‘A novel approach.’ Kamala Harris announces billions in clean energy grants in Charlotte
Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday in Charlotte announced $20 billion in grants for clean energy projects, which she said will boost the economy and help the environment.
The funds will come from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program established through the Inflation Reduction Act, according to a statement from the White House. Much of the work will be done in “low-income and disadvantaged communities,” the White House said, and is aimed at “catalyzing public and private capital” for eco-friendly projects.
“Everyone will benefit,” Harris said to a crowd gathered at the Naomi Drenan Center, adding that the work the new grants will support will help ensure “the strength of our economy and the future of our nation.”
EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who joined Gov. Roy Cooper, Mayor Vi Lyles and U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, a Charlotte Democrat, at the grant announcement, called the funding a “once-in-a-lifetime investment.”
Harris’ visit was her second to North Carolina in as many weeks and her second to Charlotte this year. She also marked the opening of a Biden-Harris campaign office in Charlotte, one of 10 launching in the battleground state, and visited a homeowner in the Grier Heights neighborhood.
Where grant money is going
The grant money announced Thursday will be split between eight applicants that are part of one of two programs: the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund and the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator. Thursday’s announcement didn’t spell out how much of the money could stay in the Carolinas.
“Together, the two programs will create a first-of-its-kind national network of mission-driven, community-led financial institutions that will finance climate and clean energy projects across the country, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities,” the White House’s statement said.
The eight projects include:
$6.97 billion for Climate United Fund
$5 billion for Coalition for Green Capital
$2 billion for Power Forward Communities
$2.29 billion for Opportunity Finance Network
$1.87 billion for Inclusiv
$400 million for Native CDFI Network
$940 million for Justice Climate Fund
$500 million for Appalachian Community Capital
Harris said giving the money directly to nonprofits will help generate “community-based projects” by directing funding and capital to small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“This is a novel approach,” she said.
Adams said the projects will help provide “good-paying jobs, and a healthier future” in North Carolina.
“These investments will pay off sevenfold in the immediate future but are priceless in the long run. We are rebuilding roads, bridges, and tunnels, erecting new transit infrastructure, and we’ll have more efficient offices, homes, and schools,” she said in a statement.
How will money help?
Harris and Regan also visited a person identified as a first-time homebuyer in the Grier Heights neighborhood. That’s in south Charlotte near Monroe Road north of Wendover Road.
A news release said the homeowner lived in an area where a nonprofit named Self-Help worked to finance, renovate and construct energy-efficient, affordable homes for low- and moderate-income families. Thursday’s announcements could ensure more families see lower energy bills and other benefits, a news release from Adams’ office said.
Harris said the family told her its savings on energy bills after moving into a more energy-efficient home allowed them to put money away for things like college funds.
“When we’re talking about real people ... this is a big deal,” she said.
Investing in clean energy projects will also create opportunities for people working in related fields, the vice president added.
Biden-Harris open Charlotte campaign office
In addition to announcing the clean energy grants, Harris marked the opening of a Biden-Harris campaign office alongside local and state Democrats in uptown.
It’s one of 10 campaign offices opening across the state — where Democrats are trying to win a presidential race for the first time since former President Barack Obama’s 2008 victory.
If reelected, Harris told the crowd, the administration would remain committed to making progress on environmental issues, maternal mortality and more. She also criticized former President Donald Trump for his past comments about dictators and appointing Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“The choice is so clear,” she said of the 2024 presidential election.
Republicans hit back at Harris’s visit in a statement ahead of her appearance.
“Kamala Harris’s empty rhetoric will never erase the high-costs North Carolinians are paying for Bidenomics and Biden’s border crisis. It’s no wonder why the Biden-Harris campaign is underwater in the state: they have no answer for their record of failures,” RNC Spokesperson Rachel Lee said.
A mid-March poll from the Wall Street Journal found Trump leading Biden in North Carolina by a margin of 49% to 43%.
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