The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has awarded Oregon $197 million from the federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program. This is the largest award announced in the Pacific Northwest. The EPA’s CPRG program provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, Tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution.

Authorized under Section 60114 of the Inflation Reduction Act, this two-phase program provided $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants and is now announcing approximately $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants. The CPRG implementation grants are designed to fund measures contained in climate action plans developed under CPRG planning grants.

Governor Kotek said, “Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a critical strategy to mitigate the impacts of climate change. When I was Speaker of the House, I fought for ambitious GHG reduction goals. This investment is not only an affirmation of Oregon’s collective efforts to combat climate change, but a significant down payment on our ability to meet our reduction goals with a statewide approach. I want to thank Oregon’s congressional delegation for their partnership in making this key investment happen.”

“Every community is feeling the impacts of climate change, from heat waves and drought conditions to increased wildfire smoke and severe winter storms. We must act collaboratively to reduce carbon emissions and to address the adverse impacts on people’s health and our economic prosperity,” said EPA Regional Administrator Casey Sixkiller. “Through the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, EPA is partnering with states and local communities to make the largest investments ever in green buildings, clean energy transportation, and climate justice, and the State of Oregon continues to lead the way.”

“Governor Kotek and our state agencies have demonstrated outstanding leadership in securing this highly competitive federal grant,” Meredith Connolly, Director of Policy and Strategy for Climate Solutions said. “This level of funding will enable investments in every corner of Oregon, making clean energy solutions more affordable, our air cleaner, and our economy greener. By transitioning to electric cars, buses, trucks, and heat pumps - all powered by renewable energy - we are also increasing our communities’ long-term resilience in the face of rising wildfire threats and extreme heat. Our organization along with many others stand ready to support the state’s implementation to ensure a swift reduction of climate pollution, with a strong focus on benefiting frontline communities and lower-income Oregonians across the state.”

Oregon will use this federal grant to implement the measures identified in Oregon’s Priority Climate Action Plan. The prioritized measures fall into three categories that are among the largest contributors to Oregon’s GHG emissions: transportation, residential and commercial buildings, and the handling of waste and materials. The workplan lays out 12 critical measures that will accelerate Oregon’s emission reduction efforts for a vibrant environment, for the health of communities across the state, and for a more sustainable future.

To read Oregon’s Climate Pollution Reduction Implementation Grant Workplan Narrative, priorities fall into three categories:

• Transportation accounts for at least 35% of state emissions. Incentivizing zero-emission vehicles in all classes will achieve significant reductions in GHGs. Co-benefits include improved public health in communities that are nearest to transportation corridors by lowering tailpipe emissions of criteria and toxic air pollutants such as diesel particulate matter. However, the net zero is the measurement only of the exhaust pipe.
• Residential and Commercial Buildings account for about a third of the state’s GHG emissions. Incentives are proposed to improve the efficiency of existing and new buildings, promote the transition to clean equipment and appliances, and increase building weatherization. Co-benefits include improved indoor air quality, including protection from wildfire smoke, and reduced energy cost burdens due to more efficient homes and buildings.
• Waste and Materials are also major contributors of GHGs. Oregon’s consumption-based emissions inventory (CBEI) identifies 51 MMT CO2e of additional emissions that are not a part of Oregon’s sector-based inventory. Incentives addressing waste and materials focus on some of the largest emissions categories in the CBEI, including embodied carbon in the built environment and emissions associated with food. Reducing these emissions, along with significant sources of landfill methane, offers multiple co-benefits and will demonstrate for the nation opportunities to address sources that are more difficult, but still necessary, to abate in ways that are responsive to community needs.

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  Waste and Material proposals should be of most concern to residence. Fifteen-minute cities are being explored and this proposal focuses on space-efficient housing, embodied carbon and consumption-based emissions of households. A DEQ study found the operational and embodied carbon impacts of extra-small homes (defined as 1149 SF in the study) are reduced by 20 to 40 percent compared to medium-sized homes. Case studies of building reuse where cites embodied GHG emissions reduced 40 to 75 percent in reuse of existing buildings compared to new construction.
  
  Another concern is food waste as the single largest source of methane generation in landfills, accounting for 58% methane generation (EPA). Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas – 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere. Is this their way of replacing natural foods? No mention was made of developing more trash incinerators that produce electricity. Opened in 1986, Covanta Energy is the backbone of Marion County's waste management system, diverting 90 percent of the county's trash from landfills and putting it to use creating electricity.
  
  Amid the projects of how emission reduction will benefit quality of health, it never compares it to quality of life. It also lacks an evaluation of how and how much emissions are reduced for the cost and effort.
  
  How many programs are long-term needing additional funding when the grant runs out? Oregon is already in a school crsis when school districts used Covid temporary funds to fund regular services and then the money ran out. Is this a repeat?
  
  
  --Donna Bleiler
  
  

  Post Date: 2024-07-29 17:33:04

  Last Update: 2024-07-27 18:57:41