A new program in California is reinvesting money from the state’s carbon cap and trade program to make solar panels available to low-income households.
“Run by Oakland non-profit Grid Alternatives, the effort will install home solar arrays in disadvantaged neighborhoods, using $14.7 million raised through California’s cap and trade system for reining in greenhouse gas emissions,” SFGate reports. “That system forces factories, power plants, oil refineries, and other large businesses to buy credits for every ton of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases they pump into the atmosphere.”
“It helps me and my family a great deal to have low-cost energy, because these energy prices are really expensive,” said Kianté London, whose three-bedroom home in North Richmond received its solar array last month. “And I wanted to do my part. It’s clean, green energy.”
“These systems are saving families money every month for food, for clothes, for medical expenses,” said Grid Alternatives Communications Director Julian Foley. (h/t to Environmental News Bits for pointing us to this story)
