CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The city of Carbondale announced funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) to invest in the community's future of clean energy.Â
Carbondale will participate in the (Communities LEAP). The program will give $18 million to 30 underrepresented communities across the nation to focus on clean energy and economic development. Most of these communities also have a tie to fossil fuel industries.
“We are living in a moment of unprecedented potential that will require systems-thinking, strategic partnership, and a willingness to be seen trying," said Carbondale's Planner & Sustainability Coordinator Lauren Becker. "If you are an innovator, communicator, teacher, artist, you are needed and you are needed now. We are entering an age of collaboration like we’ve never seen before.�
Carbondale has partnered with SIU Carbondale and the Illinois Social Equity, Equality and Environmental Justice 40 Consortium (ISEE-EJ40) for the project. This funding is the second time the city has invested in this field; the first time was in 2021.Â
The Communities LEAP plans to work on the following goals in its communities:
- Clean Energy Planning and Development
- Energy Efficient Buildings
- Beneficial Electrification Planning
- Clean Transportation Planning
- Clean Energy Components Manufacturing
- Clean Energy Components Recycling/Reclamation
- Community Resilience Microgrids
Carbondale plans to invite community members to join the Communities LEAP Cohort 2 throughout the next month.Â
