The GHG Reduction Fund in the IRA: Developing a national green bank to support an equitable energy transition
Please join the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center virtually, on Monday, September 26, from 4:00 – 5:00 pm ET for a discussion on the importance and role of a national green bank in accelerating an equitable transition to a clean energy economy.
One of the many notable components of the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the authorization of $27 billion to establish the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. A national green bank would have a mandate to finance clean energy and environmental justice projects in every state. Through the bank, clean energy entrepreneurs would leverage funding to advance clean energy initiatives and infrastructure in their communities, while creating cleaner air and good, local jobs. The bank would support projects where the problem is not only the cost of financing, but also the availability of financing.
Low-income communities spend three times more of their income on energy costs compared to non-low-income households. The national green bank would help correct this imbalance and help ensure an equitable transition to clean energy in all communities. It would provide billions of dollars of low interest,100 percent up front financing and other forms of financial support to reduce the burden of energy costs by helping to ensure that low-income households and communities have the funding to install clean energy projects while lowering their energy costs.
Distributing the IRA funding through a national green bank would have many advantages. The national green bank could establish national standards for loans, develop credit enhancement programs, and provide expertise and funding to state and local green banks and Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) on renewable energy projects. A national green bank could raise additional funds to those provided in the IRA and through interest on and repayment of loans.
During this panel discussion, experts will discuss opportunities for the Biden Administration to successfully build a national green bank and unlock investment to support an equitable and just clean energy future.
Keynote remarks by- Senator Chris van Hollen, Maryland
- Will Barber III, Director of Climate and Environmental Justice, The Climate Reality Project; Chief Consultant of Environmental Justice and Equity, Coalition for Green Capital
- Bryan Garcia, President & CEO, Connecticut Green Bank
- Reed Hundt, Founder & CEO, Coalition for Green Capital
- Cathie Mahon, President & CEO, Inclusiv
- Ken Berlin, Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council