Last year, with the help of a $3 million federal grant, the state of Georgia began developing its first-ever plan to cut emissions of planet-warming gases. With funding from the same Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program, metro Atlanta drafted a climate road map of its own, too.
The plans were submitted to the federal agency this spring. The hope was to snag a slice of the $4.3 billion the EPA was offering, part of one of the federal government’s largest-ever grant opportunities for curbing heat-trapping pollution.
But last month, both the city and the state received bad news: Not a single cent from the program is heading to Georgia.
On July 22, the EPA announced the billions in funding will go to 25 applicants to support projects planned across 30 states. Those include efforts to build heavy-duty vehicle charging infrastructure in the Northeast, manage forests in Montana and accelerate renewable energy projects in Michigan, along with many others.
The EPA says by 2050, the projects it selected will keep nearly 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. That’s roughly equal to the energy emissions from 5 million homes over a 25-year period, the agency said.
The grants are strictly for projects that reduce emissions — not for climate adaptation efforts, like building infrastructure to protect against sea level rise or higher temperatures. And whether they end up cutting climate pollution in Georgia or elsewhere, each ton of greenhouse gases kept out of the atmosphere will help limit future global warming.
Still, the snub stung for those who shaped the state’s bids.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Georgia’s plan — dubbed the Peach State Voluntary Emission Reduction Plan — outlined a menu of “implementation-ready” strategies for drawing down greenhouse gas pollution. Those included the build out of more electric vehicle charging infrastructure, weatherization of older of buildings, and promotion of sustainable forestry and farming practices, among many others.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), which spearheaded the creation of the statewide plan, specifically requested $41 million to purchase 100 electric school buses, plus fund the installation of chargers and driver training. Georgia was also part of a $360 million bid with Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Bowling Green, Kentucky, to expand building weatherization and energy efficiency programs across the region.
But neither proposal was picked for funding, and EPD spokeswoman Sara Lips said the agency was “disappointed.”
“EPD has asked EPA for a debrief about why no applications from Georgia were selected for grant funding,” Lips added.
An EPA spokesman did not elaborate on why Georgia’s proposals were not selected, but said the agency used “rigorous, uniform evaluation criteria” to select the most impactful and investment-ready projects.
The spokesman added that EPA received nearly $33 billion in funding requests and with $4.3 billion available to dole out, it was forced to make “difficult choices.”
This is not the first time Georgia has missed out on a big federal climate funding opportunity. Last year, a coalition of Georgia elected officials, universities and businesses had sought to land one of several “hydrogen hubs” that the U.S. Department of Energy is funding with billions in federal dollars. Instead, the agency decided to place the hydrogen projects elsewhere, mainly in major fossil fuel-producing regions.
Metro Atlanta, which also developed its first-ever climate plan for the 29-county region with a separate, $1 million federal grant, did not have success landing funding either. The development of that road map was led by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC).
Anna Roach, the executive director and CEO of the commission, said in a statement that the ARC plans to use the strategy they developed to pursue other funding opportunities.
“We believe this work has only strengthened our ability to compete for grant funding in the future,” Roach said.
Despite the swings and misses, both Georgia and metro Atlanta are still working on refining the strategies government leaders developed with the initial planning grants last year. The final products, known as Comprehensive Climate Action Plans, are set to be submitted to the federal government next year.
And while the EPA itself won’t be offering new funding to support implementation of those plans, the agency said it will host a “funding fair” in the fall to help cities and states pursue dollars elsewhere.
A note of disclosure
This coverage is supported by a partnership with Green South Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. You can learn more and support our climate reporting by donating at ajc.com/donate/climate/
