At its June 10 meeting, the Mount Vernon City Council gave the go ahead for city staff to apply for funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Change Program. Funding through the program could be as high as $20 million.
City Engineer Brian Ball explained to the council the city might use the funding for projects like the city’s tree planting program, a new municipal courthouse and construction of year-round restrooms at Arch Park and Ariel Foundation Park.
Funding for the program comes from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The funding is being awarded to “to meet the goals and objectives of two Executive Orders (EO 14008 and EO 13985) issued by President Joe Biden.
EO 14008 calls for grants that promote environmental justice, build “a clean energy economy that creates well-paying union jobs,” and undertake “robust actions to mitigate climate change while preparing for the impacts of climate change across rural, urban, and Tribal areas.”
The city will apply for the funding with Clinton Township as the lead applicant. According to Engineering Department intern Emily Ewing, the city will also need a community based non-profit as a statutory partner. Ball later said that the city’s application would benefit if the city also shared the costs of some of the projects.
During discussion about the application, Council member John Ruckman, who represents the Second Ward, said, “I think this will be best for the city and hopefully we can get some of this coming to our lovely city.”
According to EO 14008, “the United States and the world face a profound climate crisis. We have a narrow moment to pursue action at home and abroad in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of that crisis and to seize the opportunity that tackling climate change presents.” Yet not everyone agrees with this assessment.
Judith Curry, a climatologist and former chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, recently spoke at the Global Warming Policy Foundation. In her speech, she asked, “How did we come to be between a rock and a hard place on the climate issue, where we are allegedly facing an existential threat. And the proposed solutions are both unpopular and infeasible? Well in a few words, we’ve put the policy cart before the scientific horse.”
In explaining this, Curry noted, “Mixing politics and science is inevitable on issues of high societal relevance, such as climate change. However, there are some really bad ways to do this, and we’re seeing all of these with the climate change issue.”
Funding from the grants can only be used in EPA-designated disadvantaged communities. The designated local area covers the southern portions of Mt. Vernon. The EPA expects to award about 150 of the grants.
The City Engineers office is currently working on the application. While applications will be accepted as late as November 21, the city plans to submit the application as soon as possible. This will allow the city to receive feedback from the EPA and amend the application before the final deadline.
In September 2023, the Mount Vernon City Council passed a controversial resolution aligning the city with the objectives of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission's (MORPC) Sustainable2050 Program. This program focuses on promoting sustainable practices related to transportation, housing, policy, and sustainability initiatives. The resolution commits Mount Vernon to pursuing the replacement of natural gas and coal with solar power and other renewable energy sources.