By Abby Kelso, Sidwell Friends School
After President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Bill passed in the House of Representatives on Nov. 19, the $2.2 trillion measure now faces a long and arduous path through the Senate before it becomes law. Speaking in a press conference about the importance of passing the bill, Biden said: “[W]e need Congress to finish the job, to come together and make a difference in people’s lives.”
The overarching goal of the Build Back Better Framework is to reassess the economy to benefit the middle class. The bill includes provisions to offer free universal preschool, to provide tax cuts for families, to expand affordable health care and to invest in affordable housing.
CBS News states that $550 billion of the bill goes to stopping the climate crisis, an endeavor the White House describes as “the largest effort to combat climate change in American history.” The end result of these new policies is to cut the U.S.’s greenhouse gas pollution by an estimated one billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, according to an estimate by the Rhodium Group. While this does not fulfill Biden’s overarching goal of halving all greenhouse gas emissions, it is a necessary first step.
Biden will decrease emissions by providing tax credits to those purchasing and producing sustainable power sources like wind, solar and nuclear power, as well as to purchasers of electric vehicles. According to the White House, these tax credits can decrease the cost of installing solar panels by 30 percent and reduce the cost of an electric car for a middle-class family by $12,500.
If passed, the bill will also promote methods of environmentally-friendly farming and build sustainable infrastructure, such as electric vehicle charging stations and improvements in the electrical grid. $10 billion will go to helping electric cooperatives make the switch from coal plants to more sustainable sources of energy.
With grants to environmental justice organizations and by creating 300,000 jobs within Biden’s new Civilian Climate Corps, 40 percent of the Build Back Better bill’s investments will serve disadvantaged communities, according to the White House.
The White House stated that the bill is set to be fully paid by repealing the Trump Administration’s costly rebate rule and increasing taxes on corporations and the rich, though the tax increases do not apply to anyone with an annual income of less than $400,000. The bill is still opposed by Republicans, especially after the Congressional Budget Office announced that the bill will increase the federal budget deficit by $160 billion over the next 10 years, according to the New York Times.
Ultimately, the bill is a beginning of the U.S.’s efforts to combat the climate crisis, an agenda that was halted by former President Donald Trump’s term in office. The Senate must not fall into the trap of prioritizing money over the life and livelihoods of those affected by changes in climate, including the 150,000 people estimated by the World Health Organization who die annually as a result of the climate crisis. After all, we cannot print money if there are no trees left to make paper.
About Author
