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Action alert: Urge your House Member to co-sponsor legislation that would enable PACE financing

Representatives Nan Hayworth (R-NY), Dan Lundgren (R-CA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) have introduced the PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 2599) in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would restore the right of states and local governments to establish Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs. Contact your Member of Congress and urge them to be a co-sponsor of this bill. Click here for more information.

Climate Communities proposal for competitive EECBG funding

America’s cities and counties have taken the lead in implementing clean energy solutions by serving as laboratories of innovation. Local governments are providing low-cost financing for energy efficiency retrofits of buildings; setting and enforcing building efficiency standards; developing community-scale renewable energy; utilizing low-emission vehicles and fuels; installing alternative fuels infrastructure; promoting smart land use and increased mass transit to reduce vehicle miles traveled; and developing clean energy jobs. To build upon the success of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) and maintain the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) partnership with local governments, Climate Communities has developed a proposal that would dedicate $250 million to provide local grants to localities for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

An opportunity exists to urge Congress to direct a portion of the DOE funding that it traditionally earmarked into competitive EECBG funding for local governments. A $250 million competitive grant program would allow Congress to make good on its pledge reduce federal spending, while continuing to provide federal investment in important local projects that reduce energy use, save local energy costs, curb emissions and create jobs.

In 2008, Climate Communities proposed that Congress create a similar grant program for local governments to implement wide-ranging initiatives that produced significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This proposal became the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Showcase Communities program, which has awarded $10 million in each of the last two years for municipalities to undertake climate action projects. Climate Communities will be working to duplicate this success by securing funding for the proposed energy grants.

Click here for a copy of Climate Communities' competitive grant proposal. Please provide feedback to Andrew Seth at (202) 261-6011 or andy@climatecommunities.us.

Empowering Local
Clean Energy Action

Federal Policy Agenda

On March 4-5, 2011, Climate Communities organized a Local Clean Energy Thought-Leaders Retreat in Washington, DC. The event convened approximately 30 local government officials (elected, city managers and sustainability directors) from across America to prepare a clean energy blueprint for the 112th Congress and Obama Administration that empowers cities and counties to create thousands of new green jobs through federal investments in building efficiency, community scale renewables and other local sustainability initiatives.

The "Empowering Local Clean Energy Action" federal policy agenda identifies key federal policies and resources needed to sustain local clean energy progress, including:

Investments in federal programs such as the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, EPA's Climate Showcase Communities, HUD's Sustainable Communities, and other programs that provide direct support for local sustainability initiatives;
Clean vehicle legislation such as S. 948/H.R. 1685, which would help communities develop charging infrastructure and create models for the nationwide deployment of electric vehicles;
Tax incentives that support local clean energy projects, such as the extension of the Section 1603 Grants in Lieu of Tax Credits Program that allows local governments to enter into Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with private sector companies that install renewable energy deployments on public facilities; and
Reauthorization of the nation’s surface transportation law with a focus on transit, livable communities, comprehensive regional planning, revitalization of existing infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and other approaches that decrease petroleum consumption and reduce carbon pollution.

For more information, contact Andrew Seth at (202) 261-6011 or andy@climatecommunities.us.

“Local government action is critical to addressing America’s climate change challenge. Climate Communities will help cities and counties secure the federal tools, incentives and resources needed to make that happen.”

Supervisor Roger Dickinson,
Sacramento County, CA

“Climate Communities will bring together the best minds at the city and county levels to develop federal policy proposals that will enhance our ability to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions.”

Councilmember Larry Phillips,
King County, WA

CLIMATE COMMUNITIES
1130 Connecticut Avenue, NW | Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 261-6011 | Fax: (202) 331-1598 | E-mail: info@climatecommunities.us