Critics Warn Biden Infrastructure Plan 'Falls Woefully Short' on Climate Crisis. (for discussion.)

[elleng]

"Biden has pledged to cut carbon emissions 50% and decarbonize our electricity sector, but this proposal won't even come close."

'President Joe Biden's rollout of a $2.26 trillion infrastructure and climate spending blueprint on Wednesday was met with an icy response from progressive advocacy groups and environmentalists, who argued the proposal in its current form is inadequate to the task of combating the climate crisis by overhauling the nation's polluting energy and transportation systems.

"Biden's industry-friendly infrastructure plan squanders one of our last, best chances to stop the climate emergency," warned Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Instead of a Marshall Plan approach that moves our economy to renewable energy, it includes gimmicky subsidies for carbon capture, fantastically wishes the free market will save us, and fails to take crucial and ambitious steps toward phasing out fossil fuels."

"Biden has pledged to cut carbon emissions 50% and decarbonize our electricity sector," Hartl added, "but this proposal won't even come close."

The American Jobs Plan represents the first half of a two-pronged recovery proposal that the Biden administration is planning to detail in the coming days, with the healthcare-focused second part expected some time next month.'>>>

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/31/critics-warn-biden-infrastructure-plan-falls-woefully-short-climate-crisis?

[comradebillyboy]

1. Common Dreams eh? I can't take that outfit seriously.

[Miguelito Loveless]

2. This is the Obama recovery plan all over again

Insufficient money and people shouting us down to be grateful for what we get. Rescind Trump tax cuts, raise fuel tax and index for inflation. Cancel all oil/gas/coal tax breaks, and implement a carbon tax. Have the tax as a rebate for people or industries that run a negative carbon footprint. Establish a wealth tax, raise top margins back to Nixon era rates, and set a minimum tax for all corporations. Any credits/carry forwards may never exceed the minimum tax.

[tirebiter]

5. Can't get there from here

Logistics. Gotta build the infrastructure that can support the next step and get more voters in on the ride.

[Walleye]

3. Politics is the art of the possible

[elleng]

4. Yes

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. How Biden plans to tackle the climate crisis in his $2 trillion infrastructure plan

On Wednesday afternoon, President Joe Biden unveiled his infrastructure proposal in front of a carpentry apprentice center in Pittsburgh. The $2 trillion American Jobs Plan extends far beyond funding highway and bridge repairs. True to Biden’s campaign promises, it places a central emphasis on tackling climate change.

From boosting public transit to funding new research and development in breakthrough clean energy technologies, the measures that could help cut greenhouse gas emissions add up to more than $1 trillion over eight years — larger than the total recovery package Obama passed to tackle the Great Recession.

Yet, Democrats and advocates for the clean energy transition are split over whether the investment package is big enough to tackle the climate crisis. Josh Freed, the head of the climate and energy program at center-left think tank Third Way, told Vox that the plan’s scale is appropriate because it will also spur further investment from the private sector. But some progressives are pushing for up to trillions more in spending.

On Tuesday, a coalition of labor and environmental groups called for $4 trillion in climate investments, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus has proposed $1 trillion per year in spending over the coming decade.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/how-biden-plans-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-in-his-2-trillion-infrastructure-plan/ar-BB1fbl7q?li=BBnbfcQ&ocid=DELLDHP