Building Climate Resilience with the EPA: How Federal Funding Helps Our Climate

Today on 2 Degrees Out West we'll be learning what federal funding is available to address climate change, how it's distributed, how WRA has helped our region Over the past 4 years there's been something unprecedented happening in the federal government, and it's impacted our work at WRA for the better.

The United States government has been investing in climate solutions.

In 2022, with the help of the Biden Administration, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA. It calls for an investment of over $783 billion dollars in climate change related infrastructure.

It's also the largest investment in infrastructure in general in the United States since the Eisenhower Administration. To put that into context, The Eisenhower Administration was largely responsible for the Interstate Highway system as we know it today. The Inflation Reduction Act was and is a landmark legislation.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act also passed with the help of the Biden Administration in 2021 set aside $550 billion to help with climate resilient infrastructure projects.

The combined spending of 1.3 trillion dollars on climate infrastructure from just those two pieces of legislation is unprecedented in US history. Given the urgency of the climate crisis, it can't come soon enough.

It has promised jobs but also a future where we consider climate change and what’s best for the natural world when we build our infrastructure.

So, where is all that money going? More importantly - how does it affect you and how will it help us address climate change and its effects?

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:08 What Infrastructure Needs Do We Have?
• 7:16 Aging Infrastructure
• 8:24 How Federal Funding Helps
• 15:13 How This Work is Helping Communities
• 17:04 CREW
• 18:25 Green Infrastructure
• 22:28 How Federal Funding Helps Make Stormwater a Resource
• 25:50 Decarbonization In The West
• 27:32 Jermareon Intro
• 28:05 How Federal Funding Helps Nevada
• 36:09 What Would Happen if this Funding Went Away
• 38:39 State Action as the Way Forward
• 41:50 Outro

Transcript

[00:00:00] Dave: Over the past four years, there's been something unprecedented happening in the federal government, and it's impacted our work at WRA. For the better. The United States government has been investing in climate solutions. In 2022, with the help of the Biden administration, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA.
[00:00:20] It calls for an investment of over 783 billion in climate change and climate related infrastructure. It's also the largest investment in infrastructure in general in the United States since the Eisenhower administration. To put that into context, the Eisenhower administration was largely responsible for the interstate highway system as we know it.
[00:00:39] The Inflation Reduction Act was, and is, a big deal. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, also passed with the help of the Biden administration in 2021, set aside 550 billion to help with climate resilient infrastructure projects. This money is a big deal in the world of climate, given the urgency of the climate crisis, it can't come soon enough.
[00:00:59] The combined [00:01:00] spending of 1. 3 trillion dollars on climate infrastructure from just those two pieces of legislation is unprecedented in US history, to say the least. It promised jobs, but also a future in which we consider climate change and what's best for the natural world when we build our infrastructure.
[00:01:16] So where is all that money going? And more importantly, how does it affect you, and how will it help us address climate change and its effects? Today, on Two Degrees Out West, we'll be learning what federal funding is available to address climate change. How it's distributed, how WRA has helped our region take advantage of it, and what would it mean to lose that funding?
[00:01:40] Welcome to Two Degrees Out West, a podcast for advocates and decision makers seeking solutions to climate change and its effects around the West. On Two Degrees Out West, we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you the stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.
[00:01:56] I'm your host, Dave [00:02:00] Papineau.
[00:02:06] When you hear the words climate change and federal government in the same sentence, one of the first organizations to come to mind might be the EPA. Indeed, the EPA has had a large role in helping distribute the federal funding from the IRA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to the states in the West and all over the United States.
[00:02:24] Wendi Wilkes: I'm Wendi Wilk, the Director of Infrastructure Implementation, at the Environmental Protection Agency. 
[00:02:31] Dave: At the time of this recording, Wendi Wilkes serves as the Director of Infrastructure Implementation for the EPA Office of Water. She spends a lot of time thinking about water infrastructure. 
[00:02:41] Wendi Wilkes: So I'm really focused on delivering some of our major federal water investments.
[00:02:46] Dave: Wendi also spends much of her time thinking about the effects of climate change on water and that water infrastructure. Mostly. How do we deal with both too much water and not enough of it? 
[00:02:57] Wendi Wilkes: to communities across the country. 
[00:02:59] Dave: So [00:03:00] Wendi, on this podcast we talk a lot about climate change and its effects.
[00:03:04] And one of those major effects is on infrastructure. So when we're talking about climate infrastructure, why do we need to upgrade our infrastructure in the face of climate change and what are some challenges that communities in the West might be facing? 
[00:03:16] Wendi Wilkes: Yeah, it's a good question. And maybe I'll start with a thank you for recognizing the intrinsic link between water and climate change, because working at the national policy level and being a part of some of our international conversations around climate change, I often find that the focus a lot on emissions reductions, transportation, energy, and rightfully so.
[00:03:40] But water is often either left out of the conversation or kind of an afterthought, which can be a little tough because for individuals and communities, Often the first time that they're experiencing the impacts of climate change is disruptions to their water. , so whether that is increased flooding, drought [00:04:00] that's impacting their drinking water supply, rising sea levels, you know, communities are already facing the impacts of climate change.
[00:04:07] Dave: If you live in the West, drought and water shortage and wildfire are almost certainly impacts of climate change you are familiar with. Drought is a huge focus for us at WRA. The Colorado River Basin, the lifeblood of the West, has been experiencing drought since 2000. That's over 24 years. In 2022, it nearly pushed the infrastructure in the basin to its breaking point as many reservoirs dropped dangerously low, threatening their ability to operate and deliver water to major cities across the West.
[00:04:37] It's not exaggerating to describe it as an existential threat to the West. Wildfire. Dust storms and shortened winters are all impacts of the lack of water within the basin. These impacts of water shortages are wide ranging, and it's these impacts we need the infrastructure, funding, and regulations to manage, mitigate, and address.
[00:04:57] Wendi Wilkes: So, I wanna thank you for kind [00:05:00] of, , understanding that and giving me, you know, the opportunity here to talk about the importance of our water, when it comes to climate change. So. We know that climate change is already affecting our water cycle, right? It's leading to more frequent and intense droughts, in some parts of our country and our world and more extreme floods and others, right?
[00:05:18] We. Glaciers and ice caps are melting open. Ocean temperatures are rising and this, impacts the not only the ocean, but our freshwater quality. So this can have direct impacts on communities and on individuals. Kind of coinciding with this, we also have in our country, aging infrastructure. When we think about the development of our country and the development of our waterways.
[00:05:46] water and sanitation systems. A lot of this was occurring around the turn of the previous century. So the early 1900s, right. You know, our water infrastructure is reaching the end of its useful life. 
[00:05:57] Dave: So real quick for the audience, how would you define water [00:06:00] infrastructure? 
[00:06:01] Wendi Wilkes: Yeah, that's a good question. So I think when most people think of water infrastructure Their mind goes to pipes, concrete, and that's a lot of what we talk about, but, it's beyond that as well, as we have started, increasingly relying on and using green infrastructure and essentially trying to redesign nature that we have eaten away at through our cities and our human development.
[00:06:28] We're increasingly using and relying on green infrastructure. So I would say it includes that, but a lot of, , particularly our aging infrastructure. It's pipes. It's concrete. It's old human plants. And so anyway, these kind of two issues are coinciding. We have major changes to our water cycle happening.
[00:06:47] We're really starting to see that in communities across the country. And then we have our aging water infrastructure. So, now really is the time to be investing in our water infrastructure, but it's not [00:07:00] just building it back, right? It is Mhm. Building it with an eye to the future and to the changes that localities are going to experience because of climate change.
[00:07:10] Dave: Dealing with aging infrastructure isn't just replacing what's there and what's breaking, which by itself can be pretty expensive, but also building new infrastructure with the lessons we've learned from the past. It requires an understanding that climate change is going to change how our infrastructure needs to work.
[00:07:27] Things like green infrastructure that work with the environment rather than against it like Wendi mentioned are starting to get a lot more popular and practical. You're going to hear the word innovation a lot through these interviews and that's because a lot of this technology that we're funding really is innovative.
[00:07:42] We'll talk a little bit more later, but a massive element of building climate resilient infrastructure is also building clean energy infrastructure. Things like EV chargers, clean renewable energy generation, and making new technology like heat pumps more affordable. Wendi's role with EPA means she's involved on [00:08:00] a day to day basis in this work, and particularly with how federal funding makes it possible to upgrade, reinvent, and improve our infrastructure and how it interacts with the natural world around us.
[00:08:11] I asked Wendi how she sees federal funding making that work possible and what some of the projects that she's involved in are. 
[00:08:18] Wendi Wilkes: Oh, yes, this is a great question. And very timely because over the last three years, I've been with EPA. The Biden Harris administration has passed two of the largest infrastructure investment bills in the history of our nation, right?
[00:08:35] That's the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. My portfolio at EPA is really focused on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and it has been incredible to see how the federal government can support communities that are dealing not only with Climate change issues, but with failing and aging water systems.
[00:08:54] So, we play a pretty significant role. On when we [00:09:00] think about local communities and their water sources we have a 50 billion infrastructure investment that is ongoing. It's over five years. We're about halfway into it. Some states are a little further ahead than others. And kind of the way it works is it's about 85 percent of the funding of the 50 billion, which.
[00:09:21] Let me step back for a second and put this into perspective for those who don't live and breathe federal water policy the way I do. Our annual investment through our state revolving funds, which is the primary way the federal government invests in water infrastructure annually. And over the past decade, pre bipartisan infrastructure law, we were looking at about two to 3 billion of investment.
[00:09:49] That was the federal, the major federal government contribution. We have a couple of other grants. We have with you. That's great for big projects, but are kind of bread and butter water projects, two to 3 billion [00:10:00] in funding. We are now doing $50 billion over five years, so it is a major increase in the amount of federal investment.
[00:10:10] So it's great to see, 
[00:10:12] Dave: it is hard to undersell how big of a deal. $50 billion is. It's comparable to some of the most expensive things the United States government buys. Things like aircraft carriers and major defense projects. A single nuclear powered aircraft carrier in the United States is about 13 billion for comparison.
[00:10:32] Wendi Wilkes: BUt the way it works is through, predominantly through a state and federal partnership and through these state revolving loans. And we're seeing that go out both on the wastewater side, the stormwater side and the drinking water side. There are all sorts of investments happening across the country.
[00:10:52] Whether it is water reuse and really thinking about how we manage our wastewater differently, right? It's no longer a waste, it's now [00:11:00] a resource. Whether it is You know, replacing lead pipes and doing it in a way that is equitable in a community, whether it's thinking about our emerging contaminants, PFAS, microplastics, you know, 123 TCP.
[00:11:15] I mean, there's so many contaminants. I don't want to scare anybody, but you know, we do, We are a messy country when it comes to chemical development. And so, we have to deal with the consequences of that. And so we have funding that is going out to communities across the country to address, you know, a broad range of issues.
[00:11:35] Dave: Some of those issues, like wastewater reclamation and addressing contaminants are pretty relevant in the west. In the interior west, we already use more water each year than many of the river systems can provide. Desert cities like Las Vegas have led the charge on water reuse. With a long history of drought and mining, our water supplies are as threatened as ever.
[00:11:55] Clean, free flowing water is something we have to advocate for. [00:12:00] It's a good portion of our work at The 
[00:12:03] The good news 
[00:12:04] Wendi Wilkes: is that we have more money than we've ever had at the federal level. To help address issues like that and so many others. So it's been amazing to sit in the role that I'm in here and see the impact of the federal funding across our country.
[00:12:22] And also see some of the regional uses, you in the West, a lot going on with trying to diversify drinking water sources and not having to rely on like a single source. So a lot of good work around water reuse you know, aquifer, management. Yeah it's been great to see communities really embrace this funding and think about their water future.
[00:12:48] Dave: That is a lot of money that the EPA is helping to distribute, or the federal government has at least allocated to, to water resilience. How does the EPA help distribute that funding? And who [00:13:00] benefits? 
[00:13:01] Wendi Wilkes: Yeah, it's a great question. And it's so true. The amount of funding has definitely skewed my perspective.
[00:13:06] 50 billion is more than I could ever really imagine. But yeah, to talk a little bit more about IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act, right? These are historic investments in climate action, air quality, and also environmental justice. And so IRA, along with our bipartisan infrastructure law funding, right?
[00:13:25] As I said, this is one of the largest investments the federal government has ever made. And one thing I want to mention too when we talk about, you know, who this funding is directed towards, both of these programs are fall under the Justice 40 initiative of the Biden Harris administration, which directs at least 40 percent of the overall benefits to disadvantaged communities.
[00:13:48] The goal is to, and it fits really with the ethos of the Biden Harris administration, is to distribute funding to the communities who need it most, which might often include [00:14:00] communities that are not prepared to accept it. And so we've also stood up a lot of technical assistance work. To make sure that communities understand the process of getting the funding, but EPA as an agency is distributing a lot of the IRA funding and it's through several programs.
[00:14:17] We have the greenhouse gas reduction fund or GGRF. We have the climate pollution reduction grants. We have environmental and climate justice grants. And similar to the bipartisan infrastructure law, where I talked about the state and federal partnership, that is the way that we distribute a lot of funding.
[00:14:33] The same is true for IRA. A large portion of IRA funds flow through state programs, which means. It's going to operate a little differently in each state, and there might be state specific initiatives and requirements around some of the IRA and the bill funding. And then we also have some direct grant applications that communities can apply for competitive grants through our federal agencies for IRA funding for specific [00:15:00] projects.
[00:15:00] Dave: This is one of the most exciting parts of this whole federal funding conversation to me. It's not just far away big projects, and it's not even just statewide projects. Projects as niche as things happening in your community, things like EV chargers in your neighborhoods can be funded via this federal funding.
[00:15:18] The federal government has the money, but there's so much opportunity for states and communities to figure out how they're going to use that money to best address how climate change is affecting them specifically. You hear it all over the place in this conversation. Much of the work Wendi does on the east coast has to do with stormwater resilience, but Well, in the West, we're using the same funding and we're often battling the exact opposite problem with drought.
[00:15:41] To me, it's so beautiful to see the wide range of solutions that are made possible via the funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. 
[00:15:50] Wendi Wilkes: So, so it's a range ways to get access to the funding and we have some really [00:16:00] cool examples of work happening, I mean, in New York, for example the transition to the green.
[00:16:06] Economy. I mean, they're looking at trying to save 1, 000 a year per family. So like this is having direct impacts in people's pocketbooks. And that's through tax credits and saving money on their energy bills. So it's, it, the impact can be really tangible, which we don't always get at the federal level.
[00:16:25] So it's really nice to be able to some of this of like, you know, this bill that Congress passed, that the administration is implementing is like directly impacting folks. So. It's fun. It's a fun time to be working in water and in the climate space. I think because of that, 
[00:16:43] Dave: these projects are having tangible effects on the communities in which they happen.
[00:16:46] I asked Wendi what some of her favorite examples of that are. 
[00:16:51] Wendi Wilkes: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's examples across the country. And it's been great to see communities really [00:17:00] taking advantage of it. One thing I'd like to mention is that You know, I was kind of talking about the technical assistance work.
[00:17:07] EPA, I'm just going to do a shameless plug here. You know, we have a TA program specifically for climate change and it's creating resilient water utilities or CRWU. We kind of flip the U and W to make it you know, sound good crew. And we've helped I think hundreds of communities at this point, identify ways to modify or enhance their water system in like through the lens of resiliency and climate change.
[00:17:38] 
[00:17:38] Wendi Wilkes: That is you know, understanding the federal flood risk management and their floodplains, whether it is looking at alternative Supply and micro grids. On the wastewater side, whether it's thinking about methane capture all sorts of really cool stuff. And so [00:18:00] would, you know, anyone who's listening, who's maybe interested, I would encourage them to visit the crew website.
[00:18:06] But EPA is also supporting, you know, we talked a little bit earlier about the hard infrastructure versus the green infrastructure. I think this is one of the green infrastructure work is one of the highlights, I think, and I only see that. Continuing to grow. I was in Detroit and they are using some bill funding for a stormwater project to redo one of their I think it was just kind of an empty lot.
[00:18:32] It might have been called a park, but it was kind just a lot of land. They are now using that first as a stormwater catchment. And they've also like beautified the park in the neighborhood. 
[00:18:44] Dave: I think it's useful to define green infrastructure a little bit. I had to do some research on the nuance of this, but I think it's really fascinating.
[00:18:52] Given how dry the west is, it's a little bit foreign for me to think about the problems caused by an excess of water. It's [00:19:00] sad to say that we don't have flooding, but often in the west we're dealing with the exact opposite effects of climate change. With green infrastructure, we transition our cities from concrete and piping, called grey infrastructure, to more natural materials like grasses, plants, and trees.
[00:19:15] This can be public parks, open spaces, rooftop gardens, and roadside plants. During storms, this green infrastructure can function closer to what the hydrological process would have been before people had built things there. Wendi is essentially talking about ways to live with stormwater. versus fighting against it.
[00:19:33] By building stormwater infrastructure into public resources like parks, not only do you add green space to a community, but you also help build out a floodplain that can function the way it's supposed to function. It can also help lower the cost of flood damage as Green spaces on the floodplain can handle flooding in a way that human homes and buildings just can't.
[00:19:52] The green landscapes can absorb the floodwater much better than traditional concrete infrastructure. It can also help reduce pollution [00:20:00] as green infrastructure is a little bit better at dealing with that than grey infrastructure. It warms my heart so much to hear about projects like this that work with the natural world, not against it, to mitigate the effects of climate change.
[00:20:13] To me, projects like this are what a brighter climate future looks like. 
[00:20:17] Wendi Wilkes: So this like multi benefit. Infrastructure investment, I would call that infrastructure. And I think it's been really cool to see communities think creatively. But when we have you know, these increased flood events, these large cities with a lot of concrete have a really hard time managing their stormwater.
[00:20:38] And so they're starting to think more holistically. about how other infrastructure improvements can also integrate some stormwater management practices. So these are, you know, small and localized, but they make really big impacts when every community starts thinking that way. 
[00:20:57] Dave: I think it's also good to point out here that Wendi is [00:21:00] talking quite a bit about stormwater infrastructure in cities on the east, but flood infrastructure is also critical in the west.
[00:21:07] Climate change has resulted in flash flooding, major rain events, and quicker and more violent spring runoffs. In June of 2022, a historic flood wiped out major infrastructure and roads in Yellowstone. Extreme rainfall and a historically quick snow melt caused rivers on the north side of the park to flood.
[00:21:24] The flood was later classified as a 500 year event and the state of Montana had to declare a state of emergency. The damage to habitat and human structures was expansive and tragic. Nearby communities like Gardner, Montana saw major damages and reconstruction work that is still underway in the area today.
[00:21:41] I've even had my own close encounters with severe flooding in the west. When I was 13, I was stranded during an unseasonably late flash flood near Estes Park, Colorado, and I had to be evacuated by helicopter. Much of the damage from that flood is still visible today. This funding allows us to address these problems caused largely by climate [00:22:00] change, but it also starts to align our infrastructure closer to the natural world.
[00:22:04] It helps us build infrastructure that not only acknowledges drought and flooding, but tries to work with it and not so much against it. I asked Wendi a little bit more about that. How is stormwater? 
[00:22:17] Wendi Wilkes: s is is this is really the water reuse conversation and not just like direct potable, but generally water reuse.
[00:22:27] Dave: Like we mentioned before, water reuse is especially relevant in the West, where we are consistently struggling to find enough water to sustain our cities. 
[00:22:35] Wendi Wilkes: Hundred years ago, when we were putting in our water and wastewater systems, our sanitation systems in the United States, most communities got their water upstream.
[00:22:46] Use their water in the city, discharged it downstream, right? That was like a clean and healthy way of doing things. So you don't get sick. And you can minimize some of your treatment needs, of course, that water [00:23:00] then flows down to the next city and they treat it upstream, right? Use it, discharge it.
[00:23:05] Right. So you have the system along these river basins where that's kind of been the way things have worked. Over time, and as technology has increased and our knowledge around things like pathogens and viruses and bacteria, and we know how to treat for that, wastewater now can be, with, without that environmental buffer of the river, can now be a source water.
[00:23:31] And so a lot of communities are starting to think about this wastewater is a resource, right? We shouldn't just be sending it downstream or we shouldn't just be. putting it out into the ocean. Stormwater is one where a lot of times it empties out Into an ocean, especially if you're on the coast.
[00:23:50] And so a lot of communities are taking a look at maybe we need to rethink how we're managing this. I'll say to we [00:24:00] have you know, I know of several communities in Austin, Texas is one of the oldest ones where they, you use their biosolids straight from the municipal wastewater treatment and that gets sold either back to the city or to, you private landowners to use as application for fertilizer.
[00:24:20] It's used in, like, a lot of the city parks. So, you know, wastewater is certainly a resource. And I think as we're seeing pressure from mostly climate change, communities wastewater. And states like Colorado and California are definitely thinking through that at the state level. And designing.
[00:24:44] regulations around that as we're seeing more communities turn towards water reuse, whether direct potable, indirect potable, or like managed aquifer storage work. Conjoined, right, these two [00:25:00] laws, created a space for communities to really take advantage of some major federal funding on both the climate change and water infrastructure side and transportation.
[00:25:08] Bill had a lot of transportation money as well.
[00:25:14] Dave: The bottom line here is that not only do we need climate resilient infrastructure, but it would not be possible without this federal funding. Both the IRA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act are providing unprecedented opportunities for us to react to climate change, build for the future, and build to better our line, our cities, and communities with the world around us.
[00:25:35] Up to this point, we've been mostly talking about water, and for good reason. Whether it's flooding or drought, water is a consideration when we're talking about building infrastructure that can face the challenges presented by climate change. Either too much, or very often, not enough. When we're addressing climate change and its effects, there's another huge element to discuss.
[00:25:54] That's the process of reducing our carbon emissions altogether. We call that decarbonization. [00:26:00] Wendi works mostly with water, but our next guest is on the front lines of transportation and electrification, and the work to help us reduce our carbon emissions. But, as Wendi alluded to, this work isn't really possible without the state figuring out how they're going to accept and implement the funding.
[00:26:16] Wendi Wilkes: And as a former state regulator, the power of the states, I mean, they are a necessary partner in delivering change, right? You can't do it without them. So, I love that you guys are building those relationships out at the state level. 
[00:26:30] Dave: Federal agencies can help states and local communities, but it's up to the states and the people who live there to advocate for where that funding needs to go.
[00:26:38] There's so many different ways for the funding from the IRA or bipartisan infrastructure act to be used. 
[00:26:44] Wendi Wilkes: They submit their plan to EPA. We say, yes, this meets all the federal requirements. We give them the funding and then they work with the individual communities to develop. Either a grant or a loan or a forgivable loan, you know, they kind of develop a package of funding for each community.[00:27:00] 
[00:27:00] Dave: We've been talking a lot about all the different ways this federal funding can be implemented. There's green stormwater infrastructure, there's water reclamation, there's lead pipe removal, and there's countless different emission reduction projects to help electrify and decarbonize our environments.
[00:27:14] We've talked about some of the ways this is happening around the country, but I really wanted to specifically show you how it's impacting the WRA believes that state level advocacy is where we're going to see the most impact for work. Wendi mentioned it as well. 
[00:27:29] Jermareon Williams: My name is Jermareon. I'm the government affairs manager for Western Resource Advocates in the Nevada office.
[00:27:36] So I work on all things legislation in Nevada. I work with decision makers. We work on policy here in the state. And what we're trying to do is to ensure that we have a cleaner, safer Nevada. 
[00:27:54] Dave: What infrastructure needs do we have related to climate in the West and what issues are communities in the West [00:28:00] facing?
[00:28:01] Jermareon Williams: Yeah so I know in Nevada one of the biggest things that we're, one of the biggest issues that we're facing here is just extreme heat. In last year or this year earlier there was days where it was 120 degrees, right? So, what we need to do to protect our community, we want to make sure that we have.
[00:28:22] buildings that are more energy efficient where we have people who are losing, using less energy to cool their homes during these summer months. And a way to do that is to make sure there's like the proper retrofit for their house, but also to invest in either Newer air conditioning units or heat pumps which is something that I know that we're working on to make sure there's investment for heat pumps because you know, it's, I wouldn't say new technology, but it's new to a [00:29:00] lot of people letting them know that this is an alternative you know, from air conditioning units.
[00:29:06] And it would be cleaner if they did invest in that technology. So really extreme heat in Nevada and making sure that people are safe during these months where it can get extremely dangerous. I mean, I just read a report that I think there's going to be a record high of just heat related deaths in Nevada.
[00:29:27] Dave: In 2024, over 200 people died of heat in Clark County. The need for air conditioning is real. It highlights the extremely diverse needs of different regions within the United States and how they're all going to respond differently to the different effects of climate change. In Chicago, flooding is a major concern, where in Nevada, heat and providing safe, affordable, clean cooling is one of the top ways to eliminate the impacts of climate change.
[00:29:50] Jermareon Williams: It's really dangerous in Nevada during the summertime here, so that's one of the biggest things that we're facing. 
[00:29:59] Dave: Given [00:30:00] the seriousness of all that, I asked Jermareon the obvious question, how does the federal funding available help address these issues? 
[00:30:08] Jermareon Williams: So, federal funding is huge because it can Create incentive programs, right, where it can bring a lot of this technology the price for it, the initial price for this technology.
[00:30:21] It can bring the cost down and that's needed for, you people who are trying to pay these extremely high bills. 
[00:30:29] Dave: The goal is to make these technologies more affordable for everyone. The theme of affordability was present in my conversation with Wendi as well. She highlighted how a lot of the federal funding available is to be used to offset utility costs.
[00:30:42] Wendi Wilkes: They told me because of the bill funding, they are able to go 400 percent faster. And what was originally going to take them 20 years to do, will take them five years to do. So like that is real impact in a community. And the main reason that it's letting them go faster is [00:31:00] because they don't have to raise their rates as much because federal funding is coming in to cover that.
[00:31:06] Dave: Wendi was talking about water infrastructure, but the concept holds true across the board for businesses, utilities, and individuals. Federal funding lowers the barrier of entry to innovative, climate resilient technology. 
[00:31:17] Jermareon Williams: If they can invest in newer technology and if there's federal funding to give them the funds to do that, then you know, it could just make a huge difference in, in just someone's everyday life.
[00:31:30] To answer your question one of the biggest things that we're proud of at WRA is a clean trucks and buses program. So this is. This is a program that was passed in a 2023 legislative session. And I feel like when I'm on this broadcast, I talk about this program because it's one of the things that we're proud of.
[00:31:49] But what this program does is any business owner or organization that's looking to purchase, I an electric truck or bus, It [00:32:00] provides the federal funding and it provides the funding to do that, where it brings the cost for those vehicles, which are typically higher, it brings that down to make it more affordable for small business owners who want to make that investment.
[00:32:12] So that's one of the things that we're proud of here at WRA, and that's something that Nevadar, Governor Joseph Lombardo, that's something that he supported. He signed off on that bill. Just seeing that support for this program is huge. Seeing the collaboration across the board from legislators and business owners and automotive industries to see how they supported this program using federal dollars.
[00:32:39] It was just huge for our state. It was a huge win all the way around. So that's what this could look like. And a big part of the success of this program was because it was using federal funding. And What 
[00:32:53] Dave: aWhat arethose sources of federal funding? Is that, this is the inflation reduction act, the bipartisan infrastructure act.
[00:32:57] Do you have, I don't know, can you speak a little bit more [00:33:00] to where that federal funding is coming from? 
[00:33:03] Jermareon Williams: Yeah. So, want to just kind of credit the Current administration at this time the Biden administration for making these historic investments into clean energy. So this did come through the bipartisan infrastructure act.
[00:33:20] And what it did basically was it provided the money for states looking to do innovative things to lower the emission that you see from cars and trucks and buses. And what I will say is like trucks and buses that creates a fortunate amount of carbon in our state. 
[00:33:42] Dave: For context, 26 percent of our overall emissions come from vehicles.
[00:33:45] So, 
[00:33:56] Jermareon Williams: if we can get a lot of those vehicles off the roads and [00:34:00] we can transition those vehicles to electric, that would just make a huge change to a person's everyday life. I mean, if you have a kid who has asthma. Getting a lot of that pollution from those big trucks and buses that can make it for them to breathe easier, which is important.
[00:34:16] So yeah, it came from the carbon reduction program and it's through the bipartisan, the Biden administration who made historic investments in clean energy and that's what we needed to. Get this program out and and available for Nevadans 
[00:34:31] Dave: here. Dramarion also emphasized how big these funding sources have been not just for the country and the states, but for Nevada and his home.
[00:34:40] Jermareon Williams: I mean, a lot of our faces, hardships, and if we can't have, we can't have money out there so they can. Retrofit their home, or if they can get a heat pump, which will save money for them in the longterm so they won't have to pay these extremely high energy bills that you see [00:35:00] Nevadans have to pay in the summertime.
[00:35:02] Like this can change somebody's life really. And I hate to be like too dramatic with this, but I mean, if you have people determined and if they're going to pay their energy bill, if they're going to get groceries for this month, and if their energy bill is a little lower because they were able to. Get a heat pump and now their bills aren't 600 every summer that can make it so they have food on their table for their families that can make it where they can put that money elsewhere.
[00:35:28] So I just think that federal funding for these clean energy programs, it's huge. It's something that's needed in our country, something that's needed in our States. And I'm happy that we got to see this money available for Dividends. I'll say us because I live here, I'm part of this community, and I also have to see those high energy bills, right?
[00:35:52] So, to be able to have these resources, I mean, I really, it just means so [00:36:00] much. I can't even explain how much this means for us. 
[00:36:03] Dave: Up until now, we've been talking about how good the federal funding is. The benefits, why it's important, and how it's allowing us to be creative and adaptive when we think about how to fight climate change.
[00:36:14] It's allowing us to work with the landscape instead of against it, and it's making it affordable for people to acquire technology that's not only cleaner, but cheaper in the long run. I asked Jermareon what would happen if this funding were to disappear. 
[00:36:26] Jermareon Williams: If this federal funding were to go away, that means there's going to be a lot less investment into our state.
[00:36:34] And by that, I mean, We're not going to see incentive programs for people to upgrade their air conditioner and I keep going back to that because it's life or death for a lot of families who can't afford to just pay the upfront cost to afford 10, 000 to purchase a new AC. They need these federal fundings.
[00:36:59] It's [00:37:00] life or death. There's a story, I was just reading like the local newspaper here, and there's a story of a man who almost died in his home because it was so hot, but he just couldn't afford to turn his AC on. You don't want stories out there like that. You do not want stories out there like that. And what we've done, what we're able to do, using this federal funding to create these incentive programs, to have a program like the Clean Trucks and Buses program, where it's going to help small businesses across the state and invest in new trucks and buses, new electric trucks and buses where they're not going to have to worry about fuel costs which can hurt a business.
[00:37:36] I mean, if the amount of money that you, that it takes to fuel those trucks and buses, like they don't have to worry about that cost no more because of the federal program. So. If you just were to just get a, get rid of those, you're gonna see a lot less investment in our state. You're gonna see you're gonna see a lot less people have the confidence to know that the, that they can make changes [00:38:00] to their fleet.
[00:38:00] And because they're gonna be like, whoa, I mean, I have to keep this old truck because they just can't afford a new one. And the only reason they're able to afford a new one is because of this program that you know, that was created through the the federal funding. So. Need that and I don't want to see it go away and I'm hoping that our lawmakers can see the importance of continuing to invest in clean energy.
[00:38:25] Dave: It's concerning to say the least, to think about some of the things that could be at stake if we didn't have this federal funding. But there's also been great progress. This whole episode has hopefully highlighted that for you. There's been tangible action on climate. There's been innovation and resilience and people coming together to figure out how to solve the problems we're all facing.
[00:38:44] The federal funding portion, yeah, that's pretty important. Federal funding has been a critical element for the larger work to fight climate change over the past few years, and WRA has worked to leverage it across our region. In light of all of this, I asked both Wendi and Jermareon what gives them [00:39:00] optimism about the future, and how they think we can continue our fight against climate change.
[00:39:04] Jermareon Williams: So much has changed since their last conversation where my answer might be different, but I'm still optimistic, right? If we can just continue to work with our lawmakers, work with our decision makers and help them to see the importance of making really smart policy to you know, lower emissions in our state.
[00:39:26] I think that you know, this future is not, it wouldn't be so, we can reach it and that's what we're working to do. We're working to reach this future. It's going to be hot. It's going to be hot these next couple of these next couple of years. But even though like, it looks like, you know, we have a tough battle ahead of us and we do, right, we have a tough battle and we're going to be doing a lot of work. We have to to keep our optimism and we have no choice, but to continue to do this work. We can't give up. [00:40:00] It's too much on the line. It's our future generations. It's the future of this planet on the line and we have to continue to fight. And and I'm ready for it. And I'm just I'm just hoping that we all are, that we can continue to do good work and not give up and continue to fight.
[00:40:18] So that's what we'll be doing this next year. And I look forward to it. 
[00:40:26] Dave: Since its start, WRA has worked to combat climate change at the state level. We have worked through dramatic changes in the political landscape and achieved steady success in reducing emissions, conserving water, and protecting public lands.
[00:40:38] Wendi Wilkes: At the local level change is happening, regardless of 
[00:40:42] the 
[00:40:43] chaos that might happen at the federal level that is what keeps me going. So, I hope we can continue to see that over the next four years and beyond. Because regardless of what, you know, anyone in the federal government [00:41:00] and leadership thinks, right, communities are faced with these impacts, you know, whether you call it climate change or not, like communities are having to deal with us now.
[00:41:10] So I think seeing the creativity and the resilience of community leaders and advocates, that's what brings me hope. I think seeing like a renewed commitment at the local and state level to carry the work forward regardless of what's going on at the federal level to make the adaptations necessary. That is what is continuing to give me hope is seeing.
[00:41:34] Dave: You can learn more about our work on our website or on our social media platforms. Did you like what you've heard? Bring others into the conversation. Share our show with family, friends, and group chats alike. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn to stay up to date with the latest climate news in the West.
[00:41:54] You can find our show notes and a transcription of the episode online at westernresourceadvocates. org. [00:42:00] Lastly, WRA would like to thank our sponsors who make our work possible. Our impact sponsor is First Bank. Our premier sponsor is Vision Ridge Partners. Our supporting sponsors are BSW Wealth Partners, GoCo, Group 14 Engineering, Jones Co.,
[00:42:14] Meridian Public Affairs, and Solup. Thank you for listening.