STATEMENT: U.S. House Sends Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill with Major Climate-Smart Investments for Presidential Signature
WASHINGTON (November 5, 2021) -- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This legislation, which was previously passed by the U.S. Senate, will now go to the White House to be signed into law. The bill provides billions of dollars to invest in America’s transportation, energy and water infrastructure. The funding includes climate-smart investments in the electric grid, electric school buses, and electric charging infrastructure as well as to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through natural and technological methods.
Following is a statement from Dan Lashof, Director, WRI United States:
“Today the U.S. House of Representatives laid the foundation for the path of climate action in the United States. The bill will support investments that will help improve resilience and support low-carbon growth, but Congress needs to go further to meet the challenge and transform the U.S. economy.
“The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will enable much-needed improvements to the nation’s infrastructure and includes climate-friendly provisions that fund pollution-free electric school buses, electric vehicle charging stations, and enhancements to make the U.S. electric grid more modern, resilient and clean. Once enacted, these important policies and investments will reduce emissions across the country. It will be important for federal agencies to ensure the investments are implemented in a timely, effective and equitable manner.
“This legislation alone is insufficient to rise to the scale and severity of the climate crisis. The Build Back Better Act would provide the transformational investment needed to set the course for ambitious U.S. climate action for the next decade. Research shows climate-smart investments can grow the economy, create millions of good-paying jobs, improve public health, and address inequities that have plagued communities for far too long. To set the U.S. on a path to a safe, healthy, resilient and prosperous future, it is critical that strong climate provisions, like investments in clean energy, electric vehicles, and building efficiency and measures to better protect communities from the effects of climate change, are passed through the Build Back Better Act.
“With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act now headed to the President’s desk, Congress should move quickly to pass the Build Back Better Act to boost the United States’ ability to confront the climate crisis and catapult the nation to a clean energy economy.”