Testimony
of
Matthias Paustian
Sierra Club Washington DC Chapter
on the
DC Green Finance Authority (Green Bank)
Budget Hearing
Committee on Transportation and the Environment
June 14, 2021
Councilmember Cheh, thank you for the opportunity to provide comment at this hearing. My name is Matthias Paustian, and I am speaking on behalf of the Sierra Club DC Chapter. The Sierra Club advocates for policies to stop climate change and environmental degradation, and thus we strongly support the work of the DC Green Finance Authority and its focus on advancing sustainability, inclusive prosperity and a clean economy. We also support the Green Bank’s focus on these four sectors: transportation electrification, solar energy, building decarbonization, and stormwater abatement.
Overall, the Green Bank is an incredibly important tool in the District’s toolbox to grow the adoption of zero-carbon technologies and the clean economy. According to the Clean Jobs America report from E2, over three million Americans work in the clean energy economy: from energy efficiency to renewable energy to energy storage. The Green Bank, alongside other DOEE programs, can and will play an important role in growing that market of opportunity for District residents.
When it comes to the budget for the Green Bank, investments the District makes in this agency are beneficial and will have short- and long-term benefits by increasing energy efficiency, promoting clean renewable energy, reducing air pollution, and creating local jobs. The District also stands to benefit from long-term savings because mitigating climate change will cost less than adapting to it. The Sierra Club supports the Mayor’s proposed budget for the DC Green Bank of $30,500,000, a nearly 40 percent increase from FY21 funding levels.This funding will ensure that the Green Bank can finance critical infrastructure improvements for District residents.
As we recently stated in the DC Green Bank Performance Oversight Hearing, the Sierra Club reiterates the importance of funding true, long-term zero-carbon technology improvements like electrification and renewable energy in addition to energy efficiency. The Green Finance Authority’s facilitation of continued investment in methane gas heating systems works against, not toward, achievement of a zero-carbon future for Washington DC. Investments in methane gas systems now will lock in greenhouse gas emissions for the lifetime of that equipment, up to 30 years or more. Even an updated, more efficient gas appliance, like a water heater, furnace, or stove, when brand new, will continue to emit most of the greenhouse gases and other dangerous pollutants of the appliance it replaced, and will keep doing so for decades to come. We urge the Council to eliminate support for gas appliances to ensure our Green Bank is actually working for the climate with the urgency that we all need. Achieving the District’s commitment of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 will be impossible if the Green Bank, or any other public entity, continues to put its support behind infrastructure that will continue to burn fossil fuels for the decades to come.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify today and thank you Chairperson Cheh and members of the Transportation and Environment Committee. We look forward to continued collaboration to decarbonize the District.