By Ben Schneider July 19, 2021

All across the country, young people want good-paying jobs that will make a difference in the world. We want to help in the fight against climate change. We want to advance justice and make the world a more equitable place. We want to help create a world where everyone has access to clean drinking water and clean air.

That’s exactly why we should get excited about the full jobs, clean energy and climate plan that President Biden proposed this Spring. It’s an ambitious blueprint for a clean energy economy that fights climate change at the scale we need and makes major advances in environmental justice. And it creates millions of good jobs to make it all happen.

If enacted, Biden’s full plan would:

… Fight Climate Change

  • More than half of U.S. climate pollution comes from the power and transportation sectors, and they are also major sources of toxic air pollution. Biden has proposed a $2 trillion blueprint to spur clean energy growth, limit climate pollution from the fossil fuel industry including power plants, and expand the electric vehicle market through tax credits and investments in infrastructure including medium and heavy duty vehicles.

What does that look like in practice? Here’s just a small sample:

    • 2 million homes and commercial buildings will be retrofitted to bring them up to date with energy efficient standards.
    • 100% of power purchased for federal buildings will be clean energy.
    • 500,000 new electric vehicle chargers could be built in the U.S. by 2030.

… Advance Environmental Justice

  • The plan directs 40 percent of climate and clean infrastructure investment benefits go to disadvantaged communities that have experienced disproportionate harm from toxic pollution, and face disproportionate risks from climate change.
  • 9 million+ homes still receive their drinking water through a lead service line. Biden’s proposal would eliminate all lead pipes and service lines in drinking water systems, which disproportionately harm communities of color.
  • Clean energy and transportation infrastructure can reduce the harmful air pollutants that tend to be at higher concentrations, and result in the worst health outcomes, in low-income communities and communities of color.
  • The plan would provide funding to reconnect communities that were divided by mid-twentieth century highway construction and other transportation projects, and ensure new transportation projects advance racial equity, improve transportation access and provide more jobs.
  • The plan would provide dedicated funding for community-led Environmental Justice programs, as well, such as local projects to address legacy pollution.

…And Create Jobs

  • Engineering. Manufacturing. Construction. The list goes on — Biden’s plan would create millions of new, good-paying jobs:
    • Updating our grid infrastructure to accommodate more clean sources, like wind and solar, can support tens to hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs.
      Clean transportation investments and tax credits could create more than 100,000 jobs in the rapidly growing electric vehicle sector.
    • Create the Civilian Climate Corps, which would put thousands of young people to work building resilience against wildfires, hurricanes, flooding and other climate change impacts in communities across the country.
    • The plan could catalyze economic growth in communities that have long experienced disinvestment as a result of systemic racism.
    • Tens of thousands of jobs could be created plugging inactive, unplugged “orphaned” oil and gas wells — wells that do not have an owner of record, or at least one that is still in business.

Tell Congress: The Time to Act is NOW
These are just some of the highlights of a bold infrastructure package that will help us tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, create good-paying jobs, and transition our economy to a clean energy future. But it’s up to us to make sure our members of Congress support the full plan President Biden proposed in March. Tell your representative and senators to go big on investing in our future right here.