Though a lot of Biden’s climate change legislation was functionally stalled out as a result of the failed Build Back Better agenda, Biden has made some moves on his campaign promises to make a greener economy and world for us and our kids. One of his most recent moves has been dispatching some $500 million set to replace our current school bus fleet with electric ones, a move that would green-ify the nation’s largest public transportation system, with more funding on the way. Now, Biden has released extra details on a big green energy push that’s, among other things, set to get 3.3 million more homes a year transitioned to using solar power.
The new actions are a push for greater investment in, and use of, renewables.
The administration says the new moves will help leverage the power of the funds the government has set to increase US solar manufacturing in the country and will set the groundwork for a major increase in solar power. “We are also now on track to triple domestic solar manufacturing capacity by 2024,” the White House explained in a release. “The expansions to domestic solar manufacturing capacity announced since President Biden took office will grow the current base capacity of 7.5 gigawatts by an additional 15 gigawatts,” the release states. “This would total 22.5 gigawatts by the end of his first term – enough to enable more than 3.3 million homes to switch to clean solar energy each year.” So, how are they doing to do that?
There are three main points outlined in the latest green energy push plans, which include:
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime to replace a dirty, oppressive energy system with a just and clean one,” said Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s energy justice program. “It’s vital that Biden go beyond government and business and bring all stakeholders to the table, including environmental justice communities and labor, to map out what our new system of equitable and resilient energy looks like.” Tackling climate change is one of the big issues of our generation and not addressing and changing the growing concerns will come at a great cost, according to scientists. The Paris Climate Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, says we need to reach a net zero for greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible in order to keep the dangerous implications of climate change from destroying everything. Currently, the world is on track for 2.7 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels by 2100, a reality that would create catastrophic global warming.
