‘A novel approach’: Kamala Harris announces billions in clean energy grants on visit to NC
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday announced $20 billion in grants for clean energy projects during a visit to Charlotte. Vice President Kamala Harris announced $20 billion in grants for clean energy projects during a visit to Charlotte, North Carolina. The funds will come from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program established through the Inflation Reduction Act. Much of the work will be done in “low-income and disadvantaged communities” and aims to “catalyzing public and private capital” for eco-friendly projects. The grant money will be split between eight applicants who are part of one of two programs: the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund and the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator. The announcement did not specify how much of the money could stay in the Carolinas.
Published : 2 months ago by Mary Ramsey - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS) in Politics Environment
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday announced $20 billion in grants for clean energy projects during a visit to Charlotte.
The funds will come from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program established through the Inflation Reduction Act, according to a statement from the White House. Much of the work will be done in “low-income and disadvantaged communities,” the White House said, and is aimed at “catalyzing public and private capital” for eco-friendly projects.
“Everyone will benefit,” Harris said to a crowd gathered at the Naomi Drenan Center.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who joined Gov. Roy Cooper, Mayor Vi Lyles and U.S. Rep. Alma Adams at the grant announcement, called the funding a “once-in-a-lifetime investment.”
Harris’s visit was her second to North Carolina in as many weeks and her second to Charlotte this year. She also marked the opening of a Biden-Harris campaign office in Charlotte, one of 10 launching in the battleground state, and visited a homeowner in the Grier Heights neighborhood.
Where grant money is going
The grant money announced Thursday will be split between eight applicants that are part of one of two programs: the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund and the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator. Thursday’s announcement didn’t spell out how much of the money could stay in the Carolinas.
“Together, the two programs will create a first-of-its-kind national network of mission-driven, community-led financial institutions that will finance climate and clean energy projects across the country, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities,” the White House’s statement said.
Harris said giving the money directly to nonprofits will help generate “community-based projects” by directing funding and capital to entrepreneurs.
“This is a novel approach,” she said.
Adams said the projects will help provide “good-paying jobs, and a healthier future” in North Carolina.
“These investments will pay off sevenfold in the immediate future but are priceless in the long run. We are rebuilding roads, bridges, and tunnels, erecting new transit infrastructure, and we’ll have more efficient offices, homes, and schools,” she said in a statement.
How will money help?
Harris and Regan also visited a person identified as a first-time homebuyer in the Grier Heights neighborhood. That’s in south Charlotte near Monroe Road north of Wendover Road.
A news release said the homeowner lived in an area where a nonproft named Self-Help helped finance, renovate and construct energy-efficient, affordable homes for low- and moderate-income families. Thursday’s announcements could ensure more families could see lower energy bills and other benefits, a news release from Adams’ office said.
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Topics: ESG