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Among the stops on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan's "Journey to Justice" tour were several poor and minority communities in Appalachia. In this case, Regan is after what the Biden administration terms "environmental justice." One of the aims is to clean up pollution and develop clean energy in those communities. Regan said the program "has the promise to turn disadvantaged and overburdened areas into healthy, resilient and thriving communities for current and future generations."
To that end, another $2 billion in federal funding has been made available to community groups, states and tribes for communities "that have long been overlooked and forgotten," Regan said. As Joe Biden's senior adviser on clean energy John Podesta put it, the money is meant to address multiple, overlapping problems in these communities, rather than trying to tackle problems "one small grant at a time."
Wonderful, but those receiving the money had better have detailed and tested plans for advancing not just the environmental health of these communities, but overall quality of life. Certainly, the federal government can rarely be trusted to avoid throwing money at a problem without confidence that problem will actually be solved. Approximately 150 community-driven projects are expected to win grants ranging from $10 million to $20 million each, officials told the Associated Press. Another 20, smaller projects will be funded to improve communication between communities and the government. Those grants are expected to total about $1 million to $3 million each. And $200 million will be available for technical assistance with the federal grant process.
Local organizations and municipalities with thoroughly researched ideas for projects that would both clean up the mess that was made as we built our communities AND lift us out of the rut in which our economies have been stuck should work on their applications for this grant funding.
Surely, if it is good for the environment and the people living in it, even here in Appalachia Regan and Co. will want to make it happen.