are carbon-capture startups Heirloom and Climeworks, which together had been lined up for more than a $1 billion of funding for direct-air capture projects in Louisiana. Heirloom’s project was to be based in Shreveport, the hometown of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

• More than 300 DOE grants for projects in largely Democratic-leaning states are being canceled by the Trump administration. (WSJ)

The International Energy Agency lowered its forecast for renewable energy capacity growth in the U.S. this decade, citing the early phase-out of federal tax incentives and regulatory shifts under the Trump administration.

The Paris-based intergovernmental organization now expects the U.S. to add nearly 250 gigawatts of new capacity by 2030–down by almost 50% from last year’s projections–as a result of fresh import restrictions, the suspension of new offshore wind leasing and a crackdown on permitting for onshore wind and solar projects, the WSJ's Giulia Petroni reports.

Globally, the IEA revised its renewable capacity growth forecast down by 5%, but said it still expects capacity to double between now and 2030. Solar power is set to account for nearly 80% of the global increase due to its low costs and faster permitting processes.

The report came as clean-energy think tank Ember said that renewable energy generated more electricity than coal in the first half of the year for the first time on record.

• Shell’s top executive in the U.S. said Trump's attacks on offshore wind energy projects are damaging to investment. (FT)

Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa—all states that backed Donald Trump—are the nation’s top wind energy producers. But that hasn’t kept the president's administration from taking actions that threaten jobs and tens of billions of dollars in new investment.

Iowa alone has more than 100 large wind farms and two new projects planned for delivery through 2027, according to federal data, the WSJ's John McCormick and Jennifer Hiller report.

Across the U.S., after years of slow growth, electricity demand is soaring, partly thanks to the frenzy to build AI data centers. Wind provides more than 10% of the country's electricity, but in Iowa it was responsible for roughly 59% of net generation in 2023, federal data show.

Wind turbines, which help reduce local property taxes and make tens of millions in annual lease payments to farmers, help Iowa enjoy some of the lowest electricity prices in the nation. Now some Iowa Republicans are increasingly expressing frustration about Trump’s stance on wind.

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• Nestle said it quit a major alliance between global food companies aimed at reducing methane emissions from dairy suppliers. (WSJ)
   
• Orsted raised $9.4 billion through a discounted rights issue to fund offshore wind projects amid industry challenges. (WSJ)
   
• U.S. will take a stake in Canadian minerals explorer Trilogy Metals in a bid to secure critical energy and mining projects in Alaska. (Bloomberg)
   
• U.S. and investors gambling on unproven nuclear technology, warn experts. (FT)
   
• High costs and a lack of subsidies and demand mean European Union will fail to meet its green hydrogen targets. (Dow Jones Risk Journal)
   
• The largest lobbying group for U.S. businesses is pushing the EU to limit its climate laws to within its own borders. (Dow Jones Risk Journal​)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at wsjperry, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.