The US Congress has passed the much anticipated infrastructure bill after months of political wrangling in Washington DC.
The details of the bill our now being dissected, with significant investments in physical infrastructure, including green tech. Over US$110 billion will go to climate change focused infrastructure spending.
According the sources, including Democratic lawmakers, the US will invest billions in various initiatives including:
US$7.5B in e-vehicle chargers, $5B for ‘clean buses’, $21 billion for environmental remediation and $73B for clean energy infrastructure.
The $73 billion in the bill will go “towards reshaping how the power grid works, so that clean energy can be significantly increased,” earlier reports said.
According to the White House, that money will go to nuclear, carbon capture and green hydrogen. Billions will be spend on a massive EV charging infrastructure, “clean buses” and other environmental investments, which includes rehabilitation and wildlife conservation.
Here’s what the White House says is in the bill:
Clean Energy Power Infrastructure
The legislation’s roughly $73 billion investment includes the single largest investment in clean energy transmission in American history. It upgrades our power infrastructure, including by building thousands of miles of new, resilient transmission lines (copper) to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy. It creates a new Grid Deployment Authority, invests in research and development for advanced transmission and electricity distribution technologies, and promotes smart grid technologies that deliver flexibility and resilience. It invests in demonstration projects and research hubs for next generation technologies like advanced nuclear, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen.
EV Charging
The bill invests $7.5 billion to build out the first-ever national network of EV chargers in the United States and is a critical element in the Biden-Harris Administration’s plan to accelerate the adoption of EVs to address the climate crisis and support domestic manufacturing jobs. The bill will provide funding for deployment of EV chargers along highway corridors to facilitate long-distance travel and within communities to provide convenient charging where people live, work, and shop.
Electric Buses
The legislation will deliver thousands of electric school buses nationwide, including in rural communities, helping school districts across the country buy clean, American-made, zero emission buses, and replace the yellow school bus fleet for America’s children. The legislation also invests $5 billion in zero emission and clean buses and $2.5 billion for ferries. These investments will drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, creating jobs and supporting domestic manufacturing, while also removing diesel buses from some of our most vulnerable communities.
Environmental Remediation
The bill includes funds to clean up Superfund and brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land and cap orphaned gas wells.
Other infrastructure spending will go to rail, roads, bridges, safety measures to decrease road accidents, investments in major ports to ease bottlenecks, including airports. There’s also money for clean water and broadband internet.
