The Clean Energy Future Blog

By Coalition for Green Capital

Letter comes after inclusion in White House American Jobs Plan

Number of groups supporting concept doubles from last year 

NRDC, EDF, SEIA and other large groups sign on

 

WASHINGTON—Nearly 250 groups today sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to include a $100B Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator in the upcoming infrastructure bill to serve as a national green bank after President Joe Biden recommended the effort in his American Jobs Plan in March. The number of groups backing the idea has more than doubled since last summer when the U.S. House passed $20 billion for a national green bank as GOP support for the idea has increased with backing from Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska). 

 

“Though we have a vaccine, the United States will be battling the health crisis well into 2021. Immediate relief is critical, but it is not enough. Congress should respond by depositing $100 billion into the independent nonpartisan, nonprofit Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that the President included in his American Jobs Plan to mobilize nearly half a trillion dollars of investment and create 4 million new jobs in 4 years,” the groups wrote. 

 

The letter, spearheaded by the Coalition for Green Capital, was signed by a diverse group of industry, trade and environmental advocacy groups, along with state and local officials. Large environmental organizations include the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, National Resources Defense Council, League of Conservation Voters, Union of Concerned Scientists, Climate Reality Project, Black Owners of Solar Services and Appalachian Voices. 

 

Other key clean energy industry groups— Solar Energy Industries Association, Energy Storage Association, Vote Solar, Advanced Energy Management Alliance, Renewable Energy Alaska Project and Alaska Power and Telephone Company—added their voices. 

 

State green banks and funding agencies, innovative start-ups and larger corporations, clean tech investors, utilities and regional advocacy groups—from Alaska to Hawaii, Florida to Michigan, Colorado to Pennsylvania and dozens more states—all signed on to support. Their support signals that this proposal is an effective way to put people to work and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

The bank would mobilize private investment into distributed energy resources; retrofits of residential, commercial and municipal buildings; and clean transportation. At least 40 percent of its investments would go to disadvantaged communities that have not yet benefited from clean energy investments.

 

“The Fund will use the green bank model that has been proven at the state and local level in the U.S. There are already successful green banks in states like Michigan, Florida, Connecticut and Hawaii, and new ones in place in Colorado, Ohio, and Nevada,” wrote the groups. “States across the U.S. are now developing or considering their own green banks, including states like Alaska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maine, Minnesota and Wisconsin.”

 

Earlier this year, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced S. 283 and H.R. 806 to create a national green bank. The idea is also included in the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee’s comprehensive CLEAN Future Act. 

 

The National Academies of Science has recommended that Congress fund an institution based on the green bank model. In its report, it wrote, “Private sources of capital are unlikely to be sufficient to finance the low-carbon economic transition, especially during the 2020s when the effort is new. To ensure industrial competitiveness and quality of life, the United States should establish a Green Bank to mobilize finance for low-carbon infrastructure and business in America.”
  

Green banks currently exist in over 14 cities and states across the country and have supported over $5 billion in investment in clean energy projects in their states and local communities, and much of this investment has been targeted toward low- and moderate-income households and communities. View a list of projects that have been supported by already existing state and local green banks.

 

Read the letter and full listing of groups that signed it below. 

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

We write at this critical time with recommendations to support your efforts to respond to the ongoing economic crisis. Though we have a vaccine, the United States will be battling the health crisis well into 2021. Immediate relief is critical, but it is not enough. Congress should respond by depositing $100 billion into the independent nonpartisan, nonprofit Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that the President included in his American Jobs Plan to mobilize nearly half a trillion dollars of investment and create 4 million new jobs in 4 years.

Millions of Americans are still collecting unemployment benefits. Labor force participation is at its lowest levels in nearly 50 years. And long-term unemployment is now at 4.25 million workers, the highest level in recorded history other than the peak of the Great Recession. The U.S. is still struggling through a historic jobs crisis, and the shifts in the labor market are now becoming permanent. Service industries, dining, entertainment and travel continue to shed jobs, with many of those positions being permanently eliminated. Returning to full employment requires creating new jobs in new sectors. That means it is essential for Congress to help create new jobs for Americans.

In national polls 7 out of 10 voters, including majorities from both parties, agree that investing in clean energy infrastructure is a great way to accomplish two critical objectives – create jobs and mitigate the impacts of climate change. And 2 out of 3 voters nationally want Congress to fund the non-profit independent Clean Energy Accelerator to create those jobs.

The opportunity to build the infrastructure to generate, move, store and use clean and efficient energy is nearly boundless. Trillions of dollars of investment is needed to build clean energy infrastructure that will put millions back to work, strengthen communities, reduce pollution, improve public health, lower energy costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is in addition to the pressing need to build resilient infrastructure in communities across America.

The Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator is the ideal vehicle for this investment. The Accelerator will pair each public dollar with multiple private ones to build a range of clean energy projects. This includes renewable power, building efficiency, grid infrastructure like transmission and storage, industrial decarbonization, clean transportation, reforestation and sustainable agriculture and climate-resilient infrastructure. Each public dollar invested will be repaid and preserved by the Fund, which means dollars can be recycled to cause even more private investment in the future. Legislation to fund the Accelerator has already passed the House twice in 2020, first as part of the Moving Forward Act and again as part of the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act. The Accelerator –introduced in H.R. 806 by Representatives Dingell and Fitzpatrick and as the National Climate Bank Act in S. 283 by Senators Markey and Van Hollen and– has been reintroduced as a stand-alone bill and as part of the CLEAN Future Act with a $100 billion capitalization.

The Fund will use the green bank model that has been proven at the state and local level in the U.S. There are already successful green banks in states like Michigan, Florida, Connecticut and Hawaii, and new ones in place in Colorado, Ohio, and Nevada. These green banks, often created with bipartisan support, have driven over $5 billion of investment into clean energy, and for each public dollar invested, 2.6 dollars of private investment has followed. States across the U.S. are now developing or considering their own green banks, including states like Alaska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maine, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Each project financed by the Fund will require Americans with all kinds of skills and backgrounds. Today, half the jobs in the clean energy sector are in sales, administration and management. These are roles that can be filled quickly by those laid off from other sectors with matching skillsets.

To strengthen communities in every corner of America, the Fund will help form new regional, state or local green banks across the U.S. and then provide the funding necessary for them to invest. This will build a network of local institutions designed expressly to meet the employment, energy, development and environmental needs of that community. The Fund will also help fund the expansion of those green banks that already exist and are showing others how to lead the way.

No community will be overlooked. Forty percent of the Fund’s investment must go to frontline, low-income and climate-impacted communities. Existing green banks have already proven the possible, delivering clean energy and health benefits to communities that have historically been left behind. This ensures good clean energy jobs are formed throughout the U.S.

A national green bank like the Accelerator is supported by the House Climate Crisis Committee and the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis. It was co-sponsored and endorsed by Vice President Kamala Harris during her time serving as a Senator, and aligns with President-Elect Biden’s clean energy plans. Polling also shows it is supported by Republican voters in swing states and fossil fuel-dependent states like West Virginia, Alaska, North Carolina and Florida.

There is broad support for this kind of clean and resilient infrastructure investment to put Americans back to work. Immediate relief is essential in this crisis, but so too is providing a livelihood for the millions of American families and households out of work. Voters across parties want Congress to act, and to do so by funding the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator.

Sincerely,

 

Environmental Nonprofit Organizations

350 Maine

Acadia Center

Appalachian Voices

Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture

Belfast, ME Chapter Citizens Climate Lobby

Bethesda Green

Center for Ecological Living and Learning

Center for an Ecology-Based Economy

Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance

Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Clean Energy Economy for the Region

The Climate Center

The Climate Reality Project

Climate Resolve

Coalition for Green Capital

Coastal Youth Climate Coalition

Community Office for Resource Efficiency

Earthjustice

Energy Outreach Colorado 

Energy Resource Center

Energy Smart Colorado

Environmental Defense Fund

Environmental & Energy Study Institute

Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions

Green & Healthy Homes Initiative

Grid Alternatives

Institute for Market Transformation

Institute for Sustainable Communities

League of Conservation Voters

Maine Climate Table

Maine Mountain Collaborative

Maine Ocean and Coastal Acidification Partnership

Maine Youth for Climate Justice

Maryland League of Conservation Voters

Michigan Environmental Council

Natural Resources Council of Maine

Natural Resources Defense Council

New Jersey League of Conservation Voters

Renewable Energy Alaska Project

Sierra Club

Sitka Conservation Society

Spark Northwest

Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy

Sustain Mid-Maine Coalition

Union of Concerned Scientists

Urban Land Institute

Urban Sustainability Directors Network

Wells Reserve at Laudham

Zocalo Permaculture Center

 

Trade and Industry Associations

Advanced Energy Management Alliance

American Green Bank Consortium

Americans for a Clean Energy Grid

Black Owners of Solar Services

Carolinas Clean Energy Business Association

Coalition for Community Solar Access

Colorado Solar and Storage Association

DC Capital Connector

Energy Efficiency Alliance of New Jersey

Energy Storage Association

Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association

Hawai’I Solar Energy Association

Inclusiv

Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance

Maryland Building Performance Association

Michigan Energy Efficiency Contractors Association

Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance

Neighborhood Restaurant Group

North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association

Northeast Clean Energy Council

Resource Recovery Coalition of California

Silicon Valley Leadership Group

Solar Energy Industries Association

Solar United Neighbors

Southern Renewable Energy Association

Vote Solar

 

Financial Institutions

Amalgamated Bank

Atmos Bank

City First Bank of DC

Clean Energy Trust

Climate Access Fund

Colorado Clean Energy Fund

Connecticut Green Bank

DC Green Bank

Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility

The Engine

Finance New Orleans

Florida Solar & Energy Loan Fund

Generate Capital

Greenworks Lending

Growth Opps

Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority

Inclusive Prosperity Capital

Latino Economic Development Center

Main Street Launch

Maryland Clean Energy Center

Michigan Saves

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management 

Montgomery County Green Bank

NYCEEC

Raise Green

Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank

Sungage Financial LLC

 

Clean Energy, Water, and Sustainability Companies and Utilities

4P Foods

About Saving Heat

Agents for the Built Environment

Alaska Power and Telephone Company

Ameresco

Amicus Strategic Environmental Consulting

Amperon

Aris Energy Solutions, LLC

Atlas Home Energy Solutions

Aurora Energy

Banyan Infrastructure

Bicky Corman Law, PLLC

BlocPower

Build Efficiently, LLC

CertainSolar

Chart House Energy, LLC

Christensen Global Strategies

Clean Energy Works

CMTA, Inc.

DC Solar – Washington, DC

DC Water

Delorean Power

Dietel & Partners

Dollaride

eCAMION USA

Elevate Energy

Elevation Lighting Services Company

Energy Efficiency Experts, LLC

Energy Hub

Energy Tech

Enervee

Enerwealth Solutions

Envoy Technologies, Inc. 

First Cast Communications

Flywheel Development, LLC

Foresight Management

Form Energy

Fresh Energy

The Friendly Ewe

Gardner Real Estate Group

Gordian Knot Strategies

Green Compass

Green Generation

Green Projects Group

Greentown Labs

Ground Loop Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.

Hawaiian Electric Company

Holu Hou Energy

Holy Cross Energy

Hunt Consulting

Insight Power Partners

Integro, LLC

Inter-Island Solar Supply

Invest Sou Sou

Ipsun Solar

Law Offices of Leslie M. Lava

LewLew Energy

Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator

Maalka

Mission Energy LLC

Mortensen

Mountain View Wind and Solar

Moya Design Partners

Neighborhood Sun

Photonworks Engineering, LLP

Posigen, Inc.

Powerhouse

Recurrent Innovative Solutions, LLC

RER Energy Group

Rivermoor Energy

Sioneer

Solar Stewards

Solstice

South San Francisco Scavenger Company

Sustainable Capital Advisors

Sustainable Real Estate Solutions

Undaunted K12

Valley Green Fuels

Vanguard Energy Partners, LLC

Westhof, Cone & Holmstedt

WexEnergy

Winrock International

Zefiro Waste

Zero Foodprint

Zinc8 Energy Solutions

 

State and Local Governments

Bay Area Air Quality Management District

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, CPA

City of Aspen, Colorado

City of Belfast, ME Climate Change Committee

City of Jackson, Mississippi

Franklin County, Maine Climate Change Coalition

Hawai’i State Energy Office

Maine State Treasurer Henry Beck

Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy

Philadelphia Energy Authority

Other Nonprofit Organizations

Berggruen Institute 

Christensen Fund

City First Enterprises

Confluence Philanthropy

Flora Family Foundation

Good Community Foundation

Groundswell

Illinois People’s Action

National Housing Trust

Park City Community Foundation

Partnership for Southern Equity

Prentice Foundation

Third Way

Wallace Global Fund 

 

cc: 

The Honorable Tom Carper

The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito

The Honorable Chris Van Hollen

The Honorable Ed Markey

The Honorable James Clyburn

The Honorable Steny Hoyer

The Honorable Peter DeFazio

The Honorable Sam Graves

The Honorable Frank Pallone

The Honorable Debbie Dingell

The Honorable Cathy Castor

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By Coalition for Green Capital

Watch as Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), author of H.R. 806, and witness Bob Perciasepe share their support for the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator before the House Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.

Email your Representative and let them know that you support passing H.R. 806 and establishing a national green bank.

Several other Representatives offered comments in favor of the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator throughout the subcommittee hearing on March 18th:

Congressman and Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said the Accelerator “would help states, communities, and companies transition to a clean energy economy.”

Congressman and Chair of the Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change Paul Tonko (D-NY) began the hearing by explaining that the Accelerator “provides access to financing to make investments across numerous sectors in support of our nation’s clean energy transition.”

Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) called the Accelerator a “terrific idea” capable of stimulating innovation alongside the federal government.

By Coalition for Green Capital

Follows recommendation by National Academies of Science 

WASHINGTON—A bill to create a national green bank has gained bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives. Last week, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) became the first Republican to cosponsor H.R. 806 introduced by Rep. Debbie Dingell.

Sponsors of the Senate bill include Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). 

About the bill
Under the bill, $100 billion would be used as seed capital to drive nearly $500 billion in investment to build clean energy infrastructure and put more than 4 million people to work in four years. Forty percent of the funds must go to communities disproportionately affected by environmental pollution, climate change impacts or economically reliant on a fossil fuel-based industry. 

A network of a dozen state and local green banks have identified more than $21 billion in projects ready to go if funding was available. 

Supporters
Earlier this month, the National Academies of Science recommended that Congress fund an institution based on the green bank model. In its report, it wrote, “Private sources of capital are unlikely to be sufficient to finance the low-carbon economic transition, especially during the 2020s when the effort is new. To ensure industrial competitiveness and quality of life, the United States should establish a Green Bank to mobilize finance for low-carbon infrastructure and business in America.

In January, two independent reports by the Analysis Group and The Brattle Group found that a national Clean Energy Accelerator would have an outsized impact helping the United States recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and also speed up the country’s deep decarbonization and Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) efforts.

President-elect Joe Biden included the Accelerator in his climate plan and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris co-sponsored the Senate effort. In 2020, nearly 100 organizations sent a letter to Congressional leaders supporting the effort. 

Need for action
With 16 million Americans still receiving unemployment benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic and studies showing that up to 42 percent of those jobs will not return, Congress must urgently make long term investments that create jobs and build a cleaner future.

Learn more about the effort at https://coalitionforgreencapital.com/accelerator/  

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By Coalition for Green Capital

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 3, 2021
press@coalitionforgreencapital.com

Would create 4M good-paying jobs, $21B in projects ready to go

Passed by House twice in 2020; included in Biden Climate Plan 

WASHINGTON—As Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) reintroduced the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator Act with $100 billion of funding, the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC) today urged Congress to pass the legislation as part of its COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts. Independent economic analyses have found that the Accelerator would create approximately 4 million jobs in four years and speed up the country’s decarbonization efforts. 

“During the last decade, the green bank model has proven to have an outsized impact in states, creating good-paying jobs and decarbonizing the economy. Now we need to replicate this model at the federal level to meet the urgent economic and climate challenges before our country,” CGC CEO Reed Hundt said. “With continued support from Sen. Van Hollen and Sen. Markey in the Senate and leadership from Rep. Dingell in the House, the bill passed the House twice last year. We are confident with their continued leadership we will get it passed by both chambers and signed by the president in 2021.”

“The Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator will be a critical catalyst for creating good jobs and increasing our health, wealth, safety and competitiveness. With a mandate to focus on underserved communities of color and the just transition for fossil fuel communities and workers, it’s a tool for moving small towns, suburbs and cities forward together,” said Doug Sims, Director of NRDC’s Green Finance Center.

“Clean energy is our future and I’m proud to see continued leadership from Michigan’s Rep. Dingell to make it a priority,” said Mary Templeton, president and CEO of Michigan Saves, the nation’s first nonprofit green bank. “Our organization works hard to make sure everyone—no exceptions— has access to the benefits of energy efficient improvements so I’m very pleased to see considerable focus on underserved communities facing climate impacts.”

The nonprofit Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator would use the proven green bank model to fund clean energy and climate-related projects. A $100 billion capitalization from Congress will drive nearly $500B of total investment with private co-investment and create nearly 4 million jobs in 4 years. Forty percent of the funds must go to communities disproportionately affected by environmental pollution, climate change impacts or economically reliant on a fossil fuel-based industry. 

Authorized projects include renewable power, building efficiency, grid infrastructure like transmission, industrial decarbonization, clean transportation, reforestation and climate-resilient infrastructure. Because the dollars are repaid over time, they can be recycled to make additional investments in the future. 

Yesterday, the National Academies of Science recommended that Congress fund an institution based on the green bank model. In its report, it wrote, “Private sources of capital are unlikely to be sufficient to finance the low-carbon economic transition, especially during the 2020s when the effort is new. To ensure industrial competitiveness and quality of life, the United States should establish a green bank to mobilize finance for low-carbon infrastructure and business in America.”

In January, two independent reports by the Analysis Group and The Brattle Group found that a national Clean Energy Accelerator would have an outsized impact helping the United States recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and also speed up the country’s deep decarbonization and Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) efforts.

Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives twice passed funding for an Accelerator that would help achieve the decarbonization and ESG goals discussed above while also helping to create and fund state and local green banks like the one outlined in today’s reports. President-elect Joe Biden included the Accelerator in his climate plan and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris backed the Senate effort. In 2020, nearly 100 organizations sent a letter to Congressional leaders backing the effort. 

Green banks currently exist in over 14 cities and states across the country and have supported over $5 billion in investment in clean energy projects in their states and local communities, and much of this investment has been targeted toward low- and moderate-income households and communities. View a list of projects that have been supported by already existing state and local green banks.

With 16 million Americans still receiving unemployment benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic and studies showing that up to 42 percent of those jobs will not return, Congress must urgently make long term investments that create jobs and build a cleaner future.

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By Coalition for Green Capital

New report notes that private capital alone isn’t sufficient to meet goals

Necessary for deployment of current clean energy technology 

Key Points: 

• Private sources of capital are unlikely to be sufficient to finance the low-carbon economic transition, especially during the 2020s when the effort is new.
• To ensure industrial competitiveness and quality of life, the United States should establish a Green Bank to mobilize finance for low-carbon infrastructure and business in America.
• In order to ensure that capital is available for this transition, the committee calls for the establishment of a Green Bank to mobilize finance with at least $60 billion ($30 billion initially with an additional $3 billion per year through 2030].
• U.S. companies have to compete globally with German, British, Indian, and Chinese firms, among others, all supported by government-backed financial institutions that have a specific public policy mandate. The German KfW, UK Green Investment Bank, China Development Bank, and Industrial Development Bank of India are a few examples.
• The United States currently has no domestic independent development, investment, or Green Bank at the federal level, but it has periodically used them in the past.
• At least nine states have established Green Banks or funds, ranging from the Connecticut Green Bank to the Colorado Clean Energy Fund. There are also a number of local funds that serve specific communities, such as the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) in Florida. These investments also mobilize private sector investment into a project by reportedly three to six times the amount of public sector dollars at work (NREL, 2017).
• The committee recommends that a federal Green Bank be established with a specific public mission to finance low- or zero-carbon technology, business creation, and infrastructure. The rationale for an independent Green Bank as opposed to an entity like a Clean Energy Deployment Administration is to allow it to operate more nimbly than would be the case if the Green Bank was a federal entity. 

Full recommendation below or read the full report online:

Although the transition might be achieved while spending only a fraction of GDP that the nation currently allocates to its energy system, the transition will be much more capital intensive than businessas-usual (Chapter 2). Private sources are unlikely to provide the needed capital, especially during the 2020s when the effort is new. To ensure industrial competitiveness and quality of life, the United States should establish a Green Bank to mobilize finance for low-carbon infrastructure and business in America.

Partial financing by a Green Bank would reduce risk for private investors and encourage rapid expansion of private source capital. Such a bank would underpin the broad economic and social transitions required to achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury. The new bank should lend, provide loan guarantees, make equity investments, cooperate with community banks to increase the availability of finance at the local level, and leverage private finance consistent with a national strategy to compete internationally in lowcarbon industries and transform the U.S. economy.

It should make particular effort be a source of credit for innovative small and medium-size enterprises that may be locked out of commercial markets owing to their size. The Green Bank can be a lead investor on big decarbonization projects that serve the public good, de-risking and leveraging larger commercial investors. It should address inequities in the financing system, working with local banks, co-ops, and rural and other marginalized communities. It can also play a countercyclical role by scaling up lending operations when private banks contract (Luna-Martinez and Vicente, 2012), which is essential to sustained and uninterrupted access to finance during the low-carbon transition.

U.S. companies have to compete globally with German, British, Indian, and Chinese firms, among others, all supported by government-backed financial institutions that have a specific public policy mandate. The German KfW, UK Green Investment Bank, China Development Bank, and Industrial Development Bank of India are a few examples. The German KfW is one of the largest development banks in the world, with assets exceeding €500 billion. It was initially the sole lender in Germany to solar companies, prior to financing from private banks. 

The China Development Bank holds assets exceeding $1 trillion and likewise has invested heavily in renewable energy and low-carbon infrastructure (GriffithJones et al., 2018). The UK established the world’s first green investment bank in 2012, which financed more than £12 billion of UK green infrastructure projects between 2012 and 2017. This bank backed the construction of the Rampion offshore wind farm and invested in four other offshore wind farms. In 2017, the UK government privatized the bank in order to access additional capital and pay off public debt. It was acquired by an Australian firm, Macquarie, and it now operates as the Green Investment Group. All of the taxpayer money was returned with a gain of £186 million, but the UK government announced in 2020 that it would create a new state-backed Green Bank in the UK.

The United States currently has no domestic independent development, investment, or Green Bank at the federal level, but it has periodically used them in the past. The War Finance Corporation was established during World War I to mobilize finance for the war effort, and in 1932, President Hoover created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which later became the capital bank for the New Deal (Omarova, 2020). 

However, federal agencies including DOE and USDA do have substantial programs to invest in domestic development through loans and loan guarantees, research grants, and loan and grant assistance. At the USDA for example, the Rural Energy for America Program administered by the Rural Business and Cooperative Service offers loans and grants to rural businesses and agriculture producers to adopt renewable and energy efficiency measures in their farm operations. 

At the subnational level, at least nine states have established Green Banks or funds, ranging from the Connecticut Green Bank to the Colorado Clean Energy Fund. There are also a number of local funds that serve specific communities, such as the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) in Florida. These investments also mobilize private sector investment into a project by reportedly three to six times the amount of public sector dollars at work (NREL, 2017). Legislation has been introduced into Congress for a National Climate Bank with an initial capitalization of $10 billion and an additional $5 billion per year for 5 years to reach $35 billion. The Coalition for Green Capital (2019) suggests this could mobilize up to $1 trillion dollars in investment. While an initial multi-billion-dollar capitalization for the Green Bank would be a significant investment of federal resources, it should be financially self-sustaining and assets should grow over time. There is no magic number for initial capitalization, but to enable the green recovery that is needed in the United States, it needs to be large enough to be adequate to the task and to compete with its counterparts.

The China Development Bank’s current assets equal $1 trillion, Germany’s KfW’s are $575 billion, and Brazil’s National Development Bank is worth $145 billion. A recent proposal for an American Development Bank called for an initial capitalization of $100 billion (Griffith-Jones, 2020). The recent establishment of the U.S. Development Finance Corporation came with authorization of $60 billion, so an initial capitalization of $30 billion in a U.S. Green Bank, rising to $60 billion, may be politically realistic. Equal authorizations would establish that the government cares just as much about domestic investments in green economic development as it does in overseas investments. The committee recommends that a federal Green Bank be established with a specific public mission to finance low- or zero-carbon technology, business creation, and infrastructure. The rationale for an independent Green Bank as opposed to an entity like a Clean Energy Deployment Administration is to allow it to operate more nimbly than would be the case if the Green Bank was a federal entity. 

An independent Green Bank formed by the federal government and capitalized with federal funds could forgive loans, something that most governmental entities cannot do. Its remit could be broader, encompassing the financing of other green industries and sectors (e.g., climate adaptation and resilience, fresh water supply), but it must at least devote at least two-thirds of its financing for the energy transition to achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury. Its objectives within the energy transition space would include fostering long-term domestic manufacturing capacity in clean energy and energy efficiency.

The committee recommends:

• Establishment of a federal Green Bank with a specific public mission to finance low- or zerocarbon buildings and technologies, business creation, and infrastructure.
• Congress should provide an initial capitalization of a minimum of $30 billion, followed by an additional $3 billion per year through 2030, resulting in a minimum capitalization of $60 billion by 2030. Cost: $60 billion.
• The bank must adopt good governance procedures and practices, including being transparent and abiding by environment and social safeguards and incorporating labor standards (and Buy American) requirements. 
• The staff of the bank must be trained not only in finance but also in engineering, science, technology, and policy so that the bank can make well-informed investment decisions.
• The bank must devote at least two-thirds of its financing to the social, economic, and infrastructural energy transition to achieve net-zero emissions by midcentury.
• The bank must report annually to Congress on its investments and their impacts, including total financing, firms supported, infrastructure created, jobs created, value added, and reduced or avoided GHG emissions.

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By Jeffrey Schub

Yesterday, President Biden issued a series of executive orders (EOs) to put the U.S. on the path to tackling the urgent climate and economic crises. He rightly outlined how tackling climate would create good-paying union jobs that provide more pathways to the middle class. 

But he realizes that there are challenges to this transition. First, we cannot forget about communities where fossil fuel plants served as an economic foundation for many families and the tax base for municipalities. Second, we must use the transition to correct the injustices that many minorities and poor families suffered due to the pollution from those plants. 

His EOs provide the framework for our country’s leaders, philanthropic community and private sector to build on. He created:

• the Domestic Climate Policy Office (CGC’s Jahi Wise is now a member),
• a new National Climate Change Task Force,
• a Civilian Climate Corps,
• the Justice40 Initiative,
• a new Interagency Working Group on Coal,
• Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization, and 
• a new White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council.

This creates the government infrastructure needed to make climate-focused decisions, prioritize needy populations, and enforce laws and administration priorities.

But for him to realize these goals and literally build a cleaner, better and more just future the missing ingredient is money. This powerful new climate-oriented government architecture needs trillions of dollars to put to work.

The president knows this. In his campaign climate plan, he included an “innovative financing mechanisms that leverage private sector dollars to maximize investment in the clean energy revolution.”

That’s where the Clean Energy Accelerator comes in.

Based on the proven green bank model that has been tested and put to work in more than a dozen states, Biden can combine public dollars with private dollars at a 1:3 ratio and cover nearly a quarter of the capital needed in his $2T climate plan.

The Accelerator will take the orders from framework to implementation. The Accelerator will be required to invest 40% of its capital in disadvantaged communities, exactly in line with the President’s target. This will reduce pollution, lower energy costs and create new jobs and businesses for those communities who are otherwise left out of the economic gains from the clean energy transition. (Our white paper provides a full analysis of how the Accelerator can help achieve environmental justice.) And the Accelerator will also be directed to invest in communities impacted by the climate transition to create new, good-paying jobs to replace those lost. 

And it can help those who want and deserve to stay in their communities. As Biden’s national climate adviser Gina McCarthy said, “We’re not going to ask people to go from the middle of Ohio or Pennsylvania to ship out to the coast to have solar jobs.” The Accelerator is specifically empowered to make targeted investments, either directly or through a new network of state or local green banks. Money will flow where and how it is needed to meet the specific needs of each state and community. 

In Michigan, the state’s green bank has launched a new program to help low-income seniors in Ann Arbor.

“The program will go toward making physical improvements in low-income senior homes and to supporting social workers with providing the supporting services necessary to help seniors stay in their homes longer.” 

Making those improvements for low-to-moderate income families requires skills of all types. In fact, as this report shows, roughly half of the jobs created will be in non-technical roles.

While the private sector has stepped up its investment in green technologies, it’s nowhere near the level and speed that is needed. As we told the Washington Post this week, ““It’s not that private banks have never heard of solar or electric vehicles … It’s just that the speed of that private investment is far too slow.”

As the Administration and Congress look for economic recovery measures, creating a Clean Energy Accelerator like the one the House passed twice last year and that Vice President Kamala Harris sponsored when she was a senator can make the goals of the President’s executive orders achievable.