Full Title: Improving Equity Outcomes for New Federal Investments in Clean Energy Infrastructure
Author(s): Bipartisan Policy Center, American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE)
Publisher(s): Bipartisan Policy Center, American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE)
Publication Date: July 30, 2022
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which passed Congress in 2021 with bipartisan support, makes a historic and necessary $1.2 trillion investment in modernizing America’s infrastructure. Of that total investment, nearly $400 billion will be directed to clean energy infrastructure including initiatives for transportation, power and grid systems, technology demonstration programs, modernized permitting, and climate resilience. The American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) and the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) are working together to explore the opportunities and challenges inherent in these new federal investments.
Public investment has a poor record of keeping pace with infrastructure needs, and infrastructure disparities persist for many disadvantaged Americans, including low-income, rural, Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous communities. AABE and BPC believe that the IIJA, if implemented carefully and effectively, offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create jobs, accelerate the clean energy transition, and grow the U.S. economy in ways that are both sustainable and equitable.