On October 1, 2014, the Administration announced the Climate Action Champions Competition, a new initiative to identify, showcase, and invest in 10 to 15 local and tribal governments across the country who are demonstrating an ongoing commitment to reducing carbon pollution and preparing for the impacts of climate change. This initiative is described in the attached White House news release. It will be administered by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
The Request for Applications can be found at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId7078c60d-e5e7-46f3-9615-8294b14caa6a. Applications must be filed online at the EERE Exchange. The deadline for filing an application is October 27, although EERE recommends filing at least 48 hours prior to the deadline to reduce the risk of technical difficulties with the website.
The Climate Action Champions Competition is not a funding program. Rather, it is a “designation” program, in that each of the selected applicants will be designated a “Climate Action Champion” and will be assigned a federal coordinator to help with access to a broad range of federal technical and financial assistance programs from DOE and a number of other federal agencies. Some of these programs are listed in the attached news release. While selected applicants will generally be required to apply for those technical and financial assistance programs, some of those programs will be targeted in ways designed to assist Climate Action Champions.
In addition, selected applicants will have access to a peer network created by the Climate Action Champions initiative, as well as networks of federal and philanthropic activities dealing with climate change resilience and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Networking will be a major emphasis of this initiative, which is grounded in the recognition that, across the country, many communities have taken it upon themselves to deal with climate change, without waiting for there to be a national program. As stated in the Request for Applications, this initiative will seek to coordinate federal agency resources in order to “identify, demonstrate, and elevate best practices at the local level and enhance the potential for replication in other communities.”
Please let us know if we may provide additional information regarding Climate Action Champions Competition.
