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The Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization hosted a webinar on the new infrastructure bill’s impact on energy communities, on Friday, Nov. 19. The event detailed new funding opportunities for coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities made available following the Presidential signing of the historic bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
David Turk, United States Deputy Secretary of Energy, Samantha Silverberg, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Infrastructure Coordinator and John Rhodes, Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy joined IWG Executive Director, Brian Anderson, Ph.D for a fireside chat about how the bill will create good-paying union jobs and deliver economic benefits to every community in the country.
“We are energized at the opportunity the new infrastructure bill presents to communities with economies and workforces historically reliant on the production of fossil fuel energy,” said Anderson. “IWG is committed to helping create good-paying jobs and stimulating sustainable growth across the nation, and the newly available funding, which will help build stronger, healthier, and more prosperous futures for energy communities for generations to come.”
Webinar speakers focused the discussion on the expansive scope of new funding opportunities, including billions of dollars for expanded broadband access, advanced energy manufacturing facilities, environmental waste cleanup and solar viability research, to name a few. Finally, panelists shared best practices when applying for federal funding and other critical resources for community leaders.
The webinar recording, presentation slides, and final agenda can be found here.
Established by an Executive Order during President Biden’s first week in office, the IWG is pursuing a whole-of-government approach to create good-paying union jobs, spur economic revitalization, remediate environmental degradation and support energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities across the country as the U.S. prepares to undergo a historic energy evolution to a carbon emission-free electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.