Near-final infrastructure bill reportedly has $500B for climate
As the massive infrastructure and social safety net legislation nears a final vote in Congress reports are coming out indicating a whopping $500 billion earmarked for climate focused spending.
It would be the largest amount of money that the US has specifically dedicated to supporting mitigation and adaptation solutions to the climate crisis.
Multiple sources are telling the online news service Axios (which does amazing work covering climate) that of the $2 trillion spending plan, more than $500 billion is to be spent on climate.
If the spending does come in between $500 billion and $555 billion (the range that Axios is reporting), it would be the biggest component of the new spending plan — and not far from the target that was established in the bill’s larger $3.5 trillion reconciliation target.
“Everything else is getting a massive haircut, but this isn’t,” Brian Schatz, one of the Senators from Hawaii, told Axios. “This will be, just as a matter of fact, the biggest climate bill in human history. At least a half a trillion dollars. That’s a pretty good story to tell at the Conference of Parties (COP26),” he said to the publication.
The international COP26 negotiations slated to begin next week in Glasgow loom large over US Congressional proceedings.
The US is the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases and major commitments from the nation are needed to compel other developed and developing nations that they can and should be more ambitious with their climate goals.
It’s also vital if the world is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to keep climate change from unleashing more disastrous and deadly weather on a world that’s only now waking up to the risks.
There is still one sticking point, according to Axios. That’s how to spend the $150 billion, which was initially allocated for the Clean Electricity Performance Program.
That was meant to be the centerpiece of the legislative package on climate, but was removed to appease the concerns of the Democrat’s most conservative caucus member, Joe Manchin.
The Senator from West Virginia, who receives major donations from oil and gas companies, had expressed concerns over the negative effects that could stem from any punitive measures against the fossil fuel industry.
With Manchin opposing punitive measures against utilities that persist in using coal and natural gas, the money will instead be spent on energy storage and transmission infrastructure.
So what’s in the bill?
According to Axios there are:
- New grants and loans for industrial sector decarbonization — including tax credits; manufacturing credits to grow domestic supply chains for solar and onshore and offshore wind
- The expansion of access to rooftop solar and home electrification financing;
- New grants and loans for rural co-ops to boost renewable energy and energy efficiency programs
- Expanded grants and loans to the agricultural industry
Taken together, the spending could be a huge boon for the revitalization of domestic production in strategically significant industries like solar and wind. The boost in domestic spending will also help shore up a supply chain for the American battery industry that is still heavily reliant on China.
In all, this is the kind of news that the industry has been waiting for for nearly a year. It’s a huge opportunity for new companies to get the funding they need to get traction in early markets.
The last big wave of government support into cleantech financing helped produce Tesla — the world’s first $1 trillion climate company. The next wave of investment could produce several more.
To find out more about FootPrint Coalition’s investments click here.
