Money from the Inflation Reduction Act will go to reduce emissions in construction, transportation and waste management; Nez Perce tribe gets $37 million.
Oregon will get nearly $200 million in federal dollars to fight climate change in the sectors that contribute the most greenhouse gas emissions.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality was among 25 winners of a combined $4.3 billion in climate grants. The money, which comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Democrats in a party-line vote in 2022, will be paid over five years and target pollutants in the areas of transportation, buildings and waste management. Programs approved for funding will provide incentives to decarbonize buildings and reduce food waste and methane from landfills.
Grant money will also go to:
- Nearly 4,500 electric vehicle rebates for low-income households.
- Efficiency upgrades to new and existing buildings including the construction of 10,000 affordable high-efficiency rental housing units.
- Weatherization assistance for nearly 3,000 homes.
- 12,0000 heat pumps in homes and community buildings.
Climate change is felt across Oregon in the form of heat waves, drought, increased wildfire activity, severe winter storms and other impacts, according to the DEQ’s Priority Climate Action Plan.
“It’s as clear as Crater Lake that clean, renewable energy and smart decarbonization strategies are vital ingredients for a healthy, prosperous country,” wrote Senator Ron Wyden in a press release touting the award. “These shrewd federal investments will move the country forward technologically while bolstering local economies and improving environmental and human health.”
The 25 winning applications were culled from nearly 300 submitted by states, tribes, local governments and coalitions around the country. The selected programs aim to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by an estimated 148 million metric tons by 2030, according to applicants.
Winning applicants include the Nez Perce tribe of Idaho and Eastern Oregon, which won $37 million to reduce greenhouse gasses. Among other projects, the tribe of 3,500 enrolled members plans to install weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades on 650 tribal homes and replace wood stoves in 350 homes on tribal land. Extensive changes are called for in the tribe’s Priority Climate Action Plan released earlier this year.
“Although tribal communities are not major contributors to the greenhouse gas emissions that have caused climate change, climate change has had and will continue to have a disproportionate impact on tribes,” reads the plan.
The largest award was of nearly a half-billion dollars to the South Coast Air Quality Management District in typically hazy Southern California. Officials aim to remove 12 million metric tons of air pollutants by 2050 through electric vehicle charging stations, zero-emission freight vehicles and the electrification of diesel freight locomotives, among other efforts.
The EPA expects to soon announce a further $300 million in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants.
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