Welcome to EarthWatch, an environmental news and opinion newsletter for people who think you should never turn your back on Mother Earth—written by me, Jerry Bowles, an ancient scribbler who has been around the Sun a few times and doesn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
Ideas, tips, and feedback: jerry.bowles@gmail.com
It is no secret that Joe Biden was elected because about seven million more American voters hated Donald Trump’s guts than bought into his bottomless pit of lies and vitriol. For those of us in the former category, all Sleepy Joe had to do was show up in public once in a while, not drool on himself, stay off Twitter, avoid too many shaggy dog stories and not revert to his past overly-handsy style with women, and we’d be cool. (Falling up airplane steps is ok. I happen to be Biden’s age and know from experience that once your body weight starts going in a particular direction it’s going to go in that direction.)
In other words, Biden was seen by many Democrats (and Republicans) as an escape route back to normal, a kind of fatherly placeholder until the next cool kid like Obama came along. Absolutely no one predicted that eight weeks into his term Biden would have gone bigger, bolder, and more progressive than Obama did in eight years.
While Barack the Man was off kibbitzing with The Boss, Biden has unveiled the most ambitious package of reform, recovery, and climate initiatives since FDR and signaled that if master obstructionist Mitch McConnell wants to become roadkill it’s probably best to let him.
That is great news for climate warriors. The president’s new $2 trillion infrastructure plan represents a fundamental shift in the way Democrats approach tackling climate change: Climate is no longer a side dish. It’s the main course. Sure, there is lots of money to rebuild bridges and roads but the fine print assures that it will be done in a way that doesn’t churn out massive amounts of carbon dioxide through the burning of coal, oil and gas. And, by the way, it should also create thousands of good-paying union jobs and redress the victims of environmental injustice.
Here’s the White House pitch:
This is the moment to reimagine and rebuild a new economy. The American Jobs Plan is an investment in America that will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our country’s infrastructure, and position the United States to out-compete China. Public domestic investment as a share of the economy has fallen by more than 40 percent since the 1960s. The American Jobs Plan will invest in America in a way we have not invested since we built the interstate highways and won the Space Race.
The United States of America is the wealthiest country in the world, yet we rank 13th when it comes to the overall quality of our infrastructure. After decades of disinvestment, our roads, bridges, and water systems are crumbling. Our electric grid is vulnerable to catastrophic outages. Too many lack access to affordable, high-speed Internet and to quality housing. The past year has led to job losses and threatened economic security, eroding more than 30 years of progress in women’s labor force participation. It has unmasked the fragility of our caregiving infrastructure.
The proposed American Jobs Plan (of which, infrastructure is only part) addresses the woeful state of U.S. infrastructure and climate in both direct and indirect ways. The plan would direct $620 billion in funding to transportation infrastructure, $300 billion to boost manufacturing, $180 billion to research and development focused on climate-science research, $174 billion to accelerate the use of electric vehicles, and more than $600 billion for the construction of roads, bridges, rail lines, and electric vehicle charging stations.
The plan promises to modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main-streets, fix the ten most economically significant bridges in the country in need of reconstruction, repair the worst 10,000 smaller bridges, providing critical linkages to communities and replace thousands of buses and rail cars, repair hundreds of stations, renew airports, and expand transit and rail into new communities.
Missing from the package, at least for now, is the one thing that economists agree is the most efficient way to draw down emissions—a carbon tax. Instead of a gasoline tax, for example, the plan would increase fuel efficiency standards for cars which will force automakers toward electric vehicles through regulation rather than legislation. At the same, Biden plans to reimpose strict emissions regulations on electric power plants to move the sector away from coal.
As with the recovery stimulus package, there is little chance that many, if any, Republicans will vote for it although it was widespread public support. It will most likely go the route of reconciliation. To Biden’s credit, he’s taken a whatever-it-takes-to-get-the-job-done approach rather than spending a lot of time and energy indulging the dreary old Republican game of pretending to be interested in bipartisan support that somehow never materializes while running out the clock until the next election. It’s not happening this time, Turtle-Man.
Dig Deeper
FACT SHEET: The American Jobs Plan
THE Biden Plan to Build a Modern, Sustainable Infrastructure and an Equitable Clean Energy Future
To See How Biden's Infrastructure Plan Will Address Climate Change, Look at the Details
Economists See Biden Infrastructure Plan Powering Growth; Criticism Muted