Iowa turns down $3M federal grant for climate change planning

Iowa was one of only four states to turn down $3 million in federal money for planning to prevent climate change after a state official advised against it because there were “strings attached.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offered each state $3 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to come up with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create green energy jobs, lower energy costs for families and reduce air pollution, among other objectives.

Governors had until last Friday to file notice they planned to apply for the grants. Iowa, Florida, Kentucky and South Dakota were the only states that declined to participate, the EPA confirmed Wednesday.

Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Economic Development Authority, told the finance authority board Wednesday she recommended Gov. Kim Reynolds not seek the federal money, saying there were “strings attached.”

“I was very supportive of the decision to the governor to not go forward,” she said when board member Tracey Ball, of Des Moines, asked her about the decision. “The reason why was because the strings attached to it are not things I believe we’re in a position to meet.”

Staci Hupp, economic development spokeswoman, said the state already has the Iowa Energy Plan, an “energy economic development blueprint” published in 2016.

“We believe in this plan and chose not to pursue the federal program because it would require Iowa to start over and create a new one,” she said in an email.

“We have the infrastructure in place now and will accomplish our goals by building on the energy plan’s strong foundation and leveraging resources in a way that plays to Iowa’s strengths and meets the state’s needs. Communities have an unprecedented number of opportunities directly available to them to pursue funding through federal programs.”

Last year, Iowa passed on applying for $30 million in early childhood education grants from the federal government. State leaders said that was a deliberate decision to avoid having to commit $3 million in matching state funds toward child care, according to a story by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

No Iowa goals for reducing greenhouse gasses

Iowa is among about half the states without goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, despite ranking No. 2 in the nation for emissions from crop production. Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, cause global warming by trapping the sun’s heat in the atmosphere.

Since 1990, the energy and industrial sectors have slashed their combined greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 35 percent, according to an analysis by The Gazette and Investigate Midwest of the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Explorer. But the agriculture and transportation sectors each went up more than 6 percent between 1990 and 2020.

State Rep. Chuck Isenhart, D-Dubuque, sent a letter to Reynolds last week asking her to seek the federal climate change planning aid.

“The plans will provide participating entities the basis to apply for $4.6 billion in federal implementation grants authorized in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” Isenhart wrote. “Plans can also be used to leverage other funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022.”

Pipeline connection?

Isenhart said Wednesday he doesn’t know why the state turned down the planning money.

“There is that allegation out there Republicans don’t believe climate pollution is a problem,” he told The Gazette. “If we don’t think it’s a problem worthy of applying for a grant to address it, why would we approve carbon dioxide pipelines that are a headache to Iowans?”

Isenhart was speaking about the Iowa Utilities Board considering whether to grant permits for companies seeking to capture CO2 from ethanol plants and transport the gas in underground pipelines to sequestration sites in Illinois and North Dakota.

Pipeline project leaders are hoping to get federal tax credits made available because of the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gases to head off the worst effects of climate change, including sea level rise and more extreme weather.

Because Iowa declined the federal money, the state’s three largest cities — Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport — now can seek $1 million each to develop their own plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They would need to file a notice of intent to apply by April 28.

“The city is aware of the opportunity, and we are currently looking into options,” Sara Maples, Cedar Rapids Sustainability Program manager, said Wednesday.

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