On Friday, November 19, General Motors awarded Clean Fuels Ohio a $250,000 grant from the company’s Climate Equity Fund for Community-Guided Action on Clean Transportation Access and Jobs, a project aimed at delivering sustainable mobility solutions to underinvested communities of opportunity. Through the project, Clean Fuels Ohio will seek to address these issues by taking a collaborative, listening first approach.
On June 29, 2021, General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra announced the $25 million GM Climate Equity Fund, dedicated to helping close equity gaps in the transition to electric vehicles and other sustainable technology.
“As we look ahead toward an all-electric future, we recognize how important it is for communities to have a strong voice, and resources, to implement community-level changes that work for their specific needs,” said Jessica James, program officer, GM Climate Equity Fund.
Low-income communities, Black communities, Indigenous communities, and other communities of color face disproportionate negative outcomes related to transportation, from air quality and public health to household transportation energy burden to access to clean transportation jobs. The first phase of the project will entail a listening process with representatives of the aforementioned communities to determine which transportation-related issues are most pressing for their residents and ensure that subsequent work activities directly reflect self-reported needs and priorities. Clean Fuels Ohio will first learn from communities, then partner with them to plan and implement solutions.
“We are grateful to General Motors for their support,” said Brendan Kelley, Drive Electric Ohio Director. “Clean Fuels Ohio’s style has included listening and partnering for many years, and we have been increasingly bringing those values to bear on equity and access work. Any serious approach to sustainability and economic prosperity must include equity as a foundational element. We can’t leave communities behind as the transportation sector undergoes a clean energy transformation.”
