Overhauling America’s aging infrastructure is the topic of the day in Washington, as President Biden and Congressional Democrats negotiate with Republicans on a massive spending package that both parties can support.
While a bipartisan agreement would be ideal, observers say it is doubtful Republicans will sign off on Biden’s trillion dollar-plus American Jobs Plan.
But despite disagreement over which projects are the country’s most urgent infrastructure needs, and which ones are the most cost-effective, the situation offers the opportunity for a revolutionary change in U.S. energy policy that furthers a key element of the president’s plan.
The idea has been a long time in development, and exists in a number of dormant bills already introduced in Congress and available to be integrated into the president’s call for achieving 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035.
These proposals are all based on the concept of a carbon fee, which economic studies show would dramatically reduce the carbon emissions that cause climate change, while at the same time unleashing trillions of dollars in green infrastructure from private investors. Higher energy prices caused by carbon fees would be offset by having the revenue returned to households. This is the feature that an actual case study has shown carbon pricing is politically feasible. Canada has such a policy, and because the revenue provides payments to households, support remains high.
Sitka is at the forefront of American communities that are taking action against climate change, with nonprofit offers of financial incentives to residents for purchase of electric vehicles and replacing residential oil heating with heat pumps. Add to that the ongoing activism of the local chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby.
The groundwork has already been laid for introducing the carbon fee concept into the national infrastructure improvement plan. Despite the limitations caused by the pandemic, the nonpartisan CCL, with 450 chapters across the country, says it held 1,177 meetings with members of Congress and their staff, mostly via Zoom, in 2020. Last month nearly 400 meetings were held with House and Senate offices asking members of Congress to support carbon pricing.
The Climate Lobby’s call for action by Congress comes at a critical time – the eve of the potential enactment of public works legislation on a scale not seen since the New Deal of the 1930s. As the clock ticks down on prospects for a bipartisan agreement, the Congressional majority may well decide to pass the American Jobs Plan by budget reconciliation, without the need for any Republican votes in the Senate.
Before that vote, the plan should include a carbon price and dividend feature that, along with the president’s plan, would be an important step toward meeting our nation’s climate goals.
This column was published May 26, 2021.
