EPA provides $50 million for New Orleans to tackle pollution, climate change effects

A container ship moves along the Mississippi River with the New Orleans skyline in the background. The city is set to receive federal funding for climate change and pollution reduction efforts. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The city of New Orleans is set to receive almost $50 million in federal funding to counteract pollution and climate change. The money comes from an Environmental Protection Agency program funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, part of President Biden’s Investing in America program. 

As one of only three cities chosen as a grant recipient, New Orleans aims to reduce the harm from greenhouse gas emissions in the city over the next five years. Key aims for the funding include improving air quality, alleviating urban heat islands and reducing the city’s carbon footprint, which helps reduce the impacts of climate change. 

“As New Orleans works to reduce our emissions contributing to climate change, this substantial funding will fuel seven pivotal greenhouse gas reduction measures that align with a cross section of goals from the City’s Climate Action Plan and the Southeastern Louisiana Priority Climate Action Plan (SELA PCAP),” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement. 

The initiatives include increasing energy efficiency in city buildings, solar panel installations, improved access to transportation options such as walking and biking paths as well as increasing native plant populations in the city. 

New Orleans was one of 25 awardees of Climate Pollution Reduction Grants, which distributed over $4.3 billion to state, local and tribal governments in over 30 states. 

The grant specifically targets “improving the health and wellbeing of local low-income and disadvantaged communities,” according to the EPA website. 

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