President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is Creating Jobs, Lowering Costs, and Driving Historic Economic Growth and More Than $14 Billion in Federal Investments in Energy Communities

 

Today, at a White House convening with energy communities, the Biden-Harris Administration will announce historic new actions to create jobs, lower costs, and invest in the energy communities that powered this nation for generations.

 

President Biden came to the White House to end years of big words but little action to help energy-producing parts of the country, who for decades saw jobs exported out and products imported in, all while other countries surpassed the United States in critical sectors like infrastructure, clean energy, and semiconductors. President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is already turning the tide, bringing manufacturing jobs back home and ensuring we rebuild our economy from the bottom-up and the middle-out, not top-down, so that no community is left behind.

 

The actions announced today will drive new investments in energy communities to support their economic revitalization, strengthen American supply chains, and help ensure coal, oil, and gas workers benefit from the new clean energy economy.

 

These investments build on the more than $14 billion from across federal agencies that the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization has driven to the hardest-hit energy communities across the country. They also build on the more than $7.4 billion that companies have invested in energy communities to spur clean energy manufacturing, steel production, and critical minerals processing.

 

The actions announced today will:

 

Drive New Opportunities to Coal Communities.

The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today is releasing detailed guidance that will allow developers of clean energy projects and facilities to take advantage of billions in bonuses on top of the investment and production tax credits through the Inflation Reduction Act for locating projects in an energy community. These bonuses will incentivize more clean energy investment in energy communities, particularly coal communities.

As part of this release, Treasury and IRS have partnered with the Interagency Working Group on Energy Communities to provide a searchable mapping tool that helps identify areas that may be eligible for the energy community bonus.

The Energy Communities IWG today is also releasing a Memorandum of Understanding between 11 federal agencies to work together to get new resources into energy communities. Agencies will support Rapid Response Teams, which provide more targeted, on-the-ground assistance, resources, and technical guidance to communities and regions facing acute and unique challenges.

Additionally, the Department of Energy announced the release of a Coal Power Plant Redevelopment Visualization Tool enabling stakeholders to identify opportunities for redevelopment of shuttered coal power plants and community reinvestment.

These multi-agency efforts demonstrate the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to partnering with energy communities to build stronger local economies.

Deploy New Clean Energy Project on Mine Lands. The Department of Energy announced it is making $450 million available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to advance clean energy demonstration projects on current and former mine land, providing new economic opportunities for historic coal and mining communities. Approximately 17,750 mine land sites are located across 1.5 million acres in the United States, which expose local populations to harmful pollutants and contaminate the air, land, and water quality in the surrounding areas. Repurposing this extensive area of land for clean energy projects is estimated to generate up to 90 GW of clean energy—enough to power nearly 30 million American homes.

Bring Critical Mineral Supply Chains to America. The Department of Energy announced it is making $16 million available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the University of North Dakota and West Virginia University to complete design studies for the first-ever full-scale domestic demonstration refinery that will extract and separate rare earth elements and other critical minerals from coal ash, acid mine drainage, and other mine waste. This project will help strengthen American supply chains, revitalize energy communities, and reduce reliance on competitors like China.

Today’s actions build on two years of historic investment in energy communities through the Energy Communities IWG:

 

Building on these historic investments, today the Energy Communities IWG released a new public report, Revitalizing Energy Communities: Two-Year Report to the President, to mark two years of meaningful partnership with energy communities and the Administration’s continued momentum in building a clean energy future made in America and by American workers.

 

To date, the Energy Communities IWG has driven more than $14.1 billion in federal investment to energy communities, including $480 million in American Rescue Plan funds for economic development, $877 million for abandoned mine land reclamation, and $134 million in the largest-ever Appalachian Regional Commission awards to coal communities. The President’s economic agenda has also helped drive more than $7.4 billion in private sector investments to spur the creation and retention of good-paying jobs, strengthen our energy security, and lower energy costs for families. These investments include:

 

Berkshire Hathaway Energy recently broke ground on a new solar energy microgrid in Jackson County, West Virginia that will power a new aerospace manufacturing hub on the site of a former aluminum plant. Precision Castparts Corp., a Berkshire Hathaway business, will build a $500m state-of-the-art titanium melt plant powered by 100% renewable energy, which will bring 200 jobs to the site. Additionally, Our Next Energy, a Michigan-based battery manufacturer, will locate a $22m factory on the site that will produce large-scale batteries and employ about 100 people.

TerraPower intends to invest $2 billion, in addition to $1.5 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and annual appropriations, to build an advanced nuclear reactor on a retiring coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. This first-of-a-kind reactor will create an expected 2,000 construction jobs and 250 full-time jobs.

Novelis recently started construction on its $365 million investment into an advanced aluminum recycling center in Todd County, Kentucky, that is projected to create 140 quality jobs for Kentucky residents.

The Energy Communities IWG maintains a searchable clearinghouse of federal funding opportunities at EnergyCommunities.Gov which has identified over $500 billion in relevant or targeted funding opportunities for energy communities – up from $38 billion in April of 2021.

 

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Since 2021, the Biden administration paused construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline in addition to other actions on climate change, such as creating a National Climate Task Force and pausing oil and gas leases on public lands. Under Biden, the United States re-joined the Paris Agreement. His administration proposed spending on climate change in his infrastructure bill, including $174 billion for electric cars and $35 billion for research and development in climate-focused technology.

 

On 21 September 2021, President Joe Biden stated at the UN General Assembly that he would work with Congress to double funds by 2024 to $11.4 billion per year. The plan aimed at helping the developing nations deal with climate change.

 

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is the largest investment in climate change mitigation in US history. The Act sets out provisions to invest in increasing renewable energy and electrifying areas of the US economy.  The bill, passing by a 51-50 vote in the Senate, explicitly defined carbon dioxide as an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act to make the Act's EPA enforcement provisions harder to challenge in court. According to several independent analyses, the law is projected to reduce 2030 U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 2005 levels.

 

In February 2023 the United States Department of Energy proposed a set of new energy efficiency standards that, if implemented, will save to users of different electric machines in the United States around 3,500,000,000$ per year and will reduce by the year 2050 carbon emissions by the same amount as emitted by 29,000,000 houses.

 

The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws.

 

As with many other major U.S. federal environmental statutes, the Clean Air Act is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in coordination with state, local, and tribal governments.   2–3  EPA develops extensive administrative regulations to carry out the law's mandates. Associated regulatory programs, which are often technical and complex, implement these regulations. Among the most important, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards program sets standards for concentrations of certain pollutants in outdoor air, and the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants program which sets standards for emissions of particular hazardous pollutants from specific sources. Other programs create requirements for vehicle fuels, industrial facilities, and other technologies and activities that impact air quality. Newer programs tackle specific problems, including acid rain, ozone layer protection, and climate change.

 

The CAA has been challenged in court many times, both by environmental groups seeking more stringent enforcement and by states and utilities seeking greater leeway in regulation.

 

Although its exact benefits depend on what is counted, the Clean Air Act has substantially reduced air pollution and improved US air quality—benefits which EPA credits with saving trillions of dollars and many thousands of lives each year.

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According to Bloomberg, dated March 15th, 2023,-- China has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2060, an ambitious goal matched by enormous investments in mega-projects that are reshaping the nation’s energy system. In this episode of China 2030, Bloomberg reveals how the world’s biggest polluter aims to become the world’s preeminent user—and purveyor—of green technology.  The world’s biggest polluter aims to become the world’s preeminent user—and purveyor—of green technology.

 

 

According to Shen, Li, Wang and Liao, the emission trading system that China had used for its environmentally friendly journey was implemented in certain districts and was successful in comparison to those which were used in test districts that were approved by the government. This shows how China tried to effectively introduce new innovative systems to impact the environment. China implemented multiple ways to combat environmental problems even if they didn't succeed at first. It led to them implementing a more successful process which benefited the environment. Although China needs to implement policies like, "The “fee-to-tax” process should be accelerated, however, and the design and implementation of the environmental tax system should be improved. This would form a positive incentive mechanism in which a low level of pollution correlates with a low level of tax." By implementing policies like these companies have a higher incentive to not over pollute the environment and instead focus on creating an eco-friendlier environment for their workplaces. In doing so, it will lead to less pollution being emitted while there also being a cleaner environment. Companies would prefer to have lower taxes to lessen the costs they have to deal with, so it encourages them to avoid polluting the environment as much as possible.

 

Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that claim reduced, minimal, or no harm upon ecosystems or the environment.

 

Companies use these ambiguous terms to promote goods and services, sometimes with additional, more specific certifications, such as ecolabels. Their overuse can be referred to as greenwashing.  To ensure the successful meeting of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) companies are advised to employ environmental friendly processes in their production.  Specifically, Sustainable Development Goal 12 measures 11 targets and 13 indicators "to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns".

 

The International Organization for Standardization has developed ISO 14020 and ISO 14024 to establish principles and procedures for environmental labels and declarations that certifiers and eco-labellers should follow. In particular, these standards relate to the avoidance of financial conflicts of interest, the use of sound scientific methods and accepted test procedures, and openness and transparency in the setting of standards.

 

Energy Star is a program with a primary goal of increasing energy efficiency and indirectly decreasing greenhouse gas emissions which founded  31 years ago in March 15, 1992.  Energy Star has different sections for different nations or areas, including the United States, the European Union  and Australia.  The program, which was founded in the United States, also exists in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Taiwan. Additionally, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 17 has a target to promote the development, transfer, dissemination, and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies to developing countries as part of the 2030 Agenda.

There are many countries working hard and improved towards eco environment include USA.  However, many are expressed that China is one of the greatest example for the green eco environment and continue developing like many other countries are.....

 

 

 it  is  reminding that G8 summit in 2008 in Tokyo: 17 leaders of the Major Economies held an unprecedented summit in Toyako, Japan, to advance shared objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, contribute to ongoing negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and identify actions to be taken immediately. Leaders of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a Declaration

 

Sources:Youtube,bloomberg,  White House, Pentagon, BBC, CNN, Fox,, yahoo wikipedia, ABC, MSNBC, DW , PBS, WP, USAF, Fox Live Now, CBS

April 7, 2023, Rev, April 11th,, 2023

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