June 21, 2023
Ms. Patrice Olds
330 West 20th Avenue
San Mateo, CA 94403
clerk@cityofsanmateo.org
Thank you for distributing this letter to your city manager and council members.
Dear San Mateo City Council Members,
As you must have undoubtedly heard already, the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Investment and Infrastructure Jobs Act (IIJA) will provide substantial funding for clean energy, conservation, and equity projects.
We know that many municipalities may not have the resources to peruse funding categories, make project decisions, draw up plans, research appropriate funding streams, and submit well-crafted grant applications.
The Sierra Club has dedicated research and community advocacy teams whose goal is to assist local governments in prioritizing projects and keeping track of the funding streams as they become available at different times. We are also available to offer study sessions to city officials, so that you will have an understanding of the funding landscape. That knowledge will enable you to make project decisions based on your city’s climate action and conservation goals and assess how well your project plans correspond to the selection criteria for a particular block, formula, or competitive grant.
If you have not yet applied for funding from either the IRA or the IIJA, now is the time to start. There will be an important funding stream opening this summer, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which will finance residential and community solar, including storage.
Furthermore, there will be other funding streams opening that your city may want to try submitting applications for, including an important “Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants” funding stream that will be opening this summer as well. This fund will be especially pertinent for Bay Area cities on the coast and on the Bay.
Finally, there are many financial incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act for citizens to decarbonize through electrification and energy efficiency projects that your city/county should publicize extensively.
If you haven’t already formed a funding and grant applications task force for the Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure Acts, we recommend that you create one as soon as possible.
As aforementioned, our Chapter activists stand ready to assist you in this historic opportunity to make use of the massive amounts of funding available to equitably decarbonize our country and create healthy ecosystems for all.
We look forward to supporting you in your efforts to do what we hope will be a deep dive into this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obtain funding for saving our planet and ourselves.
Sincerely,
Gladwyn d’Souza
Conservation Committee ChairSierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
Cc: James Eggers
Executive Director
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter