The Inflation Reduction Act — which was signed into law by President Joe Biden — invests $300 billion in deficit reduction and nearly $370 billion in energy security and climate change programs over the next 10 years.
One of the environmental provisions inside the bill establishes a National Green Bank, a program that's supposed to help launch and leverage private funding for clean energy projects across the US.
Green banks are banking institutions that use public and private funding to incentivize the transition to clean energy. The banks are initially funded with public dollars and then use the proceeds from their investments or other private dollars to fund more environmental-related projects. For example, a green bank might loan money to a company that's installing solar rooftops or to a homeowner that wants to buy a heat pump. Green banks are either government-owned or semi-public.
