The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy and the Coalition for Green Capital hope to organize a nonprofit in the next several weeks to form the basis of a green bank to be called the North Carolina Clean Energy Fund, reports the Charlotte Business Journal.

A North Carolina Clean Energy Fund would support economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by equitably investing in clean and efficient energy solutions for the state, according to a new market assessment from Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC).

More than 20 million people in the United States lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19-imposed economic shutdowns, and less than half of those jobs have returned in the ensuing months. As a result, the pre-pandemic, pervasive struggle of low- and middle-income families to pay utility bills has been exacerbated by job losses and reductions in income, write Scott Bechler and Jennifer Weiss.

To realize the goals of North Carolina's Executive Order 80, Nicholas Institute experts are working in partnership with state agencies, environmental nonprofits, utility commissions, and other stakeholders to develop policies that aim to fund clean energy, enhance carbon storage opportunities on natural and working lands, and reduce power sector emissions.

Congress is debating another round of economic stimulus to provide a measure of emergency relief from shutdowns induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, but more help will likely be needed down the road for a full recovery. A proposed national green bank could put people back to work while building a sustainable future by creating jobs in clean energy infrastructure, clean transportation, and energy efficiency, writes Jennifer Weiss.

Congress is considering additional stimulus measures to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. A state green bank, funded by a National Climate Bank in a future stimulus package, could help put North Carolinians back to work building a clean energy future, write the Nicholas Institute's Jennifer Weiss and Coalition for Green Capital's Jeffrey Schub in Southeast Energy News.

The Coalition for Green Capital submitted comments to North Carolina’s draft Clean Energy Plan in support of the establishment of a North Carolina Clean Energy Fund, and announced a partnership with the Nicholas Institute to explore the creation and design of this institution around the Green Bank model.

Gov. Roy Cooper has signed an executive order that directs the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2025. Jennifer Weiss, a senior policy associate with the Climate and Energy Program at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions told NPR that it "is a realistic goal, but I think it's going to take a lot of work by multiple parties."

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday announced an executive order aimed at addressing climate change and advancing the clean energy economy in the state.

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