Tens of billions of dollars of IRA funding will now be earmarked for environmental justice

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 13, 2022: (L-R) U.S. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden U.S. President Joe Biden, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), stand onstage after the conclusion of an event celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. | Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

As money starts to roll out for the US’s landmark clean energy and climate bill, a big chunk of the benefits will now be officially set aside for disadvantaged communities.

Programs totaling $118 billion in federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act will now have to ensure that at least 40 percent of the benefits they produce flow into disadvantaged communities in the US. The Biden administration updated its list today of federal programs included within its Justice40 Initiative, a document it shared first with The Verge.

President Joe Biden launched the Justice40 program with an executive order in 2021. It stipulates that the “overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are…

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