by WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday Announced $20 billion in investments to help finance clean energy projects, such as installing electric vehicle charging stations, retrofitting homes to make them energy efficient, and providing battery backup power to communities.
The investment, through two grant competitions, is aimed at helping communities that have faced historical underinvestment, senior administration officials said.
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to promote the announcement this afternoon in remarks at Coppin State University in Baltimore, a historically black university, joined by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and members of Congress.
«The President and I set ambitious goals to cut our greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050. The investments announced today move our nation toward achieving these goals and a cleaner, more healthy for generations to come. harris saying in a press release.
The two competitions, the National Clean Investment Fund and the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, will allocate $14 billion and $6 billion, respectively, for the projects. The funding is part of the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, an investment funded through last year’s Reduction of Inflation Act, a senior administration official said.
Both contests will focus on funding for low-income and disadvantaged communities, including rural and tribal communities and those with environmental justice concerns, the White House said. According to the White House, at least 40 percent of the funds in the $14 billion competition and all of the funds in the $6 billion competition will flow to these communities.
Applications are due October 12, with the goal of making selection decisions by March 2024 to allow grantees to start working on projects as early as July 2024, a senior administration official said. EPA will host public webinars on the competencies in the coming weeks.
Prior to the announcement, local climate leaders will brief Harris and Regan.
Harris’ comments capped off the Biden administration’s Investing in America tour, a weeks-long blitz by top administration officials who traveled the country to promote the president’s economic agenda.
