Diversity Coalition San Luis Obispo County, R.A.C.E. Matters, Central Coast Coalition for Undocumented Student Success and technology company BlocPower are proud to announce that they have been awarded a grant to work on climate equity in SLO County.
The $340,000 grant was provided by TECH Clean California. TECH Clean California is a statewide initiative to accelerate the adoption of clean space and water heating technology across California homes in order to help California meet its goal of being carbon-neutral by 2045.
The climate crisis has far-reaching effects that impact everyone, but its consequences are not felt equally. These organizations recognize that underserved communities, including Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), as well as low and middle income (LMI) households, often experience the greatest impacts of climate change and often benefit the least from available incentive programs. Through this grant, this project seeks to promote climate equity by ensuring that all members of the community have access to the resources and information needed to mitigate the effects of climate change, reduce the cost of their energy bill, have access to climate solutions, and ultimately build resilience.
The grant focuses on Developing Targeted and Inclusive Marketing and Educational Materials for Equitable Electrification, using a community-based approach to identify the type of clean energy messages and strategies that best resonate with BIPOC and LMI communities.
“This grant recognizes that the effects of climate change are not distributed equally, and our efforts to address it must be equitable and inclusive,” said Rita Casaverde, Executive Director of DCSLOC. “We are grateful for the outpouring of community support around this grant and are excited to build a strong coalition around climate justice in SLO County.”
The idea for this grant was born out of the Green and Healthy Homes Roundtable organized by the City of San Luis Obispo in the summer of 2022. SLO City’s Climate Action Plan establishes a goal of reducing emissions from existing buildings by 50% by 2030. “The task ahead of us is to improve our building stock by swapping out natural gas appliances with efficient electric alternatives that eliminate asthma-causing indoor air pollution, increase resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The City is incredibly excited about this partnership with DCSLOC, R.A.C.E. Matters, and CCCUSS to build awareness among our most vulnerable community members about this climate justice solution” , said Lucia Pohlman, Sustainability and Natural Resources Analyst at the City of San Luis Obispo.