FEMA to compensate schools, hospitals for adding solar panels after disasters

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will compensate local and state governments for energy efficiency upgrades to school and hospital facilities in the wake of natural disasters, the agency announced Tuesday,

Under the new policy, FEMA’s Public Assistance grant program will offer funding for net-zero energy installations including solar panels and heat pumps for public facilities damaged by extreme weather and other disasters.

The Biden administration has set ambitious goals for the proliferation of renewable and net-zero energy. The announcement also comes as natural disasters, many of them intensified by climate change, have become more numerous and expensive. Last year, the U.S. experienced a record 28 disasters with damages of at least $1 billion, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). More than 80 disasters have been declared across FEMA’s 10 regions in January.

“As the increase of extreme weather hazards become more severe due to climate change, we need to adapt the way we are helping communities rebuild post-disaster,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a statement. “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and the Inflation Reduction Act, FEMA will now cover the costs of net-zero energy projects since they are the single most effective measure FEMA can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the climate crisis.”

The federal government is the single biggest buyer of construction materials in the U.S., and construction is itself a major contributor to climate change. A 2023 report from the Rocky Mountain Institute estimated new residential construction alone results in more than 50 million tons of carbon emissions a year. Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced it will use Inflation Reduction Act grants to add solar panels to the Pentagon, one of the nation’s largest buildings.

FEMA’s Tuesday announcement comes a week after the agency announced it would expand aid eligibility for those affected by natural disasters, pointing to the increasingly visible effects of climate change. That rule expands eligibility for immediate cash assistance as well as establishing a new “displacement assistance” fund for people unable to return to their homes in the immediate wake of a disaster.