News | September 23, 2024

Federal funding is sparking climate progress

New federal funding helps accelerate solar energy across the South. (iStock)

Southern climate solutions are happening now.

Birmingham is building electric vehicle charging stations and providing an electric bike voucher program to cut air pollution. Knoxville is investing in greenway expansions and tree planting near public housing and schools. 

These are just two examples of how cities across the South are using an unprecedented surge of federal investments for projects and programs to accelerate climate progress. These investments are critical in the South. Our region plays an outsized role in contributing to climate pollution and our history of racial inequality leaves low-income and communities of color at greater risk of harm as extreme heat, flooding, storms, and droughts accelerate. 

Tangible results and momentum can inspire other Southern leaders to seek more federal climate funding to meet local needs.

Alys Campaigne, Climate Initiative Leader

Over the past three years, the landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act have earmarked unprecedented funding and tax credits to combat escalating climate pollution and impacts. Southern states are recognized leaders in the growth of new clean energy manufacturing industries sparked by these new incentives. But the South lags other regions in securing critical funding to support local projects that help communities adapt and respond to the climate crisis. The regional disparity is particularly stark when funding awards to date are compared on a per capita basis. 

Alys Campaigne (right), SELC’s Climate Initiative Leader, helps measure flooding with staff from the South Carolina Aquarium.

Our report, Southern Solutions: How Federal Funding Is Sparking Climate Progress, explores how five Southern cities are seizing this historic opportunity to slash pollution, spur local economies, create new high-quality jobs, and enhance community resilience. 

“Southern communities are feeling the heat, tapping into historic levels of federal funding to support innovative, locally led solutions to cut pollution, limit flooding, create new jobs, and expand access to cleaner transportation and energy,” said Alys Campaigne, SELC’s Climate Initiative Leader. “Tangible results and momentum are inspiring other Southern leaders to seek more federal climate funding to meet local needs.” 

To date, the five cities featured in this report, Birmingham, Alabama, Columbia, South Carolina, Brunswick, Georgia and Knoxville and Memphis, Tennessee, — representing over 1.2 million people —have received over $572.2 million in federal investments, with many more funding opportunities still in the pipeline.  

A few programs highlighted in the report 

Transforming energy systems in Memphis 

A man leans against the side of a house to examine the AC unit and make notes.
A weatherization specialist examines an AC unit for a homeowner making upgrades to improve their home’s energy efficiency. (@Stephanie Gross)

Memphis, Tennessee, is reshaping energy systems by making homes more energy efficient. Tennessee secured $83.7 million in federal grants for energy efficiency retrofits. This funding will help the City of Memphis and Shelby County increase the number of low-income homes served by weatherization and retrofit programs by 500 percent over five years.  

Half of the city’s low-income households spend 13.2 percent of their gross income on energy costs—more than double the national average. These energy impoverished households tend to use more electricity and are often renters who lack control over factors affecting energy consumption, such as appliances, insulation, weatherization, thermostats, and HVAC systems. Local leaders have pursued funding for these projects through the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, a CPRG Implementation Grant, and DOE’s Training for Residential Energy Contractor Program. 

Working together to address climate change in Columbia

Over the past decade, the city of Columbia, South Carolina, has aggressively pursued federal funding to drive transportation electrification in schools, helping kids breathe easier, and to reduce high energy burdens in low-income and underserved communities.  

Columbia further solidified its climate leadership when it won one of the most competitive federal climate grants in July 2024. The EPA awarded Columbia’s Central Midlands Governments consortium a $8.7 million Climate Pollution Reduction implementation grant to develop municipal solar projects, install reflective and porous pavement to combat extreme heat, and build green roofs and bioswales to limit flooding.

Addressing past harms in Birmingham

A picture containing an empty playground in the foreground, then a house, with a smokestack looming in the background.
Birmingham is known for its high levels of industrial pollution where people live and play. (@Julie Dermansky)

Birmingham, Alabama, a city grappling with long-standing environmental justice concerns, is leveraging federal funding to address legacy pollution and improve equitable access to transportation. Known for high levels of industrial pollution affecting air, soil, and water, Birmingham ranks among the highest metro areas in the nation for air quality risks, which disproportionately harms Black residents.  

In 2023, Birmingham received a $14.6 million Reconnecting Communities grant and a $21.7 million RAISE grant to reconnect divided neighborhoods and business districts and help address historic racial injustices. The projects also include the development of the Birmingham Urban Trail and Multimodal Corridor, a multi-use urban path that will highlight historical and cultural landmarks from the Civil Rights Movement.

More investments on the way for Southern communities

The more than $373.8 billion in new federal investments authorized through the historic climate laws are a down payment toward helping communities seek out affordable energy choices, provide more affordable transportation options, and stimulate local economic development. 

So far, only $167 billion of this overall funding, roughly 45 percent, has been awarded, leaving a substantial amount of resources yet to be allocated. For example, this fall, EPA’s Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program will award $600 million on a rolling basis for projects to clean up air and water pollution, enhance emergency preparedness and resiliency, and provide healthy, efficient homes. Now is an extraordinary opportunity for localities to step up as civic leaders and work with community partners to claim this funding. 

The cities profiled in this report illuminate some diverse ways that funding is driving impact. Yet, one consistent theme emerges: effective implementation requires purposeful coordination and engagement between local and state governments, community-based organizations, stakeholder groups, and federal agencies. 

The months and years ahead offer immense potential for Southern states and cities to bring their fair share of federal investments to the region. Ultimately, the impact and durability of climate solutions hinges on uplifting community priorities, fostering public-private partnerships, and most importantly — recognizing the imperative for urgent action. 

report

Southern Solutions

Our report explores how five Southern cities are seizing this historic opportunity to slash pollution, spur local economies, create new high-quality jobs, and enhance community resilience.

View Report