Senate Makes Progress with Passage of Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Contact: Andrew Reagan, andrew@ceforamerica.org
Senate Makes Progress with Passage of Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
But Bold Clean Energy Investments Are Still Needed
Washington, D.C. Clean Energy for America applauds the Senate for passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package which includes over $70 billion dollars of investments in clean energy. While this is an important first step, much more must be done to combat the climate crisis.
The Infrastructure Bill passed in the Senate today invests in key areas:
Grid Infrastructure - $73 billion in clean energy transmission investments – upgrades to power infrastructure and the building of thousands of miles of new transmission lines to facilitate the growth of renewable energy assets.
Electric Vehicles - $7.5 billion to build the first-ever national network of electric vehicle chargers in the United States
Energy Storage - $3 billion for battery material processing grants and $3 billion for battery manufacturing and recycling grants
Despite these improvements, Congress must enact a companion budget bill that meets the moment by making the big, bold, and ambitious investments needed to tackle the climate crisis, achieve true environmental justice, and accelerate the transition to clean energy.
As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report made clear in its findings released just yesterday: combatting the climate crisis requires urgent unprecedented investments in America’s clean energy industry. We call on the Congress to lead in clean energy growth by investing in long-term clean energy incentives, expanding the electric vehicle market through tax credits, investing in transmission and EV infrastructure, and retrofitting our homes to be energy efficient.
Clean Energy is one of the fastest growing industries in America, providing good jobs to over 4 million workers. Further investments are needed to rapidly expand the clean energy industry, create good paying jobs, and combat the climate crisis. A recent report found that significant clean energy investments would create an additional 2 million jobs in the United States. It’s imperative that Congress continues to take bold action that rises to the challenge before us.
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