Sign In  |  Register  |  About Burlingame  |  Contact Us

Burlingame, CA
September 01, 2020 10:18am
7-Day Forecast | Traffic
  • Search Hotels in Burlingame

  • CHECK-IN:
  • CHECK-OUT:
  • ROOMS:

What’s in President Biden’s budget proposal for clean energy and climate change?

U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking billions of dollars to support clean energy projects and climate change mitigation in his federal budget proposal for 2023.
Follow @EngelsAngle

President Joe Biden is seeking billions of dollars to support clean energy projects and climate change mitigation as part of his federal budget proposal for 2023.

Overall, Biden's budget request to Congress totals more than $5.7 trillion, including $44.9 billion to address the climate crisis.

The budget aligns with many priorities set out in the now-stalled Build Back Better Act, which featured $550 billion for clean energy and climate change mitigation.

"As we facilitate the transition to clean energy, the investments reflected in this latest budget will cut costs for Americans and secure our energy independence on our path towards a net-zero future," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

The White House claims the 2023 budget proposal would reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, aided by a minimum tax on multi-millionaires and billionaires. The tax would ensure the wealthiest Americans pay at least 20% in federal income taxes.

The budget also calls for the corporate tax rate to be increased to 28% from 21%, the threshold set by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 during the Trump administration.

The budget request would devote $12 billion to clean energy innovations and $3 billion for deployment. Here's a breakdown of some of those proposed investments.

Biden's tricky solar stanceCourtesy: Ricardo Gomez Angel/Unsplash

If approved by Congress, the 2023 federal budget would provide $200 million for a new Solar Manufacturing Accelerator to bolster the domestic supply chain.

The announcement comes at a tricky time for the Biden administration, which is in a standoff of sorts with the solar industry. On the same day, the Department of Commerce announced that it will investigate whether Chinese solar manufacturers are circumventing U.S. trade rules by assembling modules in four neighboring countries.

Commerce could levy tariffs on solar imports from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia as part of the anti-dumping and circumvention investigation, a move the Solar Energy Industries Association claims would result in a 19% decline in near-term deployments.

Heather Zichal, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, and a former Obama administration climate official, labeled the Biden administration's expressed support for the solar industry as "empty rhetoric" after Commerce opened the investigation.

"If its commitment to a clean energy future is real, the Administration will reverse this decision immediately," Zichal said. "Every day this investigation hangs over the solar community is a day of lost jobs and postponed solar projects critical to the Administration’s climate agenda."

International climate support

Biden also wants to direct $11 billion to support developing countries in their net-zero transition. He had previously pledged to reach that threshold for international climate finance by 2024.

The total includes $1.6 billion for the Green Climate Fund and support for a $3.2 billion loan to the Clean Technology Fund, the White House said.

A study published by the World Resources Institute in 2021 found that developed countries weren't contributing their fair share to the international pledge to mobilize $100 billion in climate finance for developing countries by 2020.

The report noted that the U.S., Australia, and Canada "provided less than half their share of the financial effort in 2018."

Electrification, energy efficiency, and resilienceImage by Couleur from Pixabay

Within the budget proposal, $502 million is dedicated to weatherize low-income homes, $260 million to support energy efficiency improvements to Department of Agriculture-assisted multifamily homes, and $160 million to electrify Tribal homes and transition Tribal colleges and universities to renewable energy.

In total, Biden's budget calls for $18 billion for climate resilience and adaptation.

The budget also would provide $80 million for a new Grid Deployment Office within the Department of Energy designed to "ensure reliable and affordable electricity for all Americans and support transmission to take advantage of the nation's offshore wind resources," the agency said.

Data & News supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Stock quotes supplied by Barchart
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.
 
 
Copyright © 2010-2020 Burlingame.com & California Media Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.