Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden has revealed a $2 trillion dollar plan to create jobs and succor the faltering U.S. economy by plowing money into green energy projects to ignite economic growth. He also wants a federally mandated $15 an hour minimum wage.
The plan is the second plank of Biden's new economic agenda called "Build Back Better" Biden first revealed on July 9 in Pennsylvania. It will "create millions of good, union jobs rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure."
Biden's extensive plan can be divided into economic, infrastructure , and environmental segments. Tying these elements together is the overriding need to protect the climate and the environment while growing the U.S. economy by relying on green and renewable sources of energy. Oil, coal, and gas use will be discouraged.
Biden's climate initiative will propel the United States towards "an irreversible path" to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Attaining this grand aim will also mean creating a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. The plan will also upgrade four million buildings and weatherize two million homes over four years to increase energy efficiency.
Atop the economic totem pole in Biden's plan is to create millions of union jobs paying at least $15 per hour in a bid to address massive income inequality. The plan calls for more than $2 trillion in spending over four years to attain its disparate goals. Biden called this enormous investment "critical" for the economy and public health.
The Biden plan's infrastructure facet calls for rebuilding America's shattered and aging infrastructure while focusing on producing electric vehicles (EVs), electric trains, electric light rail systems, and clean energy bus systems. It also intends to shift major cities toward public transportation such as trains and away from cars.
Biden will set in motion a national plan that overhauls the country's roads and bridges. He also plans to accelerate America's push towards 5G mobile technology where the U.S. now lags behind China. Biden wants commuter trains, buses, and EVs to run on electricity or clean fuel such as hydrogen. He will encourage the development of electric trains for Amtrak and private freight companies.
Biden said the federal government will invest in the local development of clean light rail and bus systems. He wants to boost fuel economy standards for gasoline-powered motor vehicles.
The plan gives oversize weight to protecting the environment and fighting climate change. Under the plan, the U.S. will achieve carbon-free power generation by 2035.
The plan maps out a more ambitious approach to developing clean energy. It will create tools to better monitor and stamp-out pollution that disproportionately leaves communities of color with chronic health issues.
Biden plans to craft incentives to upgrade housing and commercial buildings to make them more resistant to extreme weather. He also wants to build 1.5 million energy-efficient homes and public housing units to address a shortage of affordable housing
As for enforcing environmental laws, the plan will set-up an environmental and climate justice division within the Department of Justice (DOJ). It will hold chief executive officers more accountable for their company's practices that pollute neighborhoods. DOH will lead the way in overturning years of Trump's efforts to ease and abolish environmental laws and rules.
