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Friday, October 11, 2024

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Florida picks up the pieces after Hurricane Milton; Georgia elected officials say Hurricane Helene was a climate change wake-up call; Hosiers are getting better civic education; the Senate could flip to the GOP in November; New Mexico postal vans go electric; and Nebraska voters debate school vouchers.

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Civil rights groups push for a voter registration deadline extension in Georgia, federal workers helping in hurricane recovery face misinformation and threats of violence, and Brown University rejects student divestment demands.

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Hurricane Helene has some rural North Carolina towns worried larger communities might get more attention, mixed feelings about ranked choice voting on the Oregon ballot next month, and New York farmers earn money feeding school kids.

With unprecedented climate funding available, WA launches resource hub

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Monday, September 30, 2024   

Washington state has launched a new website that lets people and organizations know about ways they can fund going green.

With resources for clean energy and efficiency projects at an all-time high, the state has created the portal FundHubWA to help navigate funding opportunities.

That includes tax incentives, rebates, and state and federal grants.

Amy Wheeless is the federal policy and program alignment manager with the Washington State Department of Commerce, which is running the site.

She said hub is an apt name for it and walks through how it works.

"You say 'I'm an individual,' or 'I'm a farmer,' or 'I'm a business,' and 'I'm looking for funding opportunities for energy efficiency or for electric vehicles,'" said Wheeless, "and then it will present a variety of federal and state opportunities that are available."

FundHubWA offers resources from federal laws passed in recent years, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS for America, the Inflation Reduction Act - and from Washington state's Climate Commitment Act.

The website is available for individuals and a wide range of organizations, including public agencies, tribal governments and nonprofits.

Carol Albert is the senior advisor for federal funding in Gov. Jay Inslee's office. She said these funding sources are important for combating climate change.

"There's never been a better time," said Albert, "to get projects going in communities, that are contributing to cleaner and healthier and more prosperous areas of Washington, to really move away from fossil fuels."

Albert said FundHubWA could prove especially useful for local governments in rural communities.

People in these areas often do more than one job, which can make it overwhelming to track all the available opportunities.

"There are just not enough hours in the day," said Albert. "So the portal is a way for them to get to this information quickly and then assess if they or their communities would qualify for it."

The website is supported with funding from the Climate Commitment Act, which could be repealed in November if Initiative 2117 passes.

Albert said regardless of the outcome of the election, the future of FundHubWA will be up to state lawmakers.




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