DOE commits $450M to install rooftop solar for highest-need Puerto Ricans

Gabriela Aoun Angueira reports in Grist about Department of Energy plans to allocate nearly $500 million to install rooftop solar and battery backup systems on the homes of vulnerable residents in Puerto Rico, aiming to provide reliable and affordable energy to high-need households amid frequent blackouts.

In a nutshell:

While overhauling Puerto Rico's grid will take years, these funds will offer immediate help to the residents most vulnerable during blackouts. The funding, part of the $1 billion Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund approved by Congress, will target low-income families, including those medically vulnerable and living in remote communities. The program's third-party ownership model will relieve households of system maintenance, and community outreach efforts have helped shape the initiative, signaling a shift towards more inclusive and equitable program design.

Key quote:

“We’re very glad that it appears that their intention is to focus these funds on the people who are truly so low-income or disabled that they have no other viable way to acquire solar and storage,” PJ Wilson, president of the Solar and Energy Storage Association in Puerto Rico said. “Hopefully this helps lift people out of poverty.”

The big picture:

The blackouts in Puerto Rico have had significant effects on vulnerable populations, exacerbating existing challenges and hardships. With frequent power outages, access to essential services and resources like healthcare, communication, and clean water becomes even more limited, impacting the well-being and resilience of communities already facing socio-economic disparities.

Read the article at Grist.

Disparities abound in Puerto Rico. For example, Puerto Ricans are disproportionately affected with asthma. Lorraine N. Vélez-Torres reports that adult asthma rates are 1.3 times higher than in the U.S., and Puerto Rican children are twice as likely to be afflicted as compared to U.S. children.

grist.org

Smoke billows from an industrial chimney at sunset near several homes.

Credit: Tanner Messenger/Unsplash

Judge rules EPA overstepped in cutting pollution grants

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from canceling $600 million in environmental justice grants aimed at helping underserved communities reduce pollution.

Rachel Frazin reports forThe Hill.

In short:

The grants stem from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $3 billion for environmental justice programs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden had planned to distribute the $600 million through regional groups, which would fund local efforts, before the Trump EPA terminated the grants earlier this year.
Judge Adam Abelson ruled the EPA's cancellation exceeded its authority “precisely because they are ‘environmental justice’ programs."

Key quote:
The move included a “lack of any reasoned decision-making, or reasoned explanation.”

— Judge Adam Abelson, U.S. District Court

Why this matters:
Underserved communities often face the greatest environmental health risks and climate impacts. These grants were designed to help local groups respond to long-standing environmental harms and health risks, and canceling them would have cut off vital support just as cleanup efforts were beginning to gain traction. The Trump administration has also attempted to cancel a similar $20 billion program that would fund climate-friendly projects.

Read the Full Article on

www.ehn.org

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