WASHINGTON-
US President Joe Biden marks Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving more than 900,000 homes in low- and middle-income communities. He also plans to expand his New Deal style. American Climate Corps Training program in green jobs.
The grants will be awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency, which announced the 60 recipients on Monday. Over time, the projects are expected to reduce emissions by the equivalent of 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and save households $350 million a year, according to senior administration officials.
Biden’s latest environmental ads come as he works to energize young voters for his re-election campaign. Young people were a key part of a broad but potentially fragile coalition that helped him defeat then-President Donald Trump in 2020. Some have joined nationwide protests over the administration’s handling of Israel’s war. with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Senior administration officials said young Americans are very interested in Biden’s climate agenda and want to help implement it. The Climate Corps initiative is one way to do that, officials said.
Solar energy is gaining ground as a key renewable energy source that could reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, which emit planet-warming greenhouse gases. Not only is it clean, but solar energy can also increase the reliability of the electrical grid.
But solar power can have high initial installation costs, making it unaffordable for many Americans, and potentially meaning a mix of environmental politics with election-year politics.
Forty-nine of the new grants are state-level grants, six serve Native American tribes, and five are multi-state grants. They can be used for investments such as community solar gardens and rooftop solar.
Biden will make the announcement at Prince William Forest Park in northern Virginia, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Washington. It was established in 1936 as a summer camp for disadvantaged Washington youth, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps to help create jobs during the Great Depression.
“Broad community solar is our best hope for protecting people and our climate from the scourge of fossil fuels,” said Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Energy Justice program. “These targeted investments mean low-income families get clean energy that is affordable, resilient, and protects our ecosystems. It’s great to see President Biden advance this historic program.”
Biden, a Democrat, used executive action last year to create the American Climate Corps inspired by Roosevelt’s New Deal. On Monday he will announce that nearly 2,000 positions are offered in 36 states, including jobs offered in partnership with the Construction Unions of North America.
The president has often used Earth Day as a backdrop to promote his administration’s climate initiatives. Last year, he signed an executive order creating the White House Office of Environmental Justice, intended to help ensure that poverty, race and ethnic status do not lead to worse exposure to pollution and environmental damage.
He has sought to draw a contrast with Republican congressional leaders, who have called for less regulation of oil production to reduce energy prices. Biden officials counter that Republican policies benefit highly profitable oil companies and could ultimately undermine U.S. efforts to compete with the Chinese in the renewable energy sector.
Biden is using his visit to Virginia to discuss how “a climate crisis fully manifesting itself to the American people in communities across the country is also an opportunity for us to come together,” said White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi. .
He said the programs can “open up economic opportunities to create pathways to careers that support the middle class, save people money and improve their quality of life.”
The awards come from the Solar for All program, part of the $27 billion “green bank” created as part of a sweeping climate law passed in 2022. The bank aims to reduce climate and air pollution and send money to the most needy neighborhoods. , especially low-income and disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change.
EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe said she was “looking forward to these funds reaching the community, training people, putting them to work in their local communities and allowing people to save on their energy bills so they can allocate those dollars to other needs.”
Among those receiving grants are state projects to provide solar-equipped roofs for homes, college dormitories, and community solar projects with residential services in West Virginia, a nonprofit solar leasing program in Mississippi, and community training initiatives. solar workforce in South Carolina.
The taxpayer-funded green bank has faced Republican opposition and concerns about liability for how the money is used. EPA previously disbursed the other $20 billion of the bank’s funds to nonprofit organizations and community development banks for clean energy projects, such as residential heat pumps, additional energy-efficient home improvements, and larger-scale projects. , such as electric vehicle charging stations and community cooling centers.
St. John reported from Detroit.
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