Title
Approving the City being a coalition partner in an application led by the City of Minneapolis to the USEPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program for a business decarbonization grant program.
Body
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul Climate Action and Resilience Plan set a goal of reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and down to zero by 2050, and emphasizes the need to ensure that vulnerable and disadvantaged communities benefit from the City’s work to reduce climate pollution; and
WHEREAS as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, a one-time grant program that aims to invest in projects that can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring that disadvantaged and environmental justice communities benefit from those reductions; and
WHEREAS in order to be eligible for an implementation grant under the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program, the City of Saint Paul’s proposed projects must be included in either the State of Minnesota’s or the Metropolitan Council’s Priority Climate Action Plans; and
WHEREAS both the State of Minnesota and the Metropolitan Council Priority Climate Action Plans identify activities that include reducing greenhouse gas emissions from commercial and public buildings by promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, electrification, and lower-carbon design, materials, and fuels; and
WHEREAS, City of Minneapolis will be the lead applicant to the EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program in a multi-city program that will provide grants to businesses for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency, electrification, and on-site renewable energy production, and the City of Saint Paul will be a coalition partner in the application along with other metro communities; and
WHEREAS, over 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in Saint Paul come from energy use in comm...
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