Why green initiatives count as infrastructure, from Biden's top climate officials

• Biden's top climate officials emphasize the need to include green measures in the infrastructure bill.
• They say the cost of inaction is too high and saving the climate will also help rebuild the economy.
• GOP lawmakers say climate measures don't count as infrastructure and they won't support the bill.

The first $2 trillion of President Joe Biden's up to $4 trillion infrastructure package includes not only funding for roads and bridges, but also for climate-focused initiatives, like electric vehicles and sustainable housing. Republicans are asking, is that really infrastructure?

On a Thursday afternoon press call, the Biden administration's top climate officials made their case for why climate initiatives belong in an infrastructure package. It has to do with what we want the future America to look like, they said. The Democratic vision is greener and electrified and the Republican vision appears car- and road-based.

National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy and Deputy National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said that if the country truly wants to build back better, as Biden's refrain since his campaign has put it, and create millions of good-paying union jobs, then saving the climate is the way to do it. It isn't just about achieving Biden's campaign goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, McCarthy said, it's also about giving "our kids the kind of future that we're going to be proud of."

Republican lawmakers are emerging in vocal opposition to the bill, with the argument that the bill goes far beyond their definition of what counts as infrastructure. Their early opposition telegraphs that they may similarly oppose it unanimously, similar to how Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus passed without a single Republican vote in the House or Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement on Wednesday that the bill is a "major missed opportunity" given that less than 6% of its funding goes to roads and bridges, and on Thursday he said the bill won't get any Republican votes in the Senate. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy echoed the 6% talking point in a memo on his website.

And House Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves said in a statement that his party will not support an infrastructure bill if it focuses on the climate.

"Republicans won't support another Green New Deal disguising itself as a transportation bill," Graves said.

The Green New Deal, a 2019 initiative led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, laid out goals for a 10-year effort to fight climate change through sustainable infrastructure, upgrading power grids, overhauling transportation systems, and more.

Ocasio-Cortez told NPR that while some lawmakers try to avoid using the phrase "Green New Deal," Biden's infrastructure bill appeared to adopt its framework.

The 2019 Green New Deal memo did not put a dollar-figure on the initiative, but Bloomberg reported at the time that between $8.3 trillion and $12.3 trillion would be required to eliminate carbon emissions from the power and transportation industries, citing a study by a Republican-aligned think tank. Ocasio-Cortez said this week that "realistically," to do what Biden wants to do would require spending around $10 trillion over 10 years.

So how do the Biden infrastructure plan's green initiatives stack up?

The proposal unveiled Wednesday includes $174 billion for electric vehicles, $35 billion for climate research and development, and $300 billion to revamp houses and buildings, which Biden said in a speech on Wednesday will "weatherize affordable, energy-efficient housing and commercial buildings for millions of Americans."

Zaidi also noted that investments in the bill to modernize the power sector are critical to putting America on the path to generating 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035, which will prompt economic growth.

"We've got all of that integrated into what amounts to very good economic policy, economic policy that's good for creating good-paying union jobs, economic policy that propels us forward on environmental justice and economic policy, that helps us square shoulders and face the challenge of the climate crisis head-on," Zaidi said.

However, Zaidi said that rather than viewing the bill as an obstacle to pass through Congress, it is an opportunity to move forward and reinstate the US as a leader in fighting climate change.

"Every year that we delay, we're talking about other countries racing ahead to seize the competitive advantage in these incredibly important industries of the future," Zaidi said. "So, the cost of inaction is mounting already. And that's why it's time, over time, to take action and boost the American economy and set it up to to tackle the climate crisis."