- In The News
- April 2024
Bloomberg Law: State Green Banks to Receive ‘Historic’ Rush of Federal Funds
April 16, 2024
Bloomberg Law reports on how state green banks are poised to secure federal funds and supercharge clean energy projects across the country.
“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.”
About the Alliance
Launched in 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the U.S. federal government’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60 percent of the U.S. economy and 55 percent of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28 percent by 2025, 50-52 percent by 2030, and 61-66 percent 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 advance innovative and impactful climate solutions to grow the economy, create jobs, and protect public health, and have a long record of action and results. In fact, the latest data shows that as of 2023, the Alliance has reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent below 2005 levels, while increasing collective GDP by 34 percent, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal of reducing collective greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
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