On Tuesday, August 13, 2024, Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III was blessed with the opportunity to attend a meeting for faith leaders at The White House.  The meeting, organized by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, brought faith leaders together to discuss opportunities to benefit from and further engage their communities on President Biden’s climate, clean energy, and environmental justice agenda, including through the use of Direct Pay – a novel provision provided through the Inflation Reduction Act that enables tax-exempt entities, including houses of worship, to benefit from federal clean energy tax incentives.

Other attendees included Robin Lewis, Director of Climate Equity at Interfaith, Power & Light (DC, MD & NoVA), Rev. Ambrose Carroll (founder of Green The Church) and Bishop Vashti McKenzie, President and General Secretary of The National Council of Churches among many others.

The information that we received at the White House helped us to see pathways for funding opportunities for our member congregations. We have knowledge now about the federal funding available to support climate-related projects at our churches such as the installation of solar panels at our buildings and electric-powered church vehicles. We look forward to sharing more information on these opportunities with our member churches in the coming weeks.