The US is pushing its climate agenda forward under the Biden administration, crafting an infrastructure bill that will strengthen the power grid, working with other large polluting countries and seeking to engage the corporate community, a top diplomat and senator said April 27.
"There are things President Biden has proposed in the infrastructure bill that just are plain common-sense infrastructure projects that will have an impact on our emissions," John Kerry, US special presidential envoy for climate, said during the virtual Foreign Policy Magazine Climate Summit."For instance, if you build out a smarter energy grid where you can send power produced in one part of the country to another ... that can help reduce costs and is a far more efficient way to distribute energy."
He added that it should be a "cake walk" for the country that went to the moon and invented the internet, and it's not being held back by a lack of capacity but a lack of political will. It is not Democratic or Republican infrastructure, Kerry said, as all American citizens benefit from an effective energy grid.
The White House March 31 put forth the energy grid proposal as part of its American Jobs Plan infrastructure package, creating a targeted investment tax credit to incentivize building at least 20 GW of high-voltage capacity power lines that could mobilize tens of billions of dollars in private capital.
Asked about getting bipartisan support for Biden's infrastructure initiatives, Kerry said he hoped there would be Republicans in the House and Senate who "recognize the bridge connecting their cities is not Republican or Democrat but an American bridge."
Previous generations built out US infrastructure during the great building period in the 1930s "without hesitation," he said.
International engagementWith the US accounting for roughly 15% of global GHG emissions, cooperation among nations is critical to meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting a global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
To that end, Kerry noted that increasing capacity or bringing new coal-fired power plants online will be problematic.
He argued that despite pulling out of the Paris climate accord under the Trump administration, the US maintained momentum on climate action because 37 state governors and Washington stuck with Paris accord targets, representing 80% of the country that has renewable portfolio standard laws. The US has rejoined the Paris Agreement under Biden.
Companies are also addressing climate change by setting emissions reduction targets.
"We are going to see a marketplace firmly setting a course for the new energy future. ... And no politician can come along and pull people away from good jobs and the money being made," Kerry said.
And the energy transition market is developing all over the world as others create energy storage technologies, hydrogen applications, and affordable carbon capture and storage solutions, he said.
Regarding China, which emits about twice the volume of carbon dioxide as the US, Kerry said that nation cannot benefit from reducing emissions without US cooperation and vice versa.
"My sense is the Chinese know there are benefits for both countries in resolving the climate crisis" because US and Chinese citizens will be deeply affected by not doing so, he said.
US climate legislationIt has been challenging to reach bipartisan support for climate legislation in the US, partially because corporate interests have not pushed hard enough for changes in Congress despite public rhetoric, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said during the summit.
There is "not a whole lot of convincing" needed around the reality of climate change, but what is needed is a "politically safe pathway for ... a major piece of legislation without suffering the retribution of the massive political apparatus of the fossil fuel industry," Whitehouse said.
Politicians have been reluctant to support climate laws, fearing the fossil fuel industry, which has acted like a "fierce warden of inmate behavior" for over a decade, he said.
Whitehouse also blamed the lack of federal climate policy on a corporate community that has taken little action with Congress. Companies often talk a good game, but when their lobbyists go to Congress, "climate has fallen off the wagon" because they have other priorities and "climate has not climbed up the issue portfolio."
If corporate interests "forcibly come in and push for climate action" as strongly as for other actions, things can change quickly, Whitehouse said.
Addressing climate change is an established proposition that needs to follow science.
"Science serves as the headlights for society, and we should not drive high at speed without headlights," Whitehouse said.
