Christopher Schuler, christopher.schuler@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – Today, during a stop on the White House’s Investing in Rural America event series, President Biden will announce more than $5 billion in funding for rural communities, made possible largely through the landmark Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The announcement includes more than $1.7 billion in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding to support the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices including private-public partnerships, $1.1 billion in rural American infrastructure funding to provide clean water and reliable electricity, and the release of $145 million in funding for 700 loan and grant awards through the $2 billion Rural Energy for America Program to help agricultural producers and rural small business owners make energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy investments to help lower costs, generate income, and strengthen the resiliency of their operations.
In total, the Inflation Reduction Act amounts to the largest investment in the electrification of rural communities since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement:
“We organized and fought to make the Inflation Reduction Act the law of the land because we know a rising tide lifts all boats. By making the largest investment in rural communities in American history, President Biden is making this a reality. Investments in our rural communities are an investment in clean water, American agriculture, farmers, and their land.
“But the work cannot stop here. Today’s announcement is exactly why the Sierra Club has implemented a 50-state strategy to bridge all urban-rural and socioeconomic divides, and why Sierra Club is committed to enshrining these investments in rural America into standing policy in the Farm Bill. Our future depends on all of us coming together to tackle this looming crisis from coast to coast, and today’s news is a major step forward in our work.”
###
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.