Today, the Native CDFI Network (NCN) signed on to a joint letter along with several hundred other stakeholder organizations from across the lender community calling on Congress to protect the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) from forthcoming legislation by House Republicans to gut the GGRF and divert its funding to subsidize fees charged on pollution generated by the oil and gas industry. This new legislation will be introduced soon as a central pillar of House Republicans’ “Energy Week,” during which they will advance several pieces of legislation aiming to repeal a range of federal climate action investments.
NCN is the only Native-led and exclusively Native-serving applicant for the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) program, one of the three GGRF award programs. Featuring an unprecedented collaboration involving 63 certified and emerging Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other CCIA-qualified community lenders covering all 10 EPA regions, NCN’s CCIA application seeks several hundred million dollars to deploy to NCN’s community lenders to finance clean energy projects in Native communities, with financing recipients ranging from tribal governments and enterprises to Native-owned small businesses and Native consumers. NCN also has enlisted the participation of a dozen nationally renowned coalition partners on its application who will provide cutting-edge technical assistance customized for NCN’s CCIA community lenders and the Native communities they will serve.
In addition to serving as a lead applicant for the CCIA, NCN also has signed on to support three Indian Country-serving applications for EPA’s Solar for All program as a coalition partner. These partnerships will build on CCIA efforts to provide capital for clean energy financing in Indian Country.
NCN will remain ever vigilant against any and all attacks against the GGRF to help defend these crucial funds for Indian Country climate action from Congressional cuts that will reduce the flow of financing capital to Native CDFIs for clean energy projects across Native communities.