Progressives Urge Congress to Approve $100 Billion for Biden's Clean Energy Push

A progressive coalition comprised of nearly three dozen environmental groups and labor unions on Wednesday urged Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress to significantly increase funding for President Joe Biden's executive orders to ramp up the domestic manufacturing of clean energy under the Defense Production Act.

"At least $100 billion should and could be allocated by the end of this fiscal year to help ensure the security of our nation and the world."

"Biden's executive orders on climate can only be meaningful if Congress dedicates the funding to get the job done," Food & Water Watch policy director Jim Walsh said in a statement.

Last month, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA), which enables the president to reorient U.S. manufacturing policy, to strengthen the domestic production of solar panels, heat pumps, and other green technologies. Thanks in large part to the leadership of first-term Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), the House Appropriations Committee has appropriated $100 million toward this effort, which has been endorsed by more than 1,000 groups, including the People vs. Fossil Fuels Coalition.

Although the funding still needs to be approved, senators from both major parties "have also called on Biden to use the DPA to support green technology manufacturing," The Intercept reported recently, "making passage into law, once the appropriations bill passes the House and is amended in the Senate, more likely."

While applauding this as a "positive first step," the coalition noted that "estimates show more than $100 billion is needed" to meet the Biden administration's objective of halving U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030--a goal that scientists and activists have argued is inadequate to avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

The Energy Security and Independence Act that Bush introduced in April alongside Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would direct $100 billion--a small fraction of the nation's annual military budget--to facilitate a wholesale transformation of the nation's energy system through the DPA. The bill has more than 50 co-sponsors and is supported by more than 80 organizations.

"We're at a crisis point for our climate and our energy future, and we need action now," said Gaby Sarri-Tobar, a campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity's Energy Justice program. "Biden's clean energy directives add urgency to the climate fight, but Congress must fully fund this to spur the just, renewable future we need."

"There's no way to ramp up renewable energy production without the money to make it happen," Sarri-Tobar added.

In letters addressed to high-ranking Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate, the coalition wrote that "it is imperative" for members of Congress to approve the maximum amount of funding possible for Biden's DPA clean energy orders in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations package.

"1/1000th of the funding in [the Energy Security and Independence Act] will not be sufficient," the coalition stressed.

Dominic Frongillo, executive director and co-founder of Elected Officials to Protect America, said that "Biden can leverage DPA funds and the federal procurement budget of $650 billion per year to scale up clean energy technologies deployment."

"The cost of inaction is far more expensive and will be measured in lost lives and livelihoods, in the U.S. and worldwide."

"At least $100 billion should and could be allocated by the end of this fiscal year to help ensure the security of our nation and the world through building a clean energy economy," he added.

Karen Orenstein, director of the Climate and Energy Justice program at Friends of the Earth U.S., issued a reminder that "the cost of inaction is far more expensive and will be measured in lost lives and livelihoods, in the U.S. and worldwide."

With Republicans and corporate Democrats continuing to obstruct much of Biden's legislative agenda, progressive lawmakers have implored the White House to use its executive authority to the fullest possible extent to secure a habitable planet--a call that has only grown stronger in the weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court's reactionary majority weakened the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate planet-heating pollution.

Biden's deployment of the DPA "to create secure, clean energy resources for all communities" is a praiseworthy example of "sorely needed" executive action on climate, said Art Terrazas, government affairs advocate for the League of Conservation Voters. "Now it is time for Congress to do its part to meet the moment on climate and provide the funding necessary for clean energy, justice, and jobs through a reconciliation package and strong FY23 appropriations."

Varshini Prakash, executive director of Sunrise Movement, said that the climate emergency can only be confronted "when our government steps up and launches a WWII-scale mobilization to justly transition to renewable energy."

"As climate disasters worsen, oil companies continue to price gouge consumers, and real investments in renewable energy have stalled," she continued, "Congress must urgently and robustly fund President Biden's DPA executive order."

"In a moment when young people are questioning the legitimacy of our institutions," she added, "our politicians must act to save our generation and show us what our government can do for us."