Federal Money Begins Flowing to Lake Erie Climate Projects

"NOAA’s Climate-Ready Coasts grants under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will support initiatives like shoreline restoration and plastic cleanup."

"Lake Erie will face more stormwater runoff, increased erosion and changes in both water levels and quality as climate change continues. Projects to mitigate those impacts range from restoring a wetland to deploying a plastic-scavenging drone named Pixie, and more.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced plans this spring to fund nearly 150 projects, including four in Ohio. The $8.2 million for those four projects is just a tiny part of almost $6 billion authorized over the next few years for NOAA’s climate-related programs under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Yet the projects provide creative approaches to cleanup, conservation and restoration.  

“It’s important to take these actions now because of the pressures from climate change on our planet, and also in looking at the pressures that brings specifically to our coastal areas where 40 percent of the population lives,” said Joelle Gore, chief of the stewardship division for NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management."

Kathiann M. Kowalski reports for Inside Climate News July 3, 2023.

Source: Inside Climate News, 07/05/2023