Biden's $3 Million Climate Funding Rejected By Four States, But Largest Cities May Still Get A Piece Of The Pie

However, a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) may allow the largest cities in these states to access the funds anyway, as reported by E&E News on Wednesday.

The IRA provision states that if a state rejects the funding, the three largest cities in that state can apply for it. This provision was included by Democrats to prevent a repeat of Republican governors' attempts to block Medicaid funding in the Affordable Care Act. Out of the four states that rejected the funding (Florida, South Dakota, Iowa, and Kentucky), three have Republican governors. Kentucky's Democratic Governor, Andy Beshear, is facing a challenging reelection in a traditionally coal-heavy and conservative state, according to The Washington Post.

July 20, 2023

Trevor Higgins, Senior Vice President for Energy and Environment at the Center for American Progress, expressed his satisfaction with the provision, stating, "It actually worked. A bunch of cities became eligible, and most states decided - even most Republican states - that it'd be better for them to accept the funding and do some planning themselves," as reported by E&E News.

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While most Republican-led states chose to accept the funding rather than hand it over to predominantly Democrat-led city governments, the governors of Florida, South Dakota, and Iowa cited their opposition to "wasteful" spending and the administration's climate agenda as reasons for rejecting the funding, according to the Post. Governor Beshear, on the other hand, has avoided using this language, even as his Republican challenger, Kentucky's Attorney General Daniel Cameron, attempts to link him to Biden's "radical" climate agenda.

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John Mura, a spokesman for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, emphasized that the Beshear administration is actively applying for and receiving various federal grants to improve Kentucky. Mura stated, "In this instance, local governments are best situated to apply for and administer the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant funds," as reported by the Post.

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However, the governor's response has faced criticism from the state's largest cities, including Louisville, Lexington, and Bowling Green. Sumedha Rao, Executive Director of the Louisville Mayor's Office of Sustainability, expressed disappointment, stating, "It's a little unfortunate... that we're missing out on the statewide opportunity" that other states have had. Rao also highlighted that a significant portion of the state's population resides outside of the largest cities, leaving many smaller cities excluded from this effort entirely, according to E&E News.

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Florida's Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, who is currently facing a tough battle against front-runner Donald Trump for his party's presidential nomination, has consistently blocked or withdrawn from other federal climate funding opportunities. DeSantis recently stated on Fox Business that his climate plan is to "rip up Joe Biden's Green New Deal" and "embrace American domestic energy," as reported by the Post.