- In The News
- July 2024
Denver 7: Colorado invests more in communities finding solutions to pollution
July 5, 2024
Denver 7 reports on Colorado’s Environmental Justice Grant Program.
“Colorado communities hit hardest by environmental harms are getting new investments through government grants aimed at empowering residents to make their spaces healthier to live in.
Starting this week, eight groups across the state, including the nonprofit run by Grevious, will begin receiving support from Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).
Colorado created these environmental justice grants in 2022 when state lawmakers decided to take money collected through fines and penalties against air pollution violators and pay it directly to affected communities working on solutions.
In the past, the money collected through air pollution penalties and fines went into Colorado’s general fund to pay for overall government operations. But starting in 2022, Colorado lawmakers set up a “community impact cash fund” so that a portion of that money could start going to communities.
Colorado has collected more than $17 million total through air penalties and fines since 2022, according to data provided by the CDPHE.
A breakdown of those funds by year shows Colorado is collecting more as time goes on. So far in 2024, Colorado has collected more than $10 million, compared to just under $5 million in 2023 and $1.8 million in 2022.”
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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