Courtesy of Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation

Thanks to a recent federal award of more than $1.5 million, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in southeastern Connecticut will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its transportation sector and accelerate its transition to green energy. 

The tribe plans to swap its government fleet of gasoline cars for one of either electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles or a combination of both, as well as install electric vehicle charging stations at government buildings. It will also offer up to $7,500 in rebates to residents who would like to transition from gas-powered cars to electric or hybrid ones. 

“It’s not just a Mashantucket initiative,” Rahiem Eleazer, the tribe’s environmental liaison, said.  “It’s a net nationwide initiative to … make [the energy sector] more diverse, diversifying the renewable energy generation specifically so that we can severely reduce the amount we rely on those petroleum based or fossil fuel based energy sources.” 

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation was one of 34 tribal or territorial recipients nationwide selected last Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency to receive funding for community-based solutions to tackle the climate crisis, reduce air pollution and advance environmental justice. 

According to the EPA, the selected tribes or territories estimate that the proposed projects would cumulatively reduce greenhouse gas pollution by over seven million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050. That is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted from the electricity use of nearly 1.4 million homes every year.

The 34 projects that were selected are the latest initiative of the nearly $5 billion Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, a part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda. The EPA previously held a general Climate Pollution Reduction grant competition open to applicants ranging from states to municipalities to tribes. 

According to Eleazer, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation applied to this initial competition unsuccessfully, but he was “extremely excited” when the EPA granted them the funding through its more recent Tribes and Territories competition.

“This $1.5 million in federal funding for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe will be hugely impactful in growing the Tribe’s clean energy infrastructure,” U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said. “Transportation is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Connecticut, and it’s critical for us to support ways to make electric vehicles more accessible for everyone.” 

The Tribe estimates that a full transition to an electric fleet of government vehicles will take a year or two, while installing charging stations may take three or four years, Eleazer said. 

He said other uses of the grant money, such as for the rebate program, will be dependent on how willing or able residents are to transition to electric vehicles. He anticipates that residents’ habits may begin to shift two or three years down the line but noted that the grant is for five years. 

Eleazer is hoping to build in some safeguards to ensure all funds are used, such as evaluating the amount of money left at four years and reconsidering the possibility of other spending options.

Currently, the reservation comprises about 150 houses and not many electric vehicles, but Eleazer said he’s received positive feedback from the community since the announcement of the award. 

Funding will also go towards an educational campaign on the importance of pollution reduction and how it can be tangibly implemented by tribe members, Eleazer said. The program would aim to show that electric vehicles can be practical for anyone, including those unfamiliar with them. 

Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, said the tribe was “honored” to receive the grant. He said the tribe was looking forward to working with the EPA and expressed his gratitude for the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to address pollution concerns in “Indian country and beyond.” 

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe is a federally recognized tribal government exercising sovereignty, self-determination and full authority over the 1635-acre Mashantucket Western Pequot Indian Reservation.