In response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) initial guidance on The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, Evergreen Action Co-Founder and Senior Advisor Sam Ricketts released the following statement:
“The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GHGRF) is one of the most exciting new climate investments in the Inflation Reduction Act and a critically-important tool for realizing President Biden’s commitments to both tackling the climate crisis and advancing environmental justice. With today’s announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking important steps towards deploying the $27 billion that Congress provided to this program in two different and equally important competitions: One that will support state, local, and tribal programs that invest in distributed solar, storage, and related infrastructure, and another that will build a nation-wide ecosystem of green, equitable finance supporting a wide range of climate solutions.
“Evergreen was proud to be an early and vocal supporter of the GHGRF and to have advocated that this program should be consistent with President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative with prioritized investment in disadvantaged communities. We look forward to working with EPA, states, and communities, to ensure that this program delivers transformational investments for climate, jobs, and justice.”
Well before the 117th Congress began, Evergreen was advocating for a nationwide green finance program that became the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund passed by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. (The program, and its prior legislative iterations, were also called a Green Bank or a Clean Energy Accelerator.) Evergreen called for creation of such a program in its flagship Evergreen Action Plan, and again with Data for Progress in its Clean Jumpstart Plan, as Congress considered economic stimulus during the COVID pandemic. Recently, Evergreen partnered with RMI to release Implementation Guidance for States: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which outlines how Governors and state leaders across the country can take full advantage of these funds to lower costs, create jobs, and build a thriving equitable clean energy future.
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