Action Alert: Urge the Senate Appropriations Energy & Water Subcommittee to Fully Fund
​Clean Cities and Communities in FY26​

295+ organizations across the country have united with one clear message for Congress: Fully fund the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities and Communities (CC&C) Program at no less than $60 million in Fiscal Year 2026—and ensure that clear CC&C funding direction is included in the Senate Appropriations bill.

Why CC&C Funding Matters
For over 32 years, Clean Cities and Communities coalitions have been on the front lines, helping fleets and communities:

• Deploy cleaner, domestic fuels and advanced vehicles
• Expand infrastructure—now supporting 83,000+ alternative fueling stations nationwide
• Leverage limited federal dollars to unlock $2.8+ billion in investment (a return of nearly 10:1)
• Cut fuel use by more than a billion gasoline gallon equivalents in 2023 alone
• Avoid 9.1 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions in 2023—along with significant reductions in NOₓ, VOCs, and particulate matter

These results translate directly into cleaner air, stronger energy security, and new jobs in communities of every size across the country.

What’s at Stake in FY26
The House FY26 appropriations bill already includes $60M for CC&C, divided into:

• $20M for direct cooperative agreements with coalitions
• $40M for competitive grants, with strong coalition engagement

Now it’s time for the Senate Appropriations Energy & Water Subcommittee to act. Without clear direction from both chambers, this critical program could face funding uncertainty—putting progress at risk.

How You Can Help
​We need your voice to ensure the Senate Appropriations Energy & Water Subcommittee protects and strengthens CC&C. Here’s how you can take action:

1. Call or email your Senators—especially if they serve on the Senate Appropriations Energy & Water Subcommittee 
   1. ​Find your Senators contact information here
   2. To make your outreach more effective, we've compiled a list of the Energy/Utilities staff contacts for each Subcommittee member. Reaching out directly to these staffers helps bypass automated forms and ensures your message is received by the policy leads who draft the Energy & Water bill. [scroll down to find the list]
      
2. Urge them to support at least $60M for CC&C in FY26 and to include clear language directing funding to CC&C.
3. Spread the word—share this Action Alert with your coalition members, partners, and networks.

Sample Message to Senators:
Subject: Support for $60M for Clean Cities and Communities in FY26
​
Dear Senator [Last Name],

I urge you to support full funding for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities and Communities program at no less than $60 million in FY26, and to ensure clear CC&C direction is included in the Senate Appropriations Energy & Water bill.

CC&C has leveraged over $2.8 billion in public and private investment (≈10:1 return), supported 83,000+ alternative fueling stations, and helped displace billions of gallons of imported petroleum while reducing 9.1 million metric tons of CO₂e in 2023 alone.

Continued funding will deliver cleaner air, good jobs, and stronger energy security in communities like ours. Please stand with us by fully funding this program in FY26.

Thank you for your leadership.

Senate Appropriations Energy & Water Subcommittee:
​Key Energy Staff Contacts

To ensure your outreach is effective, it’s critical to direct your messages not only to Senators but also to their Energy staffers, who are the day-to-day policy leads advising Members on appropriations and program funding. These staffers play a central role in shaping the Energy & Water bill and drafting report language—including the provisions that will determine whether Clean Cities and Communities (CC&C) is fully funded in FY26.
​
👉 Below is a list of the primary Energy staffer contacts for each Senator serving on the Subcommittee. Please include them when you email or call your Senator’s office about supporting no less than $60M for CC&C and clear program direction in the FY26 Senate bill.

State	Senator	Staff Name	Staff Email
LA	John Kennedy	Parker Loy	[email protected]
WA	Patty Murray	Jason Edwards	[email protected]
KY	Mitch McConnell	Emily Louden	[email protected]
AK	Lisa Murkowski	Hali Gruber	[email protected]
SC	Lindsey Graham	Scott Graber	[email protected]
ND	John Hoeven	Eric Gustafson	[email protected]
MS	Cindy Hyde-Smith	Shane Waller	[email protected]
TN	Bill Hagerty	Luke Harris	[email protected]
AL	Katie Britt	John Henry Woods	[email protected]
SD	Mike Rounds	Joel Burke	[email protected]
IL	Dick Durbin	Sally Brown-Shaklee	[email protected]
OR	Jeff Merkley	Ben Schreiber	[email protected]
DE	Chris Coons	Elizabeth Hunsaker	[email protected]
WI	Tammy Baldwin	Sydney Scott	[email protected]
NM	Martin Heinrich	CJ Osman	[email protected]
MI	Gary Peters	Kate Leonard	[email protected]
GA	Jon Ossify	Sara Eisemann	[email protected]

Senate Energy Staff List
File Size:	130 kb
File Type:	csv

Download File

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Read the FY26 CC&C Sign-On Letter

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Final Week to Sign On: Support $60M
​for Clean Cities and Communities!

We've reached a huge milestone - 198 organizations have already signed our FY26 Clean Cities and Communities (CC&C) funding letter. But we're not done yet. With just one week left before the Friday, August 22 deadline, we need even more organizations to join this powerful, bipartisan call.

Why Add Your Organization?

• Broad, cross-sector impact: Businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and local governments are all invited to sign.
• Show Congress the strength of our network: The more diverse the signers, the stronger our message.
• Secure FY26 funding: Clean Cities and Communities keeps America moving with clean fuels, resilient infrastructure, local jobs, and energy security.

Let's finish strong and deliver a clear message to Congress: Fund Clean Cities and Communities at $60 million in FY26.

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View the Letter

Add Your Organization

View Current Signers

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2023 Clean Fuels Federal Policy Agenda

Stabilize Gas Prices, Improve Air Quality, Create Jobs

​Three quarters of the 20 million barrels of petroleum consumed by America each day is used for transportation. Transportation is the nation’s largest source of greenhouse emissions, and the largest source of local air pollution and largest energy expense in many communities. Even though the U.S. is now the world’s largest energy producer, we remain vulnerable to the actions of foreign governments that do not share our interests.

​American ingenuity and technology innovation have enabled vehicles using electricity, natural gas, propane, biodiesel, ethanol, and hydrogen to begin to make their way into the marketplace. According to the Department of Energy, there are more than 3 million alternative fuel vehicles in use in the United States and 64,000 alternative fueling stations. Yet this represents only a very small fraction of the total American fleet.

The United States must aggressively expand our use of domestically produced alternatives to petroleum fuel if we are to stabilize gasoline prices, improve air quality and create more American jobs.

Now is the time for Congress to continue the nation’s investment in clean American transportation fuels and vehicles by acting immediately on the following urgent policy matters:

1. Increase federal funding in FY 2024 for the Department of Energy (DOE) Clean Cities alternative fuel deployment program and the U.S. EPA Diesel Emission Reduction Grants.
   
2. Authorize the DOE Clean Cities Program.​
3. Preserve the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

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Ensure Adequate Federal Funding in FY 2024 for Key Clean Transportation Programs

Congress should support funding for the following federal programs, which advance the development and deployment of clean transportation technologies:

• Congress should provide $75 million for the DOE Clean Cities program, including $25 million for Coalitions and $40 million in competitive grants for new alternative fuel and vehicle deployment solutions.
• Congress should provide $150 million for the EPA Clean Diesel (DERA) Grants program, which has created jobs and improved air quality in hundreds of communities across the U.S.

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Authorize the DOE Clean Cities Program

The Clean Cities program has been one of the nation’s most effective tools in promoting the use of domestic fuel sources, improving local air quality, and deploying advanced vehicle technologies. Congress should reintroduce and pass legislation that would institutionalize the program and enable it to be even more effective in leveraging public-private partnerships to advance cleaner fuels and vehicles.

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Preserve the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)

Congress should reject efforts to undermine or eliminate the RFS, which sets annual standards for production and use of conventional and advanced biofuels. Congress should also encourage the EPA to continue growing RFS volumes to ensure that we diversify the transportation fuels market with clean alternatives that are creating jobs, cutting pollution, and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Renewable fuels have helped reduce oil imports by 25 percent since 2000 and now provide 10 percent of America’s on-road transportation needs. The RFS has eliminated 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The RFS is stimulating impressive growth in Renewable Natural Gas and Advanced Biofuels such as biodiesel, which are poised for significant growth under a stable RFS.

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Investment in Alternative Fuels Creates American Jobs

In addition to enhancing our energy security, the clean transportation industry is also critical to our economic growth and global competitiveness.

• There are now about 2.5 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road in the U.S. The global market for lithium-ion batteries will grow to $194 billion by 2028 and annual revenue from the infrastructure charging sector is projected to grow to $200 billion by 2031.
• Biodiesel has grown into a 2.8 billion gallon per year industry with 75 plants across the U.S. supporting more than 65,000 jobs and providing $17 billion in economic activity.
• There are more than 200,000 propane-powered vehicles on America’s roads, including a fleet of about 20,000 propane-powered school buses that transport 1.2 million children to school each day.
• The U.S. is the number one producer of natural gas in the world, and the industry provides 4.1 million American jobs. About 175,000 natural gas vehicles operate on America’s roads today.
• Over the last five years, Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) use as a transportation fuel has increased dramatically. There are now 250 RNG facilities operating in the U.S. that have created more than 38,000 operational and construction jobs. Another 240 new plants are under development, and they will create an additional 35,000 new jobs.​

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