News and Updates

Letters Letters

Climate Mayors Joins the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and City-Led Organizations on Letter to Shape the Department of Energy’s Zero-Building Energy Code Adoption Program

We recommend that DOE support state and local governments (jurisdictions) and partner applicants to adopt and implement the latest codes and zero codes for new and existing buildings as well as residential, multifamily, and commercial buildings. We recommend that DOE allow jurisdictions to focus their efforts on the areas where they can have the greatest impact through energy savings, decarbonization, and community benefits including advancing equity, affordability, and workforce development. We believe DOE should provide significant support for a code workplan/roadmap and then allocate funding based on these plans.

We recommend that the funding process emphasize brevity and simplicity. With this in mind, we recommend that DOE develop a one-page grant application and off-the-shelf workplans for jurisdictions wanting a streamlined process. We recommend that DOE also have a funded planning grant process to support jurisdictions in developing a customized codes roadmap. We recommend that the implementation grants provide rolling funding (formula and competitive) to carry out the plan within the workplan or roadmap.

Read the full letter and recommendations therein HERE.

Signed,

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)

Climate Mayors

Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN)

C40 Cities

Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN)

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Letters Letters

Climate Mayors Joins Over 100 Advocates To Oppose H.R. 1 and the Repeal of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

We, the undersigned, write in strong opposition to H.R. 1, The Lower Energy Costs Act, which would gut key environmental protections and delay the transition to a clean energy future by locking in decades of dependence on fossil fuels. Among the many disastrous provisions in H.R. 1 that would undermine climate action and put communities at risk, the legislation seeks to repeal Section 134 of the Clean Air Act, otherwise known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). We urge Members of Congress to join us in supporting this landmark program and opposing reckless legislation to repeal it.

Read the full letter and recommendations therein HERE.

Signed,

1000 Friends of Wisconsin, 350.org, 350 Deschutes, A Just Harvest, African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, Alaska Wilderness League, Allectrify, PBC, American Council for an Energy-Efficient, Economy (ACEEE), Americans for Financial Reform, Azul, Building Electrification Institute, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Calvert Impact, Ceres, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, City of Richmond, VA, Clean Energy Business Network, Clean Up the River Environment (CURE), Climate + Energy Project, Climate Mayors, Climate Reality Chicago Metro, Coalition for Green Capital, Colorado Clean Energy Fund, Columbus Region Green Fund, Community Preservation Corporation, Dream.org, e^2=equitable energy ventures,  E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), Earthjustice, Ecority, Elevate, Endangered Species Coalition, Enterprise Community Partners, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Environmental Law & Policy Center, Evergreen Action, Garrison Associates, Go Green Illinois, GreenLatinos, Hip Hop Caucus, Illinois Environmental Council, Inclusiv, Inclusive Prosperity Capital, Inc., Indiana Environmental Clean Energy J40, Corporation, Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), Kinetic Communities Consulting, League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Main Street America, Metro East Green Alliance, Metropolitan Energy Center, Metropolitan Planning Council, Midwest Building Decarbonization, Coalition,  3,  Missouri Green Banc, NAACP, National Association for Latino Community, Asset Builders, National Housing Trust, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Nevada Clean Energy Fund, North American Insulation Manufacturers, Association, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Ocean Conservancy, Ocean Defense Initiative, ONE Northside, Organized Uplifting Resources and, Strategies, Philadelphia Energy Authority, Philadelphia Green Capital Corp., Pilgrim Progress Community Development, Corporation, Public Citizen, Regional Plan Association, Rewiring America,  Ride Illinois, Save Our Illinois Land, Sealed, Sierra Club, Slipstream, Smart Growth America, Solar United Neighbors, Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, Southern Environmental Law Center, The Capital Good Fund, Tucson Industrial Development Authority, Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of, Illinois, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Congregations of Metro East, UtilityAPI, VEIC, Vote Solar, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Wisconsin EcoLatinos, Wisdom’s Well

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Letters Letters

Climate Mayors and Urban Sustainability Directors Network Submit Letter to the Office of Management and Budget to Ensure Streamlining of Federal Grants

We, the undersigned, are pleased to submit these comments on the update of Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR), subtitle A, chapters I and II. The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) represents over 260 local government practitioners representing over 100 million residents, sharing best practices and accelerating transformative change across the United States and Canada. Climate Mayors represents a bipartisan network of over 500 mayors committed to climate action. We urge the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to consider the following recommendations when updating title 2 of the CFR to reduce the administrative burden on federal grant applicants. As illustrated in the chart below, local governments have difficulty navigating the federal funding landscape, knowing what funding is available, and knowing how to pursue that funding. This is further compounded by the lack of capacity within local governments to look for, apply to, and administer federal grant applications and awards. Significant changes are needed in the grant application and post award reporting processes to reduce the administrative burden on these local government entities.

  • Notice Period. We ask that all federal awarding agencies that announce notices of intent to post funding opportunities do so at least 60 days prior to releasing their funding opportunities.

  • Availability period. We ask that all federal awarding agencies be required to make funding opportunities available for application for at least 60 calendar days.

  • Grant application. We ask that one universal federal grant application be developed and adopted by all federal awarding agencies to standardize the application process, required forms, application and award timeline, and auto populate the system and forms with information that remains constant.

  • Grant Reporting. We ask that the federal awarding agencies allow for more simple, streamlined, and flexible grant reporting after receiving a grant award, as well as use reporting forms with components that are standardized across agencies.

  • Allowable Costs. We ask for flexibility in the list of allowable costs in all grant awards.

  • Standardization. We ask that Grants.gov standardize their notifications for all opportunities, even when a full application package is not required for submission.

Read the full letter and recommendations therein HERE.

Signed,

Climate Mayors

Urban Sustainability Directors Network

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Letters Letters

Climate Mayors, C40 Cities, USDN and City-Led Organizations Submit Letter to EPA with Recommendations to Ensure U.S. Cities Can Maximize the Benefits of Climate Pollution Reduction Grants

On behalf of our organizations that support climate action at the local level, we are pleased to submit these comments on the design and implementation of the newly created Climate Pollution Reduction Fund Program. The $5 billion available for planning and implementation of actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the state and local level could provide much needed capacity to accelerate transformative climate action and fill gaps in other new and existing funding programs. Critically, the program can build on the success and lessons learned from the many local governments that have created and are now implementing innovative climate action plans that advance both climate and equity goals.

We urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider the following cross-cutting principles in implementing the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program and provide specific recommendations for each of the types of funding available for planning, implementation and technical assistance:

  • Cross Cutting Principles: For the program to deliver ambitious climate action, it is essential EPA recognize the crucial role of local governments in state and regional planning and implementation. To the greatest extent possible, we strongly urge the Agency to provide funding directly to local governments who are well-positioned to engage with communities and residents and have an acute understanding of how climate action can deliver health, economic, and other co-benefits at the community-level.

  • Planning Grants ($250M): The program must recognize the extent to which many state and local governments have already adopted climate action plans. Inclusive climate action plans can often take a year or more to complete and require significant allocation of limited resources, time, and staff capacity.

  • Implementation Grants (~$4.75B): EPA should prioritize implementation funding to jumpstart the most promising strategies, including those at the local and regional level, that can deliver rapid emissions reductions and benefits to disadvantaged communities and those on the frontlines of climate change. EPA should also maximize the broad and flexible nature of the program compared to other sources of federal funding.

  • Administrative Funding (up to $142M): Technical assistance should provide eligible entities, especially those that otherwise wouldn’t have the capacity or means to develop plans on their own, support to develop and implement comprehensive climate action plans that embed multiple additional environmental, health, equity, economic and societal benefits.

Read the full letter and recommendations therein HERE.

Signed,

Climate Mayors

C40 Cities

National League of Cities

Southeast Sustainability Directors Network

The U.S. Conference of Mayors

Urban Sustainability Directors Network

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Letters Letters

Climate Mayors and Urban Sustainability Directors Network Joint Letter to House and Senate Leadership Urging End of Year Passage of FY23 Appropriations

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McCarthy, and Minority Leader McConnell:

First, we want to thank you for your commitment to continue negotiations to potentially move forward with the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) appropriations legislative packages. We recognize the limited time Congress has to negotiate the end of year spending packages. However, as members of Climate Mayors, a bipartisan network of over 500 mayors committed to climate action, and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, a coalition of local government sustainability practitioners representing more than 250 communities, we urge Congressional leaders to move forward with final passage of the FY23 appropriations bills to support our local economies, continue to create good jobs, and avoid further uncertainty that weakens our communities.

In addition to our request for Congressional action of passage of the FY23 appropriations bills, we ask you to consider the following top line funding levels for critical energy, infrastructure, and health programs that are vital for continued local climate action:

  • $4 billion for the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office, along with $562 million for the Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP).

  • $2 billion for Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Building Resilience Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program.

  • $75 million to address the health impacts of climate change for the Health and Human Services’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read the full letter and recommendations therein HERE.

Signed,

Kate Wright, Executive Director, Climate Mayors

Shauna Sylvester, Executive Director Urban Sustainability Directors Network

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Letters Letters

Climate Mayors and City-Led Organizations Submit Letter to EPA on How to Shape the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

Climate Mayors, along with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and National League of Cities, submitted a request for information (RFI) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of cities to provide feedback on the program design and implementation of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) passed in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This $27 billion in funding over the next two years provides a first-of-its-kind national program to mobilize financing and leverage private capital for clean energy and climate projects that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while also emphasizing projects that benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. The GGRF builds on the successes of state and local green banks and other investment funds that leverage limited public funds to attract private investment while helping to foster an inclusive green economy through job creation and equitable access to low-cost energy upgrades. As organizations who advocate for the investment in local level climate action to achieve our national climate goals, we recommend that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) use the following high-level principles to implement the GHGRF equitably and in alignment with President Biden’s Justice40 initiative (J40):

  • Defining low-income and disadvantaged communities.

  • Ensure funding flows directly to local governments.

  • Coordinate with existing State programs and federal research resources to support technical assistance and capacity building for local governments.

  • Prioritize investments and benefits in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

  • Conduct a gap-analysis to determine eligible projects and maximize GHG reducing projects.

Read the full letter and recommendations therein HERE.

Signed,

Climate Mayors

National League of Cities

The U.S. Conference of Mayors

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