Dr. Robert Bullard, the namesake of Texas Southern University’s (TSU) Bullard Center for Environmental & Climate Justice, could have been anywhere on the planet for Earth Day 2024 (April 22).
As the “Father of the Environmental Justice Movement,” Bullard is rarely on TSU’s Third Ward, Houston campus because he is constantly in demand to share his environmental justice insights with a world facing nonstop ecological assaults.
But he chose to stay home this Earth Day. And for good reason.
“We are grateful to the EPA for selecting this multifaceted project as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Solar For All program. This partnership with minority-serving institutions of higher education will lower energy burden for low-income communities, jumpstart the green economy with the creation of jobs through workforce training programs, and provide energy resiliency after a climate event.”
Bill Briscoe
Not only did the Bullard Center create an Earth Day program to educate elementary students about the importance of protecting the environment, but news had just broke that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $156 million grant to an initiative designed to provide community solar and energy resiliency infrastructure to low-income communities in southern and southeastern states. And that grant was given to two Texas entities – The Clean Energy Fund of Texas and the Bullard Center.
The grant, through the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s “Solar For All” program, is one of the largest grants awarded of its kind.
“This funding will change the course of solar energy and equity across Texas and the South,” said Bullard, distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy and director of the Bullard Center. “Southern states bear a disproportionate burden of high energy costs and climate pollution and now – with this funding – we can turn the tide.”
This proposal contains significant equity components. It targets the deployment of solar and battery resources anchored at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities. The application covers multiple states, mainly in the U.S. South, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic, including Washington, DC.
This joint project from the Clean Energy Fund of Texas and the Bullard Center includes a Southeastern Regional Community Solar Network that seeks to engage up to 70 “Minority Serving Institutions” to deploy up to an estimated 172 megawatts of community solar and 84-megawatt hours of energy storage in low-income, disadvantaged communities. The universities will use up to 50% of the clean power on-site, with the remaining power available to local communities.
“We are grateful to the EPA for selecting this multifaceted project as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Solar For All program,” said Billy Briscoe, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Clean Energy Fund of Texas and an HBCU graduate himself. “This partnership with minority-serving institutions of higher education will lower energy burden for low-income communities, jumpstart the green economy with the creation of jobs through workforce training programs, and provide energy resiliency after a climate event.”
The program will result in hundreds of millions of dollars of wealth creation in the affected communities and private capital mobilization.
But even with the big news about the major funding gift, Bullard was equally excited about the students he was able to address during TSU’s Earth Day program.
“The title of this talk is ‘Why I’m Proud to be at Texas Southern University this Earth Day.’ And I want to celebrate it with young people,” said Bullard to an auditorium full of 2nd – 4th graders from Alief ISD’s Holmquist Elementary.
