The Biden administration has announced $4.3 billion in climate pollution reduction grants that will fund climate pollution projects in 30 states and one tribe through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to the July 22 announcement, the grants aim to bring “community-driven solutions that tackle the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice, and accelerate America’s clean energy transition” through six avenues: transportation, electric power, commercial and residential buildings, industry, agriculture, and waste and materials management.
“When I think of climate change, I think about jobs—good-paying, union jobs that put Americans to work, rebuild our nation’s aging infrastructure, and support our transition to a clean energy future,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
The administration said the grants will fund projects to deploy technologies and programs for reducing “greenhouse gases and other harmful pollution across the country.”
The grants would also help “build the infrastructure, housing, industry, and competitive economy needed for a clean energy future” while supporting businesses in job creation and training programs within “new and growing industries.”
The grants will help to curb “greenhouse gas emissions in Pennsylvania” and provide “flood-proofing infrastructure in North Carolina,” President Biden said.
John Podesta, senior adviser to the president for international climate policy, said the grants “put local governments in the driver’s seat to develop climate solutions that work for their communities.”
“These grants will help state and local governments improve the air quality and health of their communities while accelerating America’s progress toward our climate goals,” he said in a statement.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection will receive more than $396 million for a project to reduce industrial emissions and to fund “large-scale decarbonization projects across the state.”
“This investment will help us reduce toxic air pollution, create thousands of jobs, invest in our energy sector, and continue Pennsylvania’s legacy of energy leadership,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement.
California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District will receive almost $500 million in transportation incentives for electric-charging equipment and zero-emission freight vehicles.
A nearly $50 million grant will go to the Montana Forest, Community, and Working Landscapes Climate Resiliency Project to improve state forest management and expand urban and community forests. These funds also will be used to mitigate wildfires and coal seam fires.
Nebraska’s Department of Environment and Energy will receive more than $300 million to “increase the adoption of climate-smart and precision agriculture” and lessen the agricultural waste from livestock.
A project for electric vehicle-charging infrastructure along the I-95 corridor across New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland will receive nearly $250 million.
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy will receive almost $130 million to “provide incentives and technical assistance to local and tribal governments to accelerate the siting, zoning, and permitting of renewable energy” in an effort to make 60 percent of the state’s energy sources renewable by 2030.
The Atlantic Conservation Coalition, which funds efforts across North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia, will receive more than $420 million to “leverage the carbon sequestration power of natural and working lands, including coastal wetlands, peatlands, forests, and urban forestry.”
“These awards will supercharge American climate progress across sectors—from reaching 100 percent clean electricity to slashing super-pollutants like methane to harnessing the power of nature across our farms and forests in the fight against climate change,” White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said in a statement.
