Obtain the data you need to make the most informed decisions by accessing our extensive portfolio of information, analytics, and expertise. Sign in to the product or service center of your choice.
A $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure measure ushered
through the US House of Representatives 5 November will unleash
$500 billion in new spending for creating the nation's first
electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure network, while shoring up an
outdated electric grid, backed up ports, aging transit systems, as
well as crumbling drinking water and wastewater systems against
climate impacts.
After a 228-206 vote, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
Act (H.R. 3684) now heads to the desk of President Joe Biden,
who has been waiting to sign the measure since the US Senate passed it in August. Gushing
about its significance a day after the House vote, Biden said: "I
don't think it's an exaggeration to suggest that we took a
monumental step forward as a nation."
Although the measure had Republican backing in the Senate, H.R.
3684 was stalled in the House due to wrangling between the
progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic party. The
progressives wanted to make sure that both pieces of Biden's Build Back Better economic
agenda received a vote, not just the one that had Republican
backing.
H.R. 3684 is one of two measures that Democrats introduced in
the US Congress this year to implement the Build Back Better agenda
over the opposition of Republicans, and some within their own
party. The climate and social welfare measure, which Biden agreed
to pare in half to $1.75 trillion to appease Democrats in
Republican-leaning states, is expected to be taken up by the House
the week of 15 November. That bill will then move to the Senate,
where it continues to face opposition from Senator Joe Manchin,
Democrat-West Virginia.
Opportunity to minimize supply chain
disruptions
The bill's passage was welcomed by business and manufacturing
groups who see the measure as an opportunity for investment in
decarbonizing the economy, easing gridlock to minimize supply chain
disruptions at the nation's ports, and modernizing the aging grid
and transit infrastructure to deal with a transition to clean
energy.
Tom Kuhn, who heads the Edison Electric Institute, which
represents investor-owned electric utilities, said the measure
provides "an important down payment on the electric vehicle
charging infrastructure and low/no-emission buses that will help to
accelerate the electrification of the transportation sector, which
currently is the largest source of carbon emissions in the US
economy."
The National Ocean Industries Association saw the measure as an
opportunity to modernize port infrastructure, reducing gridlock at
ports, minimizing supply chain disruptions, and promoting offshore
energy installation—especially as Biden has made 30 GW of
offshore wind capacity by 2030 a goal for his administration.
Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, though delighted
with the measure's passage, said "it falls short of the bold
investments needed to address the interlocking crises of climate
change, economic insecurity, and environmental injustice."
The bill's funding includes:
$7.5 billion to create nationwide EV charging
infrastructure;
$65 billion to upgrade the nation's electric grid to allow the
construction of thousands of miles of transmission lines to link
far-flung communities with renewable power;
$5.25 billion to acquire zero-emission and low-emission buses
and another $2.5 billion for low-emissions ferries;
More than $50 billion for shoring up resiliency against extreme
events like droughts, floods, and wildfires that are affecting
various parts of the country;
$21 billion for environmental remediation, including capping
orphaned natural gas wells and reclaiming land around abandoned
mines;
$17 billion for port infrastructure and $25 billion for
airports to address repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce
congestion and emissions near ports and airports, and drive
electrification and other low-carbon technologies;
And, $55 billion to upgrade drinking water and wastewater
infrastructure through a combination of loans and grants.
Cutting across partisan divides
Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans in both the House and
Senate are taking credit for what advocates say is the largest
investment in the nation's infrastructure.
"We've cut across partisan divides and delivered extraordinary
investments in everything from roads and transit to drinking water
and wastewater to broadband and flood control," said Senator Thomas
Carper, Democrat-Delaware, who chairs the chamber's Environment and
Public Works Committee.
Like Carper, Representative Frank Pallone, Democrat-New Jersey,
who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that the
measure would accelerate the move to clean energy, "whether it be
investments to expand renewable energy and make our electric grid
more resilient and reliable, or funding for electric vehicle
infrastructure."
However, Carper said there is no time for complacency, noting
that Congress still needs to act quickly to pass the Build Back
Better Act, the second piece of Biden's agenda, which he said will
"help lower costs for families, create clean energy jobs to tackle
the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and build a
brighter future for all Americans."
Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who is the top
Republican on the committee Carper chairs, called the passage of
H.R. 3684 a "historic" investment in America's core infrastructure.
She also took the opportunity, as did many of her GOP colleagues,
to slam the climate and social spending piece of the Build Back
Better Act.
Posted 08 November 2021 by Amena Saiyid, Senior Climate and Energy Research Analyst