States and nonprofit groups can now apply for $27 billion in funding from a “green bank” that will provide low-cost financing for projects intended to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, the US government has announced.
Created by Congress in the landmark climate law approved last year, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged communities, will invest in clean energy projects nationwide.
As many as 15 nonprofit groups that will work with local banks and other financial institutions that plan to invest in projects that reduce pollution and lower energy costs for families are expected to get $20 billion in competitive grants from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA will also award another $7 billion to states, tribes and municipalities to deploy a range of solar energy projects, including residential rooftop solar, community solar and solar storage.
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EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the green bank was modelled after similar banks established in states such as Connecticut, New York and California and it will unlock billions of dollars in private investment to enable neighbourhoods and communities “that have never participated in the clean-energy economy to participate in full force″ in creating green jobs.
Low-income and disadvantaged communities “who pay the largest percentage of their income toward energy bills have been left out of the investment game (and) have not seen the infusion of private capital to help them realize opportunities … for lots of reasons,″ Regan was quoted as saying.
“What we are focused on here is ensuring that this $27 billion opportunity is thought-out in a way that allows for that community, that population, to be along for the ride,″ he added. ”Obviously, if this had been done before, there would be no reason for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. We are charged with bringing private capital off the sideline.″
The program’s acting director, Jahi Wise said that the program which is expected to begin making grant awards this summer has already received nearly 400 responses to preliminary inquiries.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in Congress have taken aim at the green bank, calling it a taxpayer-funded “slush fund” ripe for abuse and Rep. Gary Palmer, said he will sponsor a bill to repeal the fund, as he believes it will benefit Wall Street firms but “doesn’t help the American people with their utility bills.
Also, Sean Kelly, a spokesman for House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the fund “allocates an incredible amount of authority and resources” to the EPA, yet lacks measures to ensure accountability or transparency in how the resources are used.
However, Democrats were much more optimistic, calling the fund a historic opportunity to cut greenhouse gas emissions, protect public health and create economic opportunity in disadvantaged and under-resourced communities.
“For years, we’ve fought to take the idea of a national climate bank from a vision to reality. With today’s action from the EPA, we’re one step closer,″ said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who had pushed for the green bank along with Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and other Democrats.
Story was adapted from AP.
