Electrify Oregon

I’m happy to see more funding for clean energy projects, and competitions like the EPA’s CPRG Competitive program can at times feel like a lottery with crushing odds. The EPA recently announced 25 winners of a whopping $4.3 billion for climate pollution reduction projects across the country. This is great news for the 25 winners! And at the same time we need to move faster to help ALL communities make the transition to clean energy. It is fabulous that 13 state applicants, 11 municipal applicants, and 1 Tribal applicant will receive funding for projects in 30 states. And yet, the other 20 states and countless municipalities and Tribes across the country most likely spent a lot of time and energy planning projects and writing applications but received no funding. We need to build a bigger, more inclusive bandwagon for the clean energy transition by helping far more communities get started. A little napkin math illustrates what overly selective funding programs are missing. For example, $500 million could pay for a climate staff person for 3 years ($300k) in 30+ communities in every single state in the country. We need to quickly (like yesterday) cast a wider net by trusting, empowering and supporting thousands of local communities to help meet our climate goals. That’s why the Clean Energy Communities Fund (CECF) is helping thousands of communities get fossil fuels out of their homes, buildings and vehicles. We need to give communities a helping hand and a warm welcome to the clean energy future, not a high stakes lottery.

We recently launched our updated website (www.electrifyoregon.org). Take a look. It's got great resources for learning how to get off fossil fuels - 101 learning resources, contractor finder, a tool for making an electrification plan, and more! Enjoy! #getofffossilfuels #electrification #climatechange #ev #solar #heatpumps