July 1, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC —The U.S. House today passed the bipartisan Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator as part of the INVEST in America Act (H.R. 3684). It is the third time the Accelerator, or federal green bank, has been passed by the chamber.
“Again, the House has spoken and passed the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to help us build the infrastructure of the future,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.). “The Accelerator has growing bipartisan support and will help us leverage private co-investment to rapidly transition to a clean economy. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in Congress, the administration, and the Coalition for Green Capital to get this enacted.”
“Just days after the Accelerator was included in the bipartisan framework announced by the President, the House has passed this bipartisan legislation for the third time,” said Reed Hundt, CEO of the Coalition for Green Capital. “The Accelerator continues to gain more support because it enables targeting of public and private investment directed at disadvantaged communities, workforces, children afflicted by environmental harm, and consumers burdened by high costs of the existing energy platform.”
Background
President Biden included the Clean Energy Accelerator, a national green bank that would inject funding into state green banks, as a key climate provision in the American Jobs Plan, and the policy is included in the bipartisan infrastructure framework announced last week.
The Coalition for Green Capital has been the advocate of green bank creation since its founding in 2010. Currently there are 22 green banks in 16 states and the District and 21 more green banks in the pipeline. Most recently green banks were created in Maine and Colorado. Legislation to fund them at necessary scale is pending in the House (H.R. 806, a bipartisan Clean Energy & Sustainability Accelerator introduced by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Rep. Don Young (R-AK) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and (S. 283, creating a National Climate Bank, introduced by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey and Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen).
ABOUT COALITION FOR GREEN CAPITAL
The Coalition for Green Capital (@CGreenCapital) is a non-profit with a mission to halt climate change by accelerating investment in clean energy technologies and by advocating for, creating and implementing green bank institutions. Green banks are a proven finance model that uses public and philanthropic funds to mobilize private investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other decarbonization technologies. For over a decade, the Coalition for Green Capital has led the Green Bank movement, working at the federal, state and local level in the U.S. and in countries around the world.
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