Cities Are Cleaning Up With Some Help From Public And Private Friends

American history is rife with segregation and exclusion, causing many communities to suffer the consequences: poor air and water quality and a lack of economic options. Those areas find it difficult to mitigate the effects of climate change — like excessive flooding and droughts.

Welcome the Justice40 Initiative, part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to advance environmental justice and support climate change solutions for disadvantaged communities. However, community leaders are heading the charge, learning to overcome financial barriers and attract government funding.

“We are providing expertise that communities need to access federal funds, ensuring that investments reach them,” says Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, in a Zoom call for Justice40. “We are building stronger and more just communities for generations.”

Justice40 has served 101 communities over two years, giving technical assistance that secured $43 million for their community-led climate solutions. The initiative directs 40% of the benefits from federal investments into climate change projects and green energy solutions to places that have been the dumping ground for polluters.

While this is a government-sponsored enterprise, the private sector will participate. Consider: Companies are getting federal monies under the Build Back Better plan and the Inflation Reduction Acts. Indeed, energy companies are getting dollars to improve their natural gas pipelines and transmission wires. As such, community groups want them to join in empowering disadvantaged places.

Community leaders insist this should be a bipartisan movement. As Nathanial Smith, founder of the Partnership for Southern Equity, says, if elected leaders can attend ribbon-cutting ceremonies, they can support legislation that benefits their constituents.

For example, Appalachia has been among the hardest hit regions as the nation shifts from the industrial era into the green energy economy — a perfect fit for the Justice40 plan: Federal monies are now helping to train workers to run wind and solar projects, build electric vehicle charging stations, and create energy-efficient homes and businesses. And it’s attracting 21st Century companies.

“The private sector must carry its weight,” says Naomi Davis, with Chicago-based Blacks in Green, which secured $10 million. “We see industry partnerships as fundamental to our work. We must tap into the larger funding and long game in this climate fight. We are asking everyone in the ecosphere,” — from subject matter experts to supply chain partners.

Private Enterprise Enters the Equation

To that end, Exelon
EXC
Corp. formed the Climate Change Investment Initiative, providing equity investments to startups that benefit regions served by the utility. Exelon invests up to $10 million of in-kind support, including mentoring entrepreneurs to access other sources of capital, structure business plans, allocate financial resources, and meet regulatory requirements.

Over two years, the power company says disadvantaged companies have raised $100 million in follow-on investments. If businesses are to qualify for Exelon’s assistance, they must mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, boost the resiliency of urban infrastructure, and help cities achieve their sustainability and climate goals.

“Climate change requires us to take bold, collective action,” said Sunny Elebua, Exelon’s chief sustainability officer. The investment initiative is a “key component of Exelon’s commitment to addressing climate change in the communities most affected, which are often also the most underserved.”

Meanwhile, Amazon
AMZN
has also come under fire for its heavy-duty trucks that pollute a lot and traverse through regions where it has warehouses. East of Los Angeles, for example, people are complaining of respiratory illnesses. Most of the neighborhoods comprise people of color.

However, the online retailer is electrifying its fleet and going all-green. It’s all part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund — sourced initially with $2 billion to help Amazon and other carbon-conscious companies become net-zero by 2040.

Separately, the Bezos Earth Fund — the brainchild of Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos — is giving $400 million to create green spaces in underserved urban U.S. communities with more parks, trees, and gardens. That will support the mental and physical health of communities. First up: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Wilmington, and Delaware, receiving $50 million.

A Just and Equitable Energy System

The Inflation Reduction Act commits $1.5 billion to create green space as part of Justice40. Indeed, clean cities make for happy people — replete with parks, trees, and community gardens. It also provides tree cover to protect against extreme heat while improving air quality.

“Access to nature is deeply unequal, and the importance of green spaces to underserved communities is often overlooked and unaddressed,” said Lauren Sánchez, vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. “Green spaces make a city more beautiful, livable, healthy, and joyful, but studies show that they also lower extreme summer temperatures, reducing heat stress.”

Ultimately, the goal is to clean legacy pollution, provide healthy air and water, and generate economic opportunities. And the Justice40 Initiative is spearheading the movement.

Take the West Georgia Farmer’s Cooperative, which won a $1.1 million grant: It’s growing food and feeding local communities with an eye on sustainable and regenerative agriculture. Meanwhile, the Power52 Foundation in Maryland ensures clean energy access and sustainable jobs for marginalized communities.

The new energy system must be more equitable and just, says Tony Reames, deputy director of the Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs. He told reporters we can serve two critical causes — giving economic opportunities to those excluded and fighting climate change to improve quality of life.

How? It’s a multi-pronged effort that includes increasing clean energy adoption and decreasing the energy burden. It also involves lifting parity in technology and adoption while providing access to low-cost capital.

“Everyone who comes through our training receives credentials, career services, and job placement,” notes Cherie Brooks, chief executive of the Power52 Foundation, which won a $1.5 million grant. “They are ‘shovel-ready’ when they go into the workforce. And we need more workers.”

The Biden Administration’s approach is to spotlight low-income regions and communities of color. The White House is thus granting money so that they can clean up their neighborhoods and attract tomorrow’s businesses and skilled labor positions. Areas nationwide benefit, illustrating how good economics can overpower petty political grievances.