Colorado communities understand that if you want to make a difference when it comes to climate change, it starts in your own neighborhood. I saw this regularly when I served as mayor of Glenwood Springs. The Grizzly Creek fire in 2020, followed by a 500-year storm event the following summer both destroyed our city’s watershed and closed down I-70 completely for weeks at a time, isolating Glenwood and interrupting the traveling public and interstate commerce. We had to work locally to solve the impacts of these massive disasters that significantly impacted both the region and the state. Tragically, these events are becoming increasingly common as climate change causes more extreme weather events.  

With this in mind, every Colorado community can benefit from additional resources to assist in local action to reduce climate-harming greenhouse gas emissions and boost resilience in the face of climate-driven impacts such as fires and drought. Thankfully, the state of Colorado is looking to help fill a major gap in this vital area. On June 16, the Colorado Energy office announced a new program, the Local Implementation, Mitigation, and Policy Action (Local IMPACT) Accelerator. 

The Accelerator will provide critical funding to local communities, delivering a total  of $50 million in grants to support local governments looking to adopt policies that bolster local resilience, reduce emissions, and advance other state priorities, such as improved air quality (the first round for applications is open until August 1). Specifically, the program is designed to maximize emissions reductions by promoting policies that extend beyond state requirements in four categories: buildings, land use, transportation, and waste.

A common challenge with this sort of money is that it can require communities to bring high percentages of matching funds to unlock the grant, but that’s not the case here. The program requires low matching requirements for local governments – just 5% – and qualifying low-income communities and Tribal governments are eligible without any requirement to provide matching funds. This creates a low barrier of entry for communities.

In my work, as a Regional Grant Navigator, I’ve seen just how important making these sorts of funds easily accessible can be. There are many small, rural, and less resource communities throughout the state that do not have the capacity to pursue many grants because of match requirements.  

Once these grants are in place, I can see them being incredibly impactful. For instance, they can be used to develop policies that make our buildings more energy-efficient, which both helps the environment and cuts costs for consumers. Or, they can be applied to devise new ways to promote smart transportation and land use policies from EV charging to strategic housing developments. This can lower the impact of transportation emissions and make our air cleaner. The money could also be used for developing new waste strategies, including waste diversion from landfills or the promotion of reuse.

Local control means local communities are really driving the changes that help keep Colorado strong. These grants are a great pathway to ensure local governments remain in the driver’s seat when it comes to addressing climate change, building local resilience, improving air quality, and keeping costs down.

Jonathan Godes is a former mayor and city councilor for the city of Glenwood Springs. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the I-70 Coalition and as the Regional Grants Navigator for Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. He believes the best way to address large problems and opportunities is through regional collaborations.