![City Taking Advantage of Climate Cash Windfall Before It’s Gone City Taking Advantage of Climate Cash Windfall Before It’s Gone](https://i0.wp.com/static01.nyt.com/images/2024/05/22/multimedia/22cli-climatecash-promo-fmhp/22cli-climatecash-promo-fmhp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
For Brian Beffort, sustainability director for Washoe County, Nevada, the federal government’s commitment to fighting climate change has basically been a bonanza.
It’s been on the job for 15 months and already the county, which includes Reno, is hoping money will start flowing from a $156 million state grant it helped secure that can pay for rooftop solar panels for residents of low income. Other federal programs will fund urban reforestation and map Reno’s most popular neighborhoods. Beffort is also waiting to find out if the county will receive a multimillion-dollar federal grant to reduce air pollution.
There is so much money on offer that “it’s hard to keep up,” he said. “This is a great time to engage in sustainability and climate action.”
The Biden administration’s push to fight climate change has wasted billions of dollars across the United States for major projects, such as building new electric power transmission lines, and smaller ones, such as planting trees. The centerpiece of the president’s effort, the Inflation Reduction Act, is pumping more than $370 billion into programs aimed at helping the United States reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 40 percent below from 2005 levels by the end of this decade.
But in this election year, officials in Nevada and elsewhere facing new threats from climate change are wondering whether the flow of aid will last.
It is unclear to what extent federal funding for climate projects is increasing support for President Biden. In Nevada, a battleground state, Biden’s presumptive Republican rival, former President Donald J. Trump, has a significant lead in the polls. Trump also leads in Arizona and Georgia, other electoral battlegrounds where the Biden administration’s climate policies have helped attract billions of dollars in new investment.
Last year, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo decided his state would withdraw from a multistate coalition of governors committed to policies aligned with the Paris climate accord, the global agreement to reduce emissions. Gov. Lombardo, a Republican, said Nevada’s energy policies required a balance between fossil fuels and renewable energy; Previously, the state’s policy had been to move away from fossil fuels.
Despite that setback, the state, as well as individual counties, have been raising millions of dollars in federal funds to fight climate change.
“Under the current administration, we will continue to pursue potential funding opportunities that benefit not only Washoe County, but the entire state,” Dwayne McClinton, director of the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy, said in an emailed statement. . “The Governor’s Office of Energy remains focused on providing sustainable, reliable and affordable energy sources and advocating for maintaining a diverse energy portfolio.”
The money is welcome for Reno officials. Recently, Climate Central, an independent research group, named Reno the fastest warming city in the United States, saying its average annual temperature rose 7 degrees between 1970 and 2023. The second-fastest warming city also became located in Nevada: Las Vegas.
But fear is growing among many local officials that money to help alleviate what could be a deadly trend of rising temperatures could be fleeting, depending on what happens in November’s presidential election.
When Trump was in office, he weakened climate and conservation rules (which Biden later restored). Trump has criticized Biden’s energy and environmental agenda and has promised to eliminate rules aimed at speeding the country’s transition to electric vehicles.
The former president has also been courting oil executives for campaign donations, promising that if elected he would repeal environmental regulations that he says hurt his industry. Other Republicans have criticized Biden’s spending on climate issues as wasteful, unchecked and ripe for fraud.
“It seems certain that if Biden doesn’t win, the money could run out quickly,” said Beffort, whose position is nonpartisan and emphasized that his bosses on the county commission are both Republicans and Democrats.
Rising temperatures and extreme heat are becoming an urgent problem across the country, both in cities struggling to find money to keep cooling centers open 24 hours a day and in rural communities where scattered populations make it difficult. offer uniform relief. Some cities, as well as the state of Arizona, have appointed heating chiefs. In Congress, Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, is circulating a proposal to fund a dedicated heating officer in each state.
Reno is one of many cities in the country suffering from an urban heat island effect. Its miles of asphalt, heat-absorbing buildings and houses make it warmer than surrounding rural areas.
While cities like Phoenix had a streak of record-breaking 100-degree Fahrenheit temperatures last summer and failed to cool down significantly overnight, Reno benefits from its 4,500-foot elevation that makes way for cooler nights. But even Reno’s nighttime temperature is getting warmer, scientists said, posing new threats to the city.
“The science is clear: We are experiencing warming,” said Thomas P. Albright, Nevada’s acting state climatologist, who has been part of groups that have received federal grants aimed at measuring heat in Nevada.
Reno’s tree cover is sparse. The city center, in particular, heats up in the summer, and neighborhoods north and east of the city, as well as low-income areas near the airport, have significantly less tree cover than others.
The Truckee River, which runs through Reno and nearby Sparks, offers cooler temperatures and shady spots that have become a haven for the homeless. Local officials recently cleared encampments there and approved a measure prohibiting overnight camping along the banks. Homeless advocates said they feared evictees would settle along treeless railroad tracks in Reno, which could lead to heat-related health problems during the summer months.
Reno also faces air quality issues due to nearby wildfires and increased traffic in the growing area that has attracted new residents to work at the Tesla Gigafactory and elsewhere. The region had rainy and snowy weather earlier in the year, but faces risks from all kinds of extreme weather conditions driven by climate change.
Making sure money reaches vulnerable citizens is a challenge, said José Rivera, spokesman for Make the Road Nevada, which works on immigration, housing, economic justice and other issues. Language has been a barrier to programs that help low-income residents reduce their energy bills or convert gas stoves to electric.
“We know there are just pockets of money there to help and assist families,” he said. “But the information does not come to light.”
In Washoe County, federal funds are being used or sought to add electric vehicle charging stations and reinforce window insulation to keep out hot air. The federal dollars will help replace natural gas boilers with electric heat pumps and pay for the installation of energy-efficient LED lights. The money will also help replace fleets of gasoline and diesel cars and buses with electric vehicles.
Another grant provides resources from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies to identify the hottest areas of the county. That information would then be used to help identify areas most in need of weatherization programs and new trees.
Through his work as an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, Dr. Albright’s federal funding for his research on climate and other issues has spanned presidential administrations. He said he was optimistic that funding would continue to be available for issues that affect everyone.
Still, university officials are taking advantage of available funds while they can. Phoebe Judge, the university’s chief sustainability officer, recently submitted a grant proposal and is preparing another that could provide the school with a total of $27 million to reduce the effects of climate change on the campus, a major emitter of greenhouse gases. greenhouse gases of the city.
“There’s a little bit of madness to get this funding applied for and get it before the end of the year,” he said.
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