MEMO: No Climate, No Deal; A bold package must precede any bipartisan deal.

If a bipartisan infrastructure package is incapable of addressing the urgency of the climate investments needed in this country, then it is no real deal at all. That is why our message to Congress right now is: no climate, no deal. Because as Secretary Buttigieg so eloquently put it, every infrastructure decision is a climate decision. To seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity, Congress must move a bold infrastructure package that tackles the climate crisis before moving any bipartisan deal.

We have no time to waste. The choices we make together now will shape our society’s direction and the health of our planet for decades to come. That’s why Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders just unveiled a $6 Trillion investment plan -- a bold approach we must build on now to deliver an infrastructure package as big as the crises we face.

As Senate Democrats and all of Congress come together and consider what should be included, the Sierra Club is making it clear, alongside a growing chorus of congressional leaders, that any package must make bold investments in climate action, clean air, safe drinking water, and millions of good, union jobs to earn the votes needed for passage. 

This week, Senate committees are expected to decide topline investment numbers in the effort to create a strong, climate, labor, and equity-centered infrastructure proposal. Below is a breakdown of several critical measures that must be accounted for in each committee.

Critically -- and as President Biden has rightfully emphasized from the start -- penalizing and taxing the overwhelming majority of Americans, including those joining in the rapid transition to electric vehicles, is not an acceptable funding solution. 

As President Biden has made clear, new revenue to help fund the investments we need must come through ensuring that the wealthiest Americans and corporations pay their fair share.

President Biden’s American Jobs Plan was designed to do that by reversing Trump’s corporate giveaways and restoring the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, as well as raising the top tax rate for high-income earners back to the pre-Trump rate. This is the kind of approach that should fund the critical investments we need, in addition to public borrowing -- a commonsense financing tool supported by mainstream economists.

SIERRA CLUB ADVOCATES THESE POLICIES FOR FINAL INCLUSION BY KEY CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES:

TOP PRIORITIES FOR THE SENATE FINANCE, ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES, AND ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEES:

ACHIEVE 100% CLEAN ENERGY WITH A CES & CLEAN ENERGY TAX INCENTIVES

Two key policies that must be included in a Federal infrastructure package are a Clean Electricity Standard (CES), and federal investment in clean energy through tax incentives. 

 We strongly endorse inclusion of Sen. Wyden’s Clean Energy for America Act, landmark legislation to create a new emissions-based incentive program, and Reps. Welch and Clarke’s American Renewable Energy Act, which sets a target of 70% renewable electricity by 2035. Together, these standards and investments will spur growth in clean power plants, buildings, and transportation. In addition, we need to fully fund the modernization of our electric grid to ensure stability, efficiency, and a swift transition to clean energy. 

END FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES

We can help pay for essential investments in the nation’s future by repealing the billions in special interest subsidies that help fuel the oil, gas, and coal industries.  

EXPAND ACCESS TO UNION-BUILT ELECTRIC VEHICLES 

The transportation sector is the leading source of carbon pollution in the US. The $174 billion investment in the electric vehicle economy included in the AJP is a strong start and shows that Biden’s White House is intent on electrifying cars, transit buses, school buses, the federal fleet (including the US postal fleet) and ports. Congress should go further by fully funding the Clean Cars for America proposal from Senate Majority Leader Schumer that would invest $454 billion to replace over 63 million gas vehicles with affordable, U.S.-made, union-built electric vehicles. Doing so would create hundreds of thousands of good union jobs, while slashing climate pollution and sparing thousands of people from air pollution-related deaths. The Sierra Club also endorses Rep. Ocasio Cortez’s & Rep Levin’s EV Freedom Act which establishes a comprehensive, nationwide network of high-speed EV chargers within 5 years. 

REPLACE 100% OF LEAD PIPES 

The American Jobs Plan correctly leans into addressing the crisis of toxic lead in our water infrastructure, which affects every state, by requiring the replacement of 100 percent of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines in our drinking water systems. In addition, Congress needs to invest fully in stormwater and wastewater upgrades to protect our communities from toxic runoff. 

CREATE A CIVILIAN CLIMATE CORPS

Millions of workers will need to be hired in communities across the country to protect and restore forests and wetlands, support community repairs after storms and floods, expand access to renewable energy, weatherize buildings, install electric vehicle charging stations, improve health by greening our neighborhoods, and more. Sierra Club urges full funding of $132 billion for this initiative. 

CLEAN UP ABANDONED MINES AND WELLS AND POLLUTED SITES

Congress should build on President Biden’s inclusion of an immediate up-front investment to put hundreds of thousands to work in union jobs plugging oil and gas wells and restoring and reclaiming abandoned coal, hardrock, and uranium mines, which pose serious safety hazards and causing ongoing air, water, and other environmental damage. In addition, Congress needs to significantly increase funding to clean up toxic pollution at Superfund and Brownfields sites. 

TOP PRIORITIES FOR THE SENATE BANKING, HELP, HSGAC AND COMMERCE COMMITTEES:

EXPAND ACCESS TO CLEAN PUBLIC TRANSIT AND RAIL

The Sierra Club supports boldly investing in public transit to electrify all transit and school buses and commuter trains while expanding access to affordable public transit for the 45% of the country that currently lacks such access. To that end, we endorse and urge inclusion of Leader Schumer and Senator Brown’s Clean Transit for America Plan and Senator Warren’s $500 billion BUILD Green Infrastructure and Jobs Act. In addition, the Sierra Club supports robust investments in rail as a clean transportation solution. 

CLEAN MANUFACTURING:

The Sierra Club urges Congress to include transformative investments for domestic, clean manufacturing of electric vehicles, clean energy components, efficient building materials, and other clean energy goods, to ensure that U.S. workers fully benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy. 

RETROFIT AND ELECTRIFY ALL PUBLIC HOUSING, SCHOOLS, AND HOSPITALS

Congress should build on President Biden’s plan to produce, preserve, and retrofit more than two million affordable housing units that run on clean electricity rather than natural gas. This includes boldly investing over $170 billion to upgrade all public housing units for efficiency, electrification, resilience, and healthier living standards, as spelled out in the Green New Deal for Public Housing. Congress should also invest at scale to upgrade our public schools. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that we need to invest $380 billion to move our deteriorating public schools from a D+ grade to a B grade. We also support the inclusion of Sen. Heinrich’s Electrifying America’s Future Resolution, which calls for widespread electrification of appliances in American homes, schools and businesses.

FAIRNESS FOR WORKERS AND COMMUNITIES

Congress should invest at least $110 billion for workforce and community development, with a particular focus on workers and communities impacted by the energy transition. This includes a robust Energy Worker & Community Package with wage and benefit guarantees and comprehensive investments for workers and communities impacted by energy transition.

TOP PRIORITIES FOR THE SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE

We strongly support President Biden’s inclusion of $10 billion in his American Jobs Plan to help rural electric cooperatives modernize and transition to low-cost clean energy. The burden of energy costs in rural areas are among the highest in the country, which has added to the hardship faced by these communities during the pandemic. Investing in these communities and removing the barriers to a clean energy transition faced by rural utilities will lower energy costs for rural customers, accelerate the deployment of renewable power and other clean technologies, and provide assistance to workers and communities that have supported the historic energy needs of these utilities.