Progressives Want Biden's Infrastructure Plan to Include $10T for Climate
Progressive lawmakers and environmentalists have reportedly urged President Joe Biden to use the coming infrastructure package to finance parts of their radical Green New Deal.
The Green New Deal Network – a group of 15 national climate organizations – is pressuring Biden to "incorporate the entirety of the THRIVE Agenda" into his infrastructure package, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Wednesday.
THRIVE was introduced in February by Sen. Ed Markey, D.-Mass., who called on Biden to include the proposal in any future economic plan. THRIVE contains idealistic climate goals, including a carbon-free electric grid by 2035.
Markey’s proposal — the full name of which is the Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy Agenda — calls for $10 trillion in public spending to achieve "real full employment" and "reshape our society" through government jobs.
Biden's entire infrastructure bill reportedly will cost $2.25 trillion.
THRIVE's price tag would be more than five times as much as Democrats' COVID-19 relief plan.
Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., sponsored a Green New Deal early in 2019 but the legislation stalled in the Senate.
But now the Senate is evenly split among party lines, there's a Democrat vice president who casts the tie-breaking vote, and a president more friendly toward major environmental reform.
Biden was expected to announce his infrastructure bill details, including record spending on climate change, on Wednesday.
Although Biden did not formally support the Green New Deal during his campaign, members of the administration have been strong backers of environmental reform. As a congresswoman in September, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland introduced a version of the THRIVE Agenda, and several current White House staffers previously worked closely with the groups pressuring Biden to adopt the proposal.
Despite getting the support of many environmentalists, THRIVE doesn't go far enough for others.
University of Massachusetts Amherst economist Robert Pollin, who helped craft the THRIVE Agenda, told the Washington Post the Biden package's $3 to $4 trillion price tag is "skirting on the edge of being inadequate" to meet left-wing climate goals.
Beefing up the infrastructure plan with climate-related spending would help satisfy progressives, but also alienate Republicans already complaining about the package’s price tag.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R.-Ky., warned that Biden's proposal "may actually be a Trojan horse for massive tax hikes and other job-killing left-wing policies."
Rep. Sam Graves, R.-Mo., said the package "needs to be a transportation bill, not a Green New Deal."
Heartland Institute president James Taylor insisted the THRIVE Agenda's carbon-free electric grid objective was impractical, and only would benefit China and other U.S. adversaries that refuse to adequately prioritize clean energy.
"Even [Biden climate envoy] John Kerry has said the United States could eliminate our emissions entirely, and it still wouldn't do any good if the rest of the world doesn't get on board," Taylor told the Washington Free Beacon. "On top of the economic costs and much higher energy prices, we're also going to have to bow down to China and their agenda, and that's a bad deal for the American people."
Taylor added Democrats propose "the same climate change extremism bill over and over again and naming it something different each time."
The Sunrise Movement, a top environmental group, are backing THRIVE. The organization urged Biden to "act on the climate mandate he was elected on and invest at least $1 trillion over the next decade" to combat climate change.
The alternative energy sector contributed nearly $5 million to Biden in 2020, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He also received more campaign money from environmental groups than any other candidate.
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