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“State green banks are expecting a historic influx of billions in federal dollars that is poised to scale up clean energy lending across the country and supercharge public-private climate partnerships.
The Biden administration’s National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) awardees and sub-awardees are preparing for July 1, the Environmental Protection Agency’s target date for dispersing $14 billion to clean energy financing institutions.
The Coalition for Green Capital — one of the program’s three primary recipients — won $5 billion and plans to launch a national green bank that will coordinate with a network of state green banks to summon a “tsunami” of clean, cheap power, said Reed Hundt, the coalition’s CEO.
These state green banks, some nascent and some established, are quasi-governmental or nonprofit lenders that leverage public dollars to attract private investment to the clean energy space. So far, at least 10 states have this type of finance authority—and they’ve spurred nearly $15 billion in total public-private investment since 2011—but more banks will need to pop up to complete the network, Hundt said.”
Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the previous administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28% by 2025, 50-52% by 2030, and 61-66% by 2035, all below 2005 levels, and collectively achieve overall net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as practicable, and no later than 2050.
The Alliance’s states and territories continue to demonstrate that climate action goes hand-in-hand with economic growth, job creation, and better public health. The Alliance reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 19% between 2005 and 2022, while increasing collective GDP by 30%, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal by reducing collective GHG emissions 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. The coalition’s states and territories are employing more workers in the clean energy sector, achieving lower levels of dangerous air pollutants, and preparing more effectively for climate impacts and executing more pre-disaster planning than the rest of the country.
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