The Biden administration wants to develop renewable energy sources in rural areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said they’ll give about $11 billion to help make renewable energy in rural places. They want to give clean and affordable energy to small towns and countryside areas all over the country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture shared that they’re giving almost $11 billion to support renewable energy in rural areas. This will happen through two programs: “Empowering Rural America” and “Powering Affordable Clean Energy.”

The first program, “Empowering Rural America,” has about $9.7 billion. It’s for energy cooperatives and can help with renewable energy projects and even systems that capture carbon dioxide.

The second program, “Powering Affordable Clean Energy,” is for renewable energy companies and utilities. They can ask for loans to help pay for solar, wind, and geothermal systems. This program has a budget of $1 billion.

The money for these programs comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, which has given a lot of money to change how we use energy and make our environment cleaner. These programs start this year.

The Department of Agriculture wants to use these programs to give clean and affordable energy to rural communities, including those that might not have a lot of money and indigenous groups.

Tom Vilsack, the head of the Department of Agriculture, says this is a big decision. It’s the biggest investment in rural energy since 1936 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a law to bring electricity to the countryside.

This funding is part of the U.S. plan to reduce how much carbon we put into the air. We talked about this plan in the article? Partial Decarbonization of the United States by 2050.