Four congressional Democrats (Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Ed Markey (Mass.) and Reps. Andrew Levin (Mich.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.)) introduced a bill (the BUILD GREEN Infrastructure and Jobs Act) to invest $500 billion over ten years in updating and electrifying U.S. bus, fleet vehicles, and rail infrastructure (state, local, and tribal public transportation projects) to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, reduce health-threatening air pollution, and create up to one million new jobs.
Ocasio-Cortez said:
We must stop spending billions of taxpayer money on infrastructure systems only for them to fail at the most crucial moment. The BUILD GREEN Act helps ensure that our federal dollars are being invested in infrastructure that can sustain the impact of climate change and better prepares our communities for extreme weather events.
In most of the country, subways, buses, and other public transit are practically inaccessible or completely overburdened, [meaning that] this bill would make a dramatic, material difference in the everyday lives of hundreds of millions of people.
Expanding clean mass transit would also improve the country’s transportation system and reduce its climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions.
The bill is modeled after the Department of Transportation’s BUILD grant program – with local governments, tribes, port authorities, and states all eligible to apply for grant funding.
The Department of Transportation would pick recipients according to:
…the extent to which an eligible project contributes to climate resilience and mitigation, and reduces air pollution, air toxics, and greenhouse gas emissions (and how much energy it saves compared to other applicants).
At least $150 billion would be designated for electric vehicles – transitioning diesel-powered commuter rail lines to electric rails and replacing the nation’s bus fleet (commuter buses and school buses). The remainder would be allocated to electric vehicle infrastructure and charging equipment projects like bridges and highways that install EV chargers along the way.
Warren said in a press release:
The climate crisis is an existential threat to our planet, but it’s also a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, create a million good new jobs, and unleash the best of American innovation.
[The BUILD GREEN Act] will make the big federal investments necessary to transform our country’s transportation system, confront the racial and economic inequality embedded in our fossil fuel economy, and achieve the ambitious targets for 100% clean energy in America.
That assessment was shared by Markey, who said that:
…we cannot build back better without building back greener. [The bill is] our opportunity to invest in a clean energy revolution across our country, transform our transportation sector to be climate-smart, and create millions of good-paying union jobs at the same time.
We can work together to leverage investment in climate action, reduce emissions, and support environmental justice communities through bold infrastructure projects, all while tackling our climate crisis.
At least 40% of funding will prioritize vulnerable (front-line) communities – those who have experienced harsh public health effects due to pollution.
Levin said:
Electrifying our cars, buses, and trains is a central pillar of the Green New Deal. The answer to both the climate crisis and the crisis of wealth inequality is to empower working people with the sustainable investments necessary to rebuild the communities devastated by decades of pollution and corporate trade policy.
[The bill] will deliver the transformational change demanded by the American people while ensuring that we build the green economy of the 21st century here at home with good-paying, union jobs.
The proposed legislation has been endorsed by several progressive advocacies and environmental groups, including Greenpeace, the League of Conservation Voters, Data for Progress, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, Natural Resources Defense Council, 350.org, Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen, Center for Progressive Reform, Rewiring America, GreenLatinos, Zero Hour, New Consensus, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
Data for Progress has projected the bill’s provisions would save lives and as much as $1 billion annually in reduced health care costs.
Natalie Mebane, 350.org’s U.S. policy director, said:
[Given that] transportation represents about 29% of U.S. emissions, we can make huge progress in lowering our greenhouse gas emissions by electrifying the transportation sector and ensuring that it is powered by 100% clean energy.
Robert R.M. Verchick, an environmental law professor at Loyola University, New Orleans and the Center for Progressive Reform’s board of directors’ president, said:
The transportation networks we build today shape the possibilities for tomorrow. If we want our children and grandchildren to thrive in their schools and their jobs, they will need ways to get there. If we want neighborhoods free of smog and industrial racket, we will need clean and efficient ways of moving around. Few investments we make today will have a profound an impact on the opportunities available to future generations as our infrastructure choices.
The transportation sector accounts for about 30% of the country’s annual carbon emissions. To meet Biden’s net-zero pledge, its electrification is crucial. It’s not enough to electrify the fleet of government vehicles, as Biden has already promised. The infrastructure and everything else has to change too.
