Press Release - Clean Energy Grant
OFFICE OF GOV. BILL RITTER, JR.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
CONTACT:
Wil Alston, 303-917-8059, wil.alston@state.co.us
Megan Castle, 303-866-2262, megan.castle@state.co.us
COLORADO ONE OF TWELVE STATES TO RECEIVE CLEAN ENERGY GRANT
Grants awarded as part of NGA's Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) today awarded grants of $50,000 to Colorado and 11 other states to help them advance clean energy projects. The awards were made as part of the Clean Energy States Grant Program and are designed to help overcome obstacles to greater energy efficiency, conservation, and use of clean energy resources in the states.
Colorado's grant will go towards the Colorado Carbon Fund, which is a new initiative out the Governor's Energy Office that is aimed at further advancing Colorado's New Energy Economy. The Colorado Carbon Fund provides high quality, verifiable carbon offsets for consumers concerned about climate change.
"The NGA's selection of Colorado as a grant recipient is another fine example of our commitment to preserving our environment," Gov. Bill Ritter said. "The Colorado Carbon Fund is a well-deserved program that not only helps us meet our greenhouse gas emissions goals but helps us further establish our New Energy Economy."
The Colorado Carbon Fund, a voluntary carbon offset program, is being established by the Governor's Energy Office (GEO) to advance the following objectives:
- Develop a funding source for community-based clean energy and climate mitigation projects;
- Direct investment monies towards CO-based projects;
- Support Colorado's climate change mitigation objectives;
- Provide high quality, credible offsets for individuals, businesses and government agencies interested in mitigating their carbon footprint;
Go to: http://www.colorado.gov/energy/resources/ColoradoCarbonFund.asp to learn about the Colorado Carbon Fund.
Along with Colorado, Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina and Utah have also been selected to receive awards. During the application process, these states identified clean energy projects that would benefit from grant support, articulated challenges to achieving completion of these projects, described how the clean energy project fits into the state's broader clean energy goals, and offered a plan for how grant funds will assist in devising a strategy to overcome the challenges.
Grant assistance will go towards research, analysis, meetings, training, outreach or other efforts necessary to develop and advance clean energy efforts underway in the 12 states. The selected states’ projects span a range of topics, including building energy codes, energy efficiency programs, renewable energy sources and cleaner transportation fuels.
The clean energy grants are made possible by generous support from American Electric Power, Dominion Resources, The Ford Motor Company, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the NGA Center. Additional funding from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation will help support a technical assistance workshop for states to be held in Washington, D.C. this fall.
States were selected through a competitive process open to all states and U.S. territories. The grantees were chosen by a group of independent reviewers. For more information on the SCEF Initiative or the Clean Energy States Grant Program, please visit www.nga.org/ci.