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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $300 million in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants to 34 Tribal nations and territories. These grants, part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, aim to cut climate pollution and accelerate the clean energy transition. The projects include installing solar arrays, improving energy efficiency, and developing electric vehicle infrastructure. This marks one of the largest climate investments in Tribal and territorial communities.

Energize King County helped Tina upgrade from a gas furnace and no cooling to a heat pump for combined heating and cooling to keep her granddaughter Ivana comfortable in the increasingly hot summers.

The Seattle Clean Heat program helped the Thompsons switch from expensive oil heating to cheaper heat pump that required less maintenance.

Richland Community College’s clean energy jobs training starts with an eight-week life skills course that ... uses a Circle of Courage practice inspired by Indigenous communities and helps students prepare to handle stressful workplace situations like being disrespected or even called a racial slur.

A novel solar power project just went online in California’s Central Valley, with panels that span across canals in the vast agricultural region. The 1.6-megawatt installation, called Project Nexus, was fully completed late last month. The $20 million state-funded pilot has turned stretches of the Turlock Irrigation District’s canals into hubs of clean electricity generation in a remote area where cotton, tomatoes, almonds, and hundreds of other crops are grown.

California has proven to be an incubator for climate innovation—setting ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution and creating new jobs in the clean economy. To support these goals, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and employers have come together in Los Angeles to create the LA Regional Cleantech Career Academy. The Academy aims to train the next generation of workers for the clean energy workforce, making a priority of populations that are un- and underrepresented in the industry as future leaders of the anticipated economic boom in this sector. UNITE-LA (which describes itself as a nonprofit organization focused on “equitable economic mobility” through “cradle-through-career” education and workforce development) partners with numerous businesses, institutions of education, public systems, community-based organizations, and philanthropic funders to administer the Academy. It has received letters of support from employers such as SunRun, Southern California Gas Company, Avantus, Southern California Edison, Chargie, Veolia, and H2U Technologies.

Adopted formally by the city in 2022, the Kansas City, Missouri “Climate Protection and Resilience Plan” calls for a 100 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s operations by 2030. The plan also includes a focus on the needs of marginalized communities who disproportionately experience the effects of climate change. Simultaneously, in the Kansas City area, some high schools are offering career and technical education (CTE) pathways for students to develop skills needed for the “climate-ready” workforce. MDRC is learning from schools and programs across the country that are building innovative programs to prepare high school students for jobs that address these shifting labor market needs.

To better understand how schools can build programs that provide reliable growth trajectories for students in the green economy, MDRC wanted to learn more about the North Carolina Community College System’s (NCCCS’s) 10-year-old “Code Green” initiative. In 2010, NCCCS launched “Code Green” at its 58 community colleges, which college leaders called the largest curriculum redesign initiative in the system’s history. The system overhauled programs in five sectors that offered a total of 82 degrees in energy efficiency and sustainability, building, transportation, engineering technologies, and environment and energy.

This 100% affordable family housing project is a 152-unit residential rental development featuring a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units designed with families in mind. Units will be restricted to between 30% and 70% of the area median income (AMI). On-site amenities will include a small park, outdoor grill area, fitness center, community event and craft room, and a dedicated leasing office. Residents can also expect Energy Star-rated appliances, in-unit washers and dryers, LED lighting, hard stone countertops, low flow plumbing fixtures, LED lighting, and programmable thermostats for the common area.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $300 million in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants to 34 Tribal nations and territories. These grants, part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, aim to cut climate pollution and accelerate the clean energy transition. The projects include installing solar arrays, improving energy efficiency, and developing electric vehicle infrastructure. This marks one of the largest climate investments in Tribal and territorial communities.