Large institutional property owners (higher education, health care, cultural institutions) play key roles in advancing climate action. They are major energy users and asset owners, investing in resilience and decarbonization on their own property; they invest in climate “applied R&D” that can be shared with others; and they are respected voices in climate policy deliberations.
The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the largest US climate investment in history and presents an opportunity to accelerate the climate leadership of large institutions. It includes tax credits, financing mechanisms and grants designed to reduce carbon emissions, promote environmental justice, and create clean energy jobs. But the IRA is also incredible complicated, with provisions that are difficult to interpret and funding sources that are hard to access. This complexity can be daunting and keep some institutions from accessing resources they could otherwise use to advance their climate goals.
This GRCx program will be designed to “demystify” the IRA and help institutional stakeholders access key programs of the IRA. It will provide an overview of IRA resources and how institutions can utilize its tax credits (for clean energy, transportation, and energy efficiency), financing sources and grant opportunities, either individually or in collaboration with community partners.
A follow-up GRCx is planned for a “deep dive” on the opportunities to use IRA resources to strengthen an institution’s climate justice work to advance climate action within the neighborhoods and communities it serves.
Panelists
- Timothy Carter, President, Second Nature
- Francine Newsome Pfeiffer, VP for Federal Relations, Rutgers University
- Nate Hausman, Manager Clean Energy Markets, and Ian Goldsmith, Research Analyst, World Resources Institute (WRI)