Giving Compass' Take:

• Tony Reames talks with Grist about the potential benefits of revised household energy-efficiency programs for environmental and racial justice in the U.S.

• How do minority communities suffer from inefficient household energy programs? What are you doing to push for energy-efficiency programs that benefit those most vulnerable?

• Learn about the impact of COVID-19 on energy-efficiency programs and jobs.

The 2008 economic crisis hit Black, brown, and poor communities harder than others. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was a response to the crisis, was part of a time of innovation in the distribution of government resources. For example, the Weatherization Assistance Program, which has been around since the 1970s, got a $5 billion windfall to improve energy efficiency in low-income homes. But once that was over, we kind of went back to doing things the way we always did.

The federal government spends several hundred million dollars a year to help weatherize houses in low-income communities. But is that money being spent and distributed as effectively and equitably as possible? White households consume more energy than Black, Asian, or Latino households, which is why they are often beneficiaries of energy-efficiency measures.

Our research shows that Black households spend about 7.6 percent of their income on energy as compared to 5 percent for white households. Black and Latino households use more energy to heat and cool their homes as compared to white and Asian households — which means that, on average, Black and Latino families are living in less efficient homes.

One way for these households to benefit from energy-efficiency programs is for utilities to promote awareness of them. If utilities only target the biggest consumers, they’ll typically target higher-income and white households. Lower-income, African American, and Latino households typically live in smaller homes.

With a new economic stimulus package like the Green New Deal, we could direct funding to retrofit houses to make them more energy efficient, and also create jobs. Green jobs aren’t always located in the places where people actually need work, but retrofitting is very place-based — you can hire people to work in the communities in which they live.

Read the full article about energy-efficiency programs with Tony Reames at Grist.