Federal Funding Opportunities for Idaho
The Affordable Clean Energy Plan, which includes the climate and clean energy investments from both the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, is already paying off for Idaho with important investments to reduce emissions, create jobs, and lower costs for Idahoans.
We are already seeing critical funding for clean school buses in two districts, climate resilience funding for the Nez Perce Tribe, clean drinking water funding for the full state, electric transit buses in the Treasure Valley, and air quality testing programs for the Duck Valley Tribe. This is the beginning of nearly a decade of investments for the state, local governments, tribal nations, organizations, utilities, and individuals. To stay informed, keep reading these emails and sign up for OEMR’s federal funding newsletter.
Modern Zoning Code
As Idaho continues to experience rapid population growth, it is critical that we respond by building in a way that uses our natural resources wisely, creates homes that are affordable for all Idahoans, and protects our open spaces. With that in mind, Conservation Voters for Idaho strongly supports revamping and modernizing zoning codes across the state to meet the needs of local communities.
The City of Boise is nearing the end of its extensive three year process and City Council needs to hear support from Boise residents to pass the Zoning Code Rewrite. Click here to learn more about the beneficial provisions of the code and click here to submit a comment by June 8th.
$24M for Climate Research
A coalition of researchers from all corners of Idaho are expecting to receive a $24 million grant to fund research on climate, population and technology and their cumulative impact on water and energy use. As principal investigator and University of Idaho professor Andrew Kliskey notes that Idaho is an ideal state for this kind of research. We are thankful to all of the researchers and institutions leading this important research and look forward to learning from their work.
Carbon Neutral Dairy Research
Both locally and nationally, the dairy industry has set aggressive goals to become carbon neutral, and construction on the research center that will help reach those goals is now underway in Idaho. At CVI, we believe it is essential that we provide Idahoans with the information, tools, and resources they need to take the climate actions that benefit everyone. We are pleased to see the Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Idaho CAFE) is filling these needs for Idaho’s significant dairy industry.
This same sentiment was explained well by Rick Naerebout, CEO of Idaho Dairymen’s Association; “The reality for our dairy producers that I represent, sustainability honestly is not always the most welcome term because typically the expectation that they must once again figure out how to do more with less. That’s the pressure that our dairy producers feel. This Research Center is all built around how we help give our dairyman solutions. How do we help them accomplish these goals?”