Focus on Arts and Ecology

By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, April 5, 2023, Edited by Chris McDermott 

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the availability of $450 million through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) for clean energy projects — like solar farms — on current and former mining sites, a White House press release said.

There are about 17,750 mine land sites in the U.S. covering 1.5 million acres. These sites contaminate land, water and air quality, as well as expose local communities to toxic pollutants.

The repurposing of the sites for renewable energy projects would generate up to an estimated 90 gigawatts of green energy — enough power for almost 30 million homes.

These projects will “provid[e] new economic opportunities for historic coal and mining communities,” the press release said.

President Joe Biden has set a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

Up to five of the projects will be funded through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including at least two solar farms.

“[T]hese projects could spur new economic development in these communities,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said, as The Hill reported. “As with all BIL-funded projects, we’ll be prioritizing those that partner directly with communities.”

According to the White House, renewable energy project developers will also be able to access billions of dollars in bonus credits on top of Inflation Reduction Act investment and production tax credits.

“These bonuses will incentivize more clean energy investment in energy communities, particularly coal communities,” the press release said.

A former coal power plant site in Massachusetts in the process of transitioning to offshore wind that Biden visited last summer was the model for the new projects, reported The Associated Press.

“It’s very clear that… the workers who powered the last century of industry and innovation can power the next one,” Granholm said, as The Associated Press reported.

According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in order to reap all the advantages of the bonus, developers are required to pay workers current wages and hire an adequate number of apprentices.

“These provisions will ensure that workers in energy communities reap the benefits of the clean energy economy they are helping to build,” Yellen said, as reported by The Associated Press.

A searchable mapping tool to help locate areas potentially eligible for the energy community bonus has been provided by the U.S. Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the Interagency Working Group on Energy Communities, the press release said.

A Coal Power Plant Redevelopment Visualization Tool is also available for stakeholders to be able to find opportunities for the redevelopment of closed coal power plants, as well as community reinvestment.

Grant applications are due by the end of August of this year, with decisions expected in early 2024.

Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

Cristen is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She holds a JD and an Ocean & Coastal Law Certificate from University of Oregon School of Law and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author of the short story collection The Smallest of Entryways, as well as the travel biography, Ernest’s Way: An International Journey Through Hemingway’s Life.

(Sources: EcoWatch)