US awards $20 billion in grants to support clean energy

WASHINGTON (AFP): The US Environmental Protection Agency unveiled the winners of $20 billion in government grants Thursday to support clean energy and finance solutions, marking one of the Biden administration’s largest climate change investments to date.

The eight nonprofits selected have committed to projects that will collectively “reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year,” the EPA said in a statement.

Together they will create a “national clean financing network that will finance climate and clean energy projects, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities.”

The funding will come from two different initiatives under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which was created by President Joe Biden’s landmark 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The IRA has channeled billions of dollars towards renewable energy projects, helping to spur a manufacturing boom that has created tens of thousands of jobs across the United States.

“When President Biden and I made the largest investment in our nation’s history to address the climate crisis and to build a clean energy economy, we made sure that every community would be able to participate and benefit,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement.

“The grantees announced today will help ensure that families, small businesses, and community leaders have access to the capital they need to make climate and clean energy projects a reality in their neighborhoods,” she added.

The GGRF recipients are looking to commit “over $14 billion toward low-income and disadvantaged communities, including over $4 billion for rural communities as well as almost $1.5 billion for Tribal communities—ensuring,” according to the EPA statement.