In recent years, several states have created or helped to fund specialized banks that lend money to homeowners and businesses for energy-saving and climate projects. Now, states have billions more reasons to establish such institutions, known as green banks.
Congress last year approved a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund of $27 billion, largely to pour money into green banks and similar financial institutions. Newly established green banks from Nevada to Illinois are readying for federal support that could supercharge their efforts, while bipartisan leaders in places such as New Mexico and Alaska are pushing to create their own state green banks.
“Everybody is interested in green banks now,” said Reed Hundt, CEO of the Coalition for Green Capital, a climate-focused nonprofit that has spearheaded such efforts across the country. “(The federal funding) is adding a lot of oomph. Nobody should get left out.”
