Three sub-themes—climate retrofitting, low-carbon mobility, and climate workforce development—target communities of color facing disproportionate pollution, energy burden, and transit deserts. Impact is inherent: reducing emissions while creating local jobs and resilience (pp.4–6,10–11,16–18). Market signals include energy retrofits ~$150B in 2021 growing >$200B by 2030 (p.5); EV market $385B in 2022 to >$1.5T by 2030; EVSE $7B to $100B by 2040 (p.11); the IRA earmarks $369B, an estimated 9M jobs over a decade (p.17). Headwinds: affordability and access gaps, behavior change, misaligned ROI incentives, and an early/“call-to-action” stage for workforce-specific ventures (pp.15,20–21)
Some Identified Companies
- BlocPower – electrifies buildings in underserved areas with local workforces (p.6).
- ChargerHelp! – distributed tech workforce for EV charger maintenance (p.12).
- Dollaride – clean mobility for transit deserts via electric commuter vans (p.13).
Notable Investors
- DBL Partners – investor active in community-focused climate retrofitting (p.7).
- Energy Impact Partners – backer of mobility electrification picks-and-shovels (p.13).
- Closed Loop Partners – circular economy investor in retrofit ecosystem (p.7).