Hampton Roads leaders are continuing to work on the region’s first dedicated plan to cut local contributions to climate change.
The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission has been looking at solutions like installing more electric vehicle charging stations, reducing emissions at the Port of Virginia and improving public transit.
Now, residents can weigh in on their top concerns about climate impacts and priorities for addressing them. The commission recently launched an online survey open through Feb. 24.
Climate-related issues “impact us all, not just today but our generations to come,” Quan McLaurin, the commission’s liaison for diversity, equity and inclusion, said during a recent presentation about the Climate Action Plan. “So we have to be thinking about them.”
The effort by the HRPDC, which represents 17 different localities in southeastern Virginia, is part of a nationwide push to fight climate change, set in motion by former President Joe Biden’s sweeping 2022 climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act.
The law jumpstarted nearly $400 billion in grants and loans slowly disbursed by different federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency. Funding for the Hampton Roads climate plan comes through one EPA program called the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant.
The planning commission received $1 million. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality also got $3 million, for a similar statewide climate plan.
The broad goal is to cut climate pollution at the local scale, McLaurin said.
“We're identifying sources of greenhouse gases, and then we're working with our localities to reduce those greenhouse gases,” he said.
It sounds simple. But finding ways within public control to reduce emissions — and getting funding to implement those measures — is a massive undertaking.
The HRPDC put out an initial climate plan last year, as required through the EPA grant. The next version, due Dec. 1, will have to lay out in more detail how the commission wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions – and by exactly how much. There’s no guarantee of federal funding afterward.
President Donald Trump last week halted the distribution of all funds tied to the Inflation Reduction Act, jeopardizing billions of dollars nationwide including for the climate pollution grants.
But HRPDC spokesperson Matt Klepeisz said they currently “have received no additional guidance from the EPA suggesting a change in the grant.”
He said the grant is reimbursable, meaning the group receives money quarterly based on their expenditures.
The commission previously came up with a $100 million proposal that included converting streetlights to energy-efficient LED bulbs, expanding the local network of trails and building a lot more EV charging infrastructure.
The EPA did not select that proposal for implementation funds. But the state did win some money, specifically to cut emissions of methane and through a multi-state coalition to boost wetlands and forests that naturally store carbon dioxide.
Virginia DEQ also has an online survey seeking public input on the state climate plan, open through April 18. The department is also hosting an in-person community listening session at the Tidewater Regional Office on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. at 5636 Southern Blvd. in Virginia Beach.
