Category Archives: Biden Administration

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Joe Biden, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: President Biden Sets 2035 Climate Target Aimed at Creating Good-Paying Union Jobs, Reducing Costs for All Americans

The U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) is an economy-wide, all greenhouse gas target of reducing net emissions by 61-66 percent below 2005 levels in 2035
 
The emissions reduction strategy includes leveraging landmark investments from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, complemented by federal standards; coordinating with local, state, Tribal, and territorial governments; and mobilizing private capital

New York City gets ready for congestion pricing. As the United States continues to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy, President Biden is announcing a new climate target for the United States: a 61-66 percent reduction in 2035 from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions. It keeps the United States on a straight line or steeper path to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

In 2015, the world came together to finalize the Paris Agreement, an historic agreement joined by nearly every country in the world to address the climate crisis and protect the planet for future generations. On Day One of his Administration, President Biden fulfilled his promise to rejoin the Paris Agreement and set a course for the United States to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad. In 2021, pursuant to the terms of the Paris Agreement, President Biden submitted a nationally determined contribution (NDC) with a target of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 50-52 percent from the 2005 baseline in 2030.
 
Today, as the United States continues to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy, President Biden is announcing a new climate target for the United States: a 61-66 percent reduction in 2035 from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions. It keeps the United States on a straight line or steeper path to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050. In connection with this announcement, the United States is making a formal submission of this new target to the United Nations Climate Change secretariat as its next NDC under the Paris Agreement.
 
To develop the U.S. 2035 NDC, the Biden-Harris Administration analyzed how every economic sector – power generation, buildings, transportation, industry, agriculture and forestry– can spur innovation, unleash new opportunities, drive competitiveness, and cut pollution. Additionally, the United States anticipates, as part of achieving its 2035 NDC emissions target, methane reductions of at least 35 percent from 2005 levels in 2035. Cutting methane emissions is among the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming and is an essential complement to CO2 mitigation.
 
This 2035 NDC aligns with President Biden’s target of a net zero greenhouse gas economy no later than 2050 and marks an ambitious capstone to President Biden’s climate legacy, focused on investment, innovation, creating millions of good-paying and union jobs, building the clean energy economy of the future, reducing costs for all Americans, advancing environmental justice, and improving the health and security of communities across America. There are multiple paths to reach these targets, and U.S. Federal, state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments have numerous tools available to work with civil society and the private sector to mobilize investment in the years ahead while supporting a stronger, fairer economy.
 
Momentum from President Biden’s Climate and Economic Agenda
 
Since President Biden announced the 2030 NDC in April 2021 to reduce emissions 50-52% by 2030, the United States has designed and implemented a historic climate strategy that leverages emissions reduction and economic growth in every region of the country. Advanced through thousands of policies and actions undertaken by federal, state, territorial, Tribal, and local governments, the strategy includes passage of the landmarks Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), paired with strategic implementation of a regulatory agenda to ensure emissions reductions across every sector of the economy. This approach has equipped federal, state, territorial, Tribal, and local governments with additional resources and regulatory certainty to partner with the private sector to grow a new clean energy economy that benefits American workers and consumers. Implementation of this broad and comprehensive strategy has already led to more than $450 billion of private sector investment in domestic clean energy and manufacturing projects. This progress will accelerate as the Biden-Harris climate agenda continues to drive a wide range of investments in clean energy deployment and manufacturing in the years ahead. Examples include:
 

  • Arizona has added over 370,000 new jobs, and unleashed more than $120 billion in private sector investment. Investments include $5.5 billion to build a battery facility outside Phoenix that will produce batteries for 350,000 electric vehicles per year.
    • California has added over two million new jobs and more than $45 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investment, including a $4 billion Gigafactory to produce lithium-ion batteries in Imperial Valley.
    • Georgia has added nearly half a million new jobs and mobilized more than $40 billion in private sector investment. Qcells is investing $2.5 billion to expand its solar panel and component manufacturing capacity in Dalton and Cartersville.
    • Maryland has added over 160,000 new jobs, and attracted more than $2.7 billion in private sector investment, including a $350 million investment from Constellation Energy to increase the output and lifespan of its renewable energy portfolio.
    • Pennsylvania has added more than 560,000 new jobs and unleashed nearly $4.3 billion in private sector investment, including a $500 million investment by Eos Energy Enterprises to expand battery manufacturing operations in Turtle Creek, supported by a loan guarantee from DOE’s Loan Programs Office.
    • Wisconsin has added more than 188,000 new jobs and $5.4 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments, including $426 million for the state’s first large-scale solar and battery storage project outside Milwaukee.

These investments and many more tell a clear story: the clean energy revolution is being built in America, and that will not be reversed.
 
Fundamental Economic and Technological Trends
 
Over the past four years the prices of clean energy generation and infrastructure have fallen dramatically. President Biden’s economic agenda, supported by complementary subnational government actions and private sector innovation, has reshaped the energy landscape now and for future generations so that American consumers and workers will benefit, especially in energy communities that have historically powered our nation. Along with the boom in domestic investments, technological advances across the energy sector are also making the U.S. clean energy revolution irreversible, including:
 

  • Clean Energy Generation. The levelized cost of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind are dropping rapidly. In 2024, estimates for utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind are as low as $29 per megawatt hour and $27 per megawatt hour, respectively. On a levelized-cost basis, utility-scale solar is now broadly on par with fossil fuel sources, even before accounting for the environmental and public health benefits. A recent analysis indicates that 99 percent of all U.S. coal plants are more expensive to continue running than to replace with solar, wind, and energy storage resources. Geothermal power generation capacity is also accelerating, with 203 megawatts commissioned globally in 2023, up 12 percent from 2022. Recent technological advances, particularly in drilling, indicate the industry is on track to an average cost of $60-70/MWh by 2030 and $45/MWh by 2035. New enhanced geothermal capacity is already slated to meet the clean electricity demands of new industries. And the recent completion of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, the nation’s first new nuclear reactors in over 30 years, as well as planned revitalizations of existing reactors, progress on advancedreactor technologies, and new private sectordemand, are all signs of further progress expanding nuclear power capacity ahead.
    • New and Better Transmission. Expanding and enhancing the U.S. transmission system is critical to the nation’s resilience and national security. Significant expansions of new and upgraded transmission lines by public and private sector entities, including SunZia Transmission in New Mexico, will facilitate the transmission of clean energy across the United States. Meanwhile, a new generation of modern grid technologies provides a significant opportunity to achieve power system capacity expansion, including through high-performance conductors that can carry two times (or more) the amount of power of conventional transmission wires, as well as grid enhancing technologies that maximize electricity transmission across the existing system through a family of technologies that includes sensors, power flow control devices, and analytical tools.
       
    • Battery Storage. Utility-scale battery storage has the potential to provide much-needed flexibility that supports renewable energy sources, and helps address grid infrastructure challenges. Between 2010 and 2023, the cost of utility-scale battery storage projects declined by 89%, to $273 per kilowatt hour, driven by improvements in manufacturing, materials efficiency, and manufacturing processes. Storage capacity additions also increased significantly, with additions of 22 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2023. As the private sector continues to invest in new battery technologies and manufacturing processes, battery storage costs will continue to decline, supporting the clean energy economy of the future.
       
    • Energy Efficiency. Improvements in energy efficiency can cut pollution and save Americans on their energy and water bills. The Biden-Harris Administration has strengthened energy efficiency standards to save households and businesses money, with standards updated by DOE for dozens of appliances expected to provide nearly $1 trillion in consumer savings over 30 years, saving the average household more than $100 a year while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 2 billion metric tons. Efficient equipment such as heat pumps powered by clean electricity are already making heating, cooling, and hot water more affordable for a growing number of American homes. 2022 marked the first year that heat pump sales outpaced fossil fuel furnaces in the US; in 2023, heat pumps outsold gas furnaces by 27 percent, demonstrating the technology’s growing popularity with consumers. When paired with energy efficiency improvements, like insulation, heat pumps lower the cost of heating and cooling, while improving indoor and outdoor air quality.
  • Clean Steel and Clean Concrete. Producing steel and concrete, fundamental building blocks of the modern economy, accounts for more than 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Clean steel and concrete are already being produced in the United States. Major steelmakers are now using Inflation Reduction Act investments to build and retrofit American steel facilities to produce cleaner steel. Innovative low carbon methods for concrete production can reduce emissions by eliminating the need for high temperatures or through the use of alternative low carbon feedstocks. These innovative concretes are more durable and stronger than conventional concrete, improving the performance of infrastructure investments and resulting in long term savings. As clean hydrogen and clean electricity prices continue to fall, producers will be able to further slash emissions using these cleaner inputs.
    • Clean Hydrogen. Hydrogen has the potential to reduce emissions across a host of sectors, including transportation and heavy industry. Key cost drivers of green hydrogen production, including the capital expenditure for electrolyzers and the price of renewable energy, are expected to decline in years ahead due to economies of scale, delivering green hydrogen at a lower price point. Combined, these two cost declines could translate to a significant reduction in green hydrogen production costs, from $3-6 per kilogram today to $1.50 – 2 by 2035.
  • Clean Cars and Trucks. Electric vehicles (EVs) are already selling at a record pace in the United States, supported by falling component prices as well as fuel and maintenance cost savings for consumers. From 2018 to 2022, the sales-weighted average price of electric cars decreased, and the price gap between internal combustion vehicles and EVs has begun to close. Through 2035, falling EV component prices will drive down the purchase price for EVs and bring new customers to the EV market. For instance, battery prices are set to fall by as much as 50 percent through 2026 thanks to improved technology and expanded production of key inputs. Federal standards support these market developments: the strongest-ever national pollution standards for passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles are providing certainty for the automobile industry, catalyzing private investment, creating good-paying union jobs, improving public health, and expanding consumer choice in clean vehicles.
  • Federal Sustainability. With broad support from America’s manufacturers, clean energy developers, labor organizations, business leaders, states, and communities, the Federal Government’s 300,000 buildings, 600,000 vehicles, and $750 billion in annual procurement power will continue to be more sustainable and resilient while supporting good jobs, cutting costs, and saving taxpayers money.

 
Action and Leadership from state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments
 
State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments in the United States have a long history of climate leadership that has laid the groundwork for subsequent federal action, including the Inflation Reduction Act. Many critical climate levers, especially in the transportation, electricity, and building sectors, lie largely within the domain of these governments. In the years ahead, leveraging and expanding the new clean energy economy enabled by the Biden-Harris Administration’s policies and bolstered by strong economic tailwinds supporting clean energy, these governments will ensure that the United States remains all-in on climate action. States, territories, cities, counties, and Tribal governments together have the capacity to step in and deliver on climate ambition. In the years ahead, we expect that subnational and Tribal governments will adopt new and strengthen existing climate-forward policies such as:
 

  • Climate Action Plan Implementation: Through support from the Inflation Reduction Act, more than 45 states and more than 200 Tribes, territories, and metro areas have now developed their own Climate Action Plans, representing a historic set of opportunities for subnational climate progress across sectors. More than $4 billion of Climate Pollution Reduction Grants awarded by the Biden-Harris Administration will also advance 59 implementation projects across 30 states, 33 Tribal Nations, and 1 territory to reduce climate pollution from every sector of the economy. Many of these projects can be expanded and provide examples that other states, local governments, Tribes, and even businesses can replicate in their work to tackle the climate crisis.
    • Innovative Solutions to Cut Pollution from the Existing Transportation Systems. California, Washington, and Oregon have developed and implemented, or started to implement, programs that reduce emissions from the transportation sector through a predictable, market-based approach, generating climate and local-air quality benefits for residents and communities. New York City and State adopted and implemented the country’s first-ever congestion pricing program, which will reduce climate pollution and provide a stable funding source for mass transit. Other states have the opportunity to build on these successful policy initiatives in their own jurisdictions.
       
    • Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) and Clean Energy Standards (CESs). Today, twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have set RPSs and eight others have adopted CESs, which will increase the generation of low- and zero-carbon electricity. Adoption of these standards by additional states, as well as the strengthening of existing standards, provides significant upside for reducing climate pollution.
       
    • Building Energy Codes. Many subnational governments have already adopted or are in the process of adopting the most up-to-date energy codes to ensure new building construction is energy efficient and lowering emissions for years to come. Subnational governments are also reducing energy costs and emissions in existing buildings, with almost 25 percent of commercial buildings subject to a building performance standard or located in a community with plans to adopt building performance standards.
       
    • State Procurement of Low-Carbon Materials. The Biden-Harris Administration’s landmark Federal Buy Clean Initiative leverages the sway of the U.S. government, as the largest purchaser on Earth, to spur demand for clean American manufacturing of materials that form the bedrock of our economy. Thirteen states have joined the Federal-State Buy Clean Partnership and committed to prioritizing efforts that support procurement of lower-carbon infrastructure materials in state-funded projects. These states can continue to work together to send a clear, harmonized demand signal to the marketplace for the long-term decarbonization of essential industries.
       
    • Financing Climate Solutions. With support from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), the national network for financing clean energy and climate solutions across sectors is larger than ever before. The National Clean Investment Fund awardees are establishing national clean financing institutions that deliver accessible and affordable financing for clean technology projects nationwide, and the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator awardees are establishing hubs that provide funding and technical assistance to community lenders working in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
       
    • State and Regional Efforts to Cap Emissions. 15 states and Puerto Rico have binding economy-wide emissions targets in law, covering more than 115 million Americans across the country. Voters in Washington State recently upheld a groundbreaking law requiring companies to cut carbon emissions while investing in programs that benefit the public, such as habitat restoration and climate adaptation. This recent success builds on initiatives such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional program that requires certain power plants to acquire allowances for every ton of CO2 emitted.

In the years to come, leadership will come from all across American society – cities and states, Tribes and territories, small and big businesses, working communities, individual Americans and the private sector working together to seize the economic opportunity, create jobs, and build the clean energy economy. This new clean energy economy, enabled by the forward-looking policies of this Administration, will continue to grow – and the United States will continue to create good jobs and cut carbon pollution right here at home.

Biden Administration, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Protection

Conservationists Cheer Bipartisan  Legislation: Groundbreaking US Foundation for International Conservation Act and WILD Act

The WILD Act reauthorizes the Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF), which supports the global priority species, such as tigers, rhinos, African and Asian elephants, great apes, turtles, and tortoises—all which are facing constant danger from poaching, habitat loss and degradation, conflicts with human populations, and other serious threats © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Wildlife Conservation Society is cheering the passage of the bipartisan U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act and the WILD Act. Both were part of the National Defense Authorization Act headed to the president for his signature.

Wildlife Conservation Society’s Executive Vice President for Public Affairs John F. Calvelli stated:

“It was a great bipartisan win for wildlife conservation in Washington this week,” stated Wildlife Conservation Society’s Executive Vice President for Public Affairs John F. Calvelli said:

“Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives have come together on groundbreaking legislation that will address ecological degradation that destabilizes and drives conflict around the world. Passed this week, the U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act and the WILD Act are important steps to save nature and promote ecological integrity which also advances U.S. economic and security interests across the globe. When U.S. programs provide support to developing countries that unlock private sector scalable financing for nature, it promotes security and stability.  

“At WCS, we work with governments, hundreds of partners, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities to ensure nature remains intact and thrives for people and wildlife. Through our 125 plus years, WCS has helped countries and Indigenous Peoples establish and manage 245 parks and territories protecting nature, securing local economies and strengthening cultural identities.

“The US Foundation for International Conservation Act (USFICA) will create a public-private partnership to save wildlife and wild places around the world. What that means is government funds will leverage private support, making those public dollars go much farther. And those monies would go directly to protected areas and parks around the world to help set up their management structures to provide resources on the ground. We thank the members—who led efforts on the Hill to secure passage of USFICA—including Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.); and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY).

“We also thank our many partners and the thousands who expressed support for the legislation through a WCS campaign. It is estimated that USFICA will help generate $2 billion over ten years to support protected areas and communities. USFICA will incentivize philanthropic giving to match government funds which provide long-term, predictable funding for core protected area management programs such as management costs, leadership skill training, and development of tourism strategies. The legislation will ensure natures strongholds provide economic, environmental, social, and cultural benefits both locally and globally. Well-managed protected areas provide employment, health and education services to a significant number of households in the local communities and support initiatives that value the lifeways of Indigenous Peoples. As the largest global conservation organization working on the ground in more than 50 countries, we know first-hand the power that public-private partnerships play in supporting people and nature.

“The WILD Act reauthorizes the Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF), which supports the global priority species, such as tigers, rhinos, African and Asian elephants, great apes, turtles, and tortoises—all which are facing constant danger from poaching, habitat loss and degradation, conflicts with human populations, and other serious threats. In addition, funding from the MSCF provides front-line protection against zoonotic disease by supporting projects that prevent or reverse the conditions that lead to pathogen spillover events. We thank Representatives David Joyce (R-OH) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI); and Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) for their leadership behind reauthorization of this legislation. Through the years, MSCF programs have helped to sustain and recover wildlife populations by combating poaching and trafficking, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and protecting essential habitat—all while promoting U.S. interests across the globe. These programs efficiently use taxpayer dollars, granting them an outsized impact because they consistently leverage two to four times as much in matching funds from organizations like WCS, foreign governments, local NGOs, and private foundations.

“Saving nature and advancing conservation measures have long been a bipartisan effort in our country. Passage of the WILD Act and USFICA ensures the U.S. will continue to be a leader in global efforts to advance natural security for people and wildlife.”

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) combines the power of its zoos and an aquarium in New York City and a Global Conservation Program in more than 50 countries to achieve its mission to save wildlife and wild places. WCS runs the world’s largest conservation field program, protecting more than 50 percent of Earth’s known biodiversity; in partnership with governments, Indigenous People, Local Communities, and the private sector. It’s four zoos and aquarium (the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and the New York Aquarium ) welcome more than 3.5 million visitors each year, inspiring generations to care for nature

Biden Administration, News & Photo Features

President Biden Designates Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine

President Biden is signing a proclamation establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine, to honor the historic contributions of America’s first woman Cabinet Secretary and the longest-serving Secretary of Labor. It is Biden’s 13th use of the Antiquities Act, and his fourth new national monument helping to tell a more complete American story (photo: Library of Congress)

Action Uplifts Women’s History by Honoring the First Woman Cabinet Secretary, Longest-Serving Secretary of Labor and a Key Architect of the New Deal

President Biden is signing a proclamation establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine, to honor the historic contributions of America’s first woman Cabinet Secretary and the longest-serving Secretary of Labor. This fact sheet is provided by the White House:
 
Frances Perkins was the leading architect behind the New Deal and led many labor and economic reforms that continue to benefit Americans today. During her 12 years as Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she envisioned and helped create Social Security; helped millions of Americans get back to work during the Great Depression; fought for the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively; and established the minimum wage, overtime pay, prohibitions on child labor, and unemployment insurance.
 
During a visit to the Department of Labor’s Frances Perkins Building, President Biden will showcase Frances Perkins’s foundational legacy, which civil rights and women’s rights leaders have built upon to further expand opportunities for all Americans. The President will also highlight how his Administration has continued to stand with labor and strengthen America’s workforce. President Biden is proud to be the most pro-union and pro-worker president in history, including creating the Made in America office; requiring Project Labor Agreements on nearly all major federal construction projects of over $35 million; signing the Butch Lewis Act to save more than one million pensions; and becoming the first president in history to walk a picket line.
 
The designation of this new national monument advances President Biden’s March 2024 Executive Order to strengthen the recognition of women’s history. In addition to establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument, today Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland will announce five new National Historic Landmarks that will increase the representation of women’s history in historic sites across America and additional new actions to advance President Biden’s Executive Order.
 
Frances Perkins National Monument
 
At a time when few women were in leadership positions and just 13 years after the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, President Roosevelt asked Frances Perkins to become his Secretary of Labor. Perkins told President Roosevelt that if she accepted the position, she intended to execute an ambitious plan to protect American workers. Over her 12 years as Secretary of Labor, Perkins accomplished nearly everything on her list and laid the groundwork for the labor policy and social safety net that we continue to build on today.
 
The new national monument boundary encompasses the 57 acres of the Frances Perkins Homestead National Historic Landmark site in Newcastle, Maine. The Perkins Homestead played a pivotal role in Frances Perkins’ life and was the place Perkins felt most at home. She spent her childhood summers there, and returned frequently for respite throughout her ground-breaking professional career.  
 
Owned by her family for over 270 years, the Homestead remains much as it looked during Perkins’ lifetime. The 2.3-acre core area of the Homestead has been donated to the National Park Service and is reserved as part of the new monument, including the Perkins’ family home known as the brick house, a barn and outbuilding, gardens, and part of the stone wall surrounding the property. The remaining Homestead landscape extends from the core area to the Damariscotta River to the east, and contains other buildings, structures, gardens, and the paths used by Perkins and her family throughout her life. These lands are currently owned by the Frances Perkins Center which has been managing and preserving them, and they will be reserved and protected as part of the national monument if they are ever donated to the Federal Government in the future.
 
Advancing Women’s History and Telling a More Complete American Story
 
The establishment of the Frances Perkins National Monument furthers the Administration’s commitment to recognizing women’s contributions to our country. The Biden-Harris Administration has invested more than $40 million to restore and support sites that recognize and elevate the stories of women who have shaped American history. Today, the Department of the Interior (DOI) is announcing additional new actions that advance the President’s Executive Order on Honoring and Recognizing Women’s History, including: 

  • Secretary Haaland is announcing five new National Historic Landmarks, DOI’s highest recognition of a property’s historical, architectural, or archeological significance. These include:
    • The Charleston Cigar Factory in Charleston, South Carolina. This new landmark, historically known as the American Cigar Company Building, will recognize the site where cigar factory workers – led by Black women – went on strike for better pay and working conditions, and against gender and racial discrimination on the job.
       
    • The Furies Collective House in Washington, D.C. This new landmark recognizes the former home of a group of young activists who created a social and political community credited with recognizing the existence and needs of lesbians in the women’s movement in the early 1970s, and who published a newspaper focused on questions of women’s identity, relationships, and roles in society.
       
    • The Lucy Diggs Slowe and Mary Burrill House in Washington, D.C. This new landmark includes the residence of Lucy Diggs Slowe, the first dean of women at Howard University, and her partner Mary Burrill. An advocate for educational parity between men and women students, Slowe helped modernize student affairs at Howard and other historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
       
    • Azurest South in Petersburg, Virginia. This new landmark is designed in the International Style, an architectural style developed in the United States and Europe in the 1920s and 1930s that dominated mid-20th century architecture, by Amaza Lee Meredith, a pioneering Black woman architect.
       
    • The Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth House and Studios in San Patricio, New Mexico. This new landmark recognizes the home and workspace of 20th century Realist painter Henriette Wyeth.    
       
  • The National Park Service is announcing a $500,000 grant from the Historic Preservation Fund to support the renovation of the Seneca Falls Knitting Mill, a part of the Seneca Falls Village Historic District. The Fund’s support will enable the National Women’s Hall of Fame to expand its programming on women’s history and restore the mill, which was one of the few places in Seneca Falls, New York to employ women during its 150 years of operation.
     
  • As directed by President Biden, DOI is releasing a new report on representation of women across sites of national importance, including National Historic Landmarks, national monuments, and national park sites. The report assesses which existing federal sites are significant to women’s history and offers opportunities to improve the recognition of women’s contributions to our country across the National Park Service, including through the National Historic Landmark program.

 Antiquities Act Designations
 
President Theodore Roosevelt first used the Antiquities Act in 1906 to designate Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Since then, 18 presidents of both parties have used this authority to protect natural and historic features in America, including the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, the Pullman National Monument, and the César E. Chávez National Monument.
 
The Frances Perkins National Monument will be President Biden’s 13th use of the Antiquities Act and his fourth new national monument commemorating a site that helps tell a more complete American story. Other designations under President Biden include the creation of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument, and the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument

Biden Administration, Economic Development, Economic Policies, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Marking Small Business Saturday, Biden-Harris Administration Takes New Actions to Increase Federal Support for Small Businesses

The Biden-Harris Administration is increasing small business lending limits and helping small businesses compete for federal contracting opportunities. This fact sheet is provided by the White House:

Small businesses are the engines of our economy and the heart and soul of our communities. Today, the White House announced new actions by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to increase access to federal lending and contracting opportunities for small businesses. SBA is announcing it is making it easier for traditionally underserved small businesses to access capital from mission-oriented lenders by increasing the cap on their SBA 7(a) loans from $350,000 to $500,000. OMB is releasing procurement guidance on both upcoming contracts and subcontracting opportunities to better enable federal agencies to support small business trying to compete for the over $700 billion in federal contracts. And federal agencies are leveraging small disadvantaged businesses at record rates to improve resilience in federal research and development (R&D) supply chains.
 
President Biden and Vice President Harris invested a record $56 billion in SBA-backed capital in small businesses last year—and have overseen a small business boom. American entrepreneurs have filed over 20 million new business applications, the most in any single Presidential term in history. And these applications are leading historic business creation, with new establishment growth higher under President Biden than at any point in the last quarter-century. Entrepreneurs are thriving across communities, with business ownership doubling among Black families, hitting a 30-year high for Hispanic families, exceeding a 30-year high for Asian Americans, and surpassing pre-pandemic levels for women business owners. The Biden-Harris agenda continues to make sure that small businesses in every corner of the country—rural, suburban, urban, and everywhere in between—have the resources they need to grow and thrive.
 
In advance of Small Business Saturday, the Biden-Harris Administration is doubling down on investments in entrepreneurs by taking the following actions: 

  • Expanding caps on critical lending programs. Today, the SBA is announcing an increase of the maximum loan amount backed by their Community Advantage Small Business Lending Companies (CA SBLCs) from $350,000 to $500,000 for active lenders in good standing. These mission-based non-depository lenders—often Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)—focus on providing access to capital to underserved businesses and underinvested businesses, ensuring that women, people of color, veterans, rural, and low- and moderate-income communities have access to SBA-backed capital. This step builds on prior action by the Biden-Harris Administration to support small businesses through CA SBLCs, including making the program permanent following a successful pilot launched by the Obama-Biden Administration.
    • Improving forecasting of upcoming federal contracting opportunities. OMB is issuing guidance to federal procurement officials to strengthen government-wide procurement forecasts. Agencies have long been required to prepare annual forecasts of upcoming federal contract opportunities for businesses, but variance in the quality and timeliness has made it difficult for small businesses to prepare their proposals and more effectively compete against larger businesses. Today’s memo will help align timelines and expectations, better enabling small business to understand when new opportunities will become available and plan ahead to compete for federal awards.
       
    • Increasing access to federal subcontracting opportunities. In 2023, small businesses received a record $86 billion in subcontract awards from the federal government. Building on this success, OMB is issuing guidance to federal agencies on ways to continue to expand subcontracting opportunities for small businesses, the primary gateway for them to compete as prime contractors. This also improves the resilience of supply chains for critical government needs by increasing competition and expanding the pool of businesses engaged in federal contracts. This guidance describes promising policies and strategies adopted by forward-thinking agencies, and encourages federal procurement officials to recognize prime contractors who meet or exceed their subcontracting plan goals and work to strengthen their small business supply chains.
       
    • Leveraging Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs) to meet research and development (R&D) Needs. Federal R&D investments are integral to maintaining American leadership in emerging science and technology. The Biden-Harris Administration has made significant progress in leveraging the talents of SDBs for federal R&D contracts, with two-year average annual spending at $2.5 billion in Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023—an all-time high and nearly $450 million a year more than in 2020. Following OMB’s call for agencies to strategically build out resilience within specific supply chains, the White House, SBA, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released an internal set of best practices to help agencies reach even greater heights in the R&D sector, including actions to strengthen planning, outreach, and use of the resources available through the 8(a) Program. 

Both of OMB’s actions build on significant work by the Biden-Harris Administration to help small and underserved businesses access federal contract opportunities, including awarding a record $178.6 billion in federal contracting opportunities to small businesses (28.4% of eligible federal dollars) and a record $76.2 billion to small disadvantaged businesses (12.1% of eligible federal dollars).

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Energy, Infrastructure, Jobs, Manufacturing, News & Photo Features

Memo to America: Biden’s Investing in America Policy to Building Sustainable Economy Has Generated $1 Trillion in Private Sector Investment in Clean Energy, Manufacturing

More than 3.4 million American families have already saved $8.4 billion on home clean energy upgrades, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Three million more households in America have high-speed internet today than when President Biden took office. There are already more than 74,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects underway across the country, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. That includes 11,400 bridge projects, 196,000 miles of roads under repair, and 376,000 lead pipes already replaced, benefitting nearly 1 million people. Millions of seniors are benefitting from the $35 cap on the cost of insulin, and the cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries has already saved 1.5 million seniors nearly $1 billion in the first half of 2024, with Medicare beneficiaries feeling the full benefits starting in January. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

People said they voted against Kamala Harris because they were just so so very upset about inflation, how they were suffering in this terrible economy, so voted for the guy who not only had no policy, plan or program to address inflation or high prices, but whose stated Project 2025 policies (tariffs) would hurt the economy, jobs and prices. But I am wondering how bad the economy really could be if holiday spending is already up 9%, malls and online sites are seeing massive increases in shoppers, there is record travel on the roads and through airports. Oh, by the way, gas prices are around $3 or less a gallon – close to 2019; – and inflation has fallen below 2.3% for the year, comparable to 2019, while REAL wage increases (that is increased income compared to inflation) are up on average $4000; Thanksgiving meal prices are down. But those working class people (suckers) who think that Trump will give them a better deal? Are you kidding or just really willfully ignorant? Have you seen the billionaires, kleptocrats, oligarchs (not to mention the misogynists, sexual predators and felons) he is installing in power? They are already salivating at shutting down the National Labor Relations Board, ending food and product safety regulation, environmental protection, restricting food stamps and vaccinations for poor children and cutting Medicare and Social Security, while serving up deeper tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals (the top 0.1% already control more wealth than 50 percent of the country) and corporations, already sitting on record profits from price-gouging.

Biden’s Deputy Chief of Staff offered this memo “to interested parties” on what President Biden accomplished that I’m betting 99.9% of Americans have no clue about $1 TRILLION in private sector investment in clean energy and manufacturing since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office because of Biden’s Investing in America agenda, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act – all of which Republicans tried to block, obstruct, sabotage and now threaten to repeal.It’s like the way Republicans were able to generate hostility to Obama’s Affordable Care Act in order to win the 2010 midterms and how Obamacare has become so popular and important in people’s lives, but Trump and the MAGA Republicans are still keen to repeal it, leaving millions without healthcare desperate and insecure – Karen Rubin, news-photos-features.com

On the success of $1 trillion in investment due to his policies and approach to building a sustainable economy “from the bottom up and the middle out,” President Biden stated:

When I took office, the pandemic was raging and the economy was reeling. From Day One, I was determined to not only deliver economic relief, but to invest in America and grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down.

Over the last four years, that’s exactly what we’ve done. We passed legislation to rebuild our infrastructure, build a clean energy economy, and bring manufacturing back to the United States after decades of offshoring. Today I’m proud to announce my Investing in America agenda—the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act—has helped attract over $1 trillion in announced private-sector investments. These investments in industries of the future are ensuring the future is made in America, by American workers. And they’re creating opportunities in communities too often left behind.

Over 1.6 million construction and manufacturing jobs have been created over the last four years, and our investments are making America a leader in clean energy and semiconductor technologies that will protect our economic and national security, while expanding opportunities in red states and blue states.

Today, thanks to my Investing in America agenda, businesses around the world are investing in America—which is good news for American workers and American businesses—and we’re positioned to win the economic competition for the 21st century.

To: Interested Parties

From: Natalie Quillian, White House Deputy Chief of Staff

MEMO: President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda’s Growing Durability and Popularity

When President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office, America was in the midst of a deadly pandemic and our economy was reeling. Since then, President Biden and Vice President Harris have overseen one of the most successful administrations in history and will be leaving behind the best economy in the world.

Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, 16 million jobs have been created, and we’ve gotten women and people of color back in the labor force at record rates. A record 20 million new business applications have been filed, and inflation is down to near pre-pandemic levels. These outcomes are due in part to our success in passing and implementing legislation that rebuilt our nation’s infrastructure, made the largest investment in climate action in history, lowered prescription drug costs, and spurred a manufacturing renaissance. Together, the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act – the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda – are reshaping our economy. And as of today, that agenda has helped spur over $1 trillion in private sector investment in clean energy and manufacturing since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office.

The level of private sector investment seen under this administration is unprecedented. Business leaders have called the boom in private investment “nothing short of extraordinary,” and have said the United States’ economy is “among the best performing economies” in decades. It is driving a manufacturing renaissance across the country and onshoring new and growing industries such as semiconductors, solar, batteries, and more. It’s also helping rebuild communities and create opportunity in places that were overlooked or left behind by public and private investment for far too long.

As of today, the Department of Commerce has announced over two dozen preliminary or final agreements with semiconductor manufacturing companies to create American-made chips in Phoenix, Arizona; Columbus, Ohio; Taylor, Texas; Syracuse, New York, and more, spurring over $400 billion in private investment that will create at least 125,000 jobs. Over $119 billion in investments in EVs and batteries and $122 billion in clean power have been announced in just the two years since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed. Recent announcements show these investments have continued at a steady pace. For example, in the last month alone, SolarCycle announced it would invest $400 million in Georgia for the largest solar panel recycling facility in the country, MainSpring Energy announced it would match an $87 million grant from the Department of Energy to manufacture power generators in Allegheny County, PA, and Microporous announced a $1.35 billion investment to create 2,000 jobs building battery separators in southern Virginia.

In addition to private investment, the Biden-Harris Administration has been implementing these laws quickly, effectively and equitably since the day the first Investing in America bill was signed. Due to that effort, there are already more than 74,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects underway across the country, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. That includes 11,400 bridge projects, 196,000 miles of roads under repair, and 376,000 lead pipes already replaced, benefitting nearly 1 million people. More than 3.4 million American families have already saved $8.4 billion on home clean energy upgrades, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Three million more households in America have high-speed internet today than when President Biden took office. Millions of seniors are benefitting from the $35 cap on the cost of insulin, and the cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries has already saved 1.5 million seniors nearly $1 billion in the first half of 2024, with Medicare beneficiaries feeling the full benefits starting in January.

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced awards for 98% of Investing in America funding available for us to spend by the end of fiscal year 2024. Departments and agencies are running through the tape – announcing more awards, finalizing contracts and grant agreements, and accelerating permitting timelines. For example, the Department of Transportation executed more than twice as many grant agreements compared to the prior administration, completed 20 percent more environmental reviews in the transportation sector, and cut the time it takes to complete environmental assessments for transportation projects by one third.

These programs and projects mean real benefits for people across the country. It’s why as we continue to implement the Investing in America agenda, we see these programs grow in popularity even among skeptics, suggesting that the transformation of the U.S. economy is here to stay. For example:

  • Nearly 8 in 10 Americans support keeping the Inflation Reduction Act’s $35 per month cap on the cost of insulin for seniors, including 76% of Republicans.
  • A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 88% of Americans support the Administration’s work building or repairing our nation’s roads, bridges, rail lines, ports and other infrastructure.
  • Outside groups have found that the majority of private sector investments spurred by Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits are going to red districts, and 57 percent of the new clean energy jobs created since the Inflation Reduction Act passed are located in Congressional districts represented by Republicans.

The progress we’ve made, however, represents only a fraction of the full impact of this agenda. As the President said earlier this month, the impacts of this historic agenda “will be felt over the next 10 years.” If future Administrations continue to implement at the pace we have, people across the country will enjoy the benefits of safer water, cleaner air, faster internet, and smoother commutes.  For example, by the end of 2026, the country is on track to have launched repairs on a total of over 356,000 miles of highway and over 20,800 bridges with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. By the end of 2028, communities will replace more than one million toxic lead pipes, bringing clean water to over 2.5 million people and protecting the health and safety of children and families.  And by 2030, 6 million more households and small businesses will have access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet.

Also, major projects we’ve funded will be completed in the coming years. For example, TSMC’s first Arizona factory will fully open in early 2025 and for the first time in decades, an American manufacturing plant will produce leading-edge chips. Service on the Brightline West High Speed Rail System, connecting Las Vegas, Nevada to Rancho Cucamonga, California, is on track to start in 2028, in time for the Los Angeles Olympics. A project to replace Michigan’s outdated I-375 freeway will be completed in the same year.

Over the coming months, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue the critical work of implementing the Investing in America agenda by announcing more awards, finalizing contracts and grant agreements, and making sure these investments are reaching the American people. While the full effects won’t be realized for years to come, it’s clear that the Investing in America agenda – and its impacts on the economy, on communities, and on American families – is here to stay.

Biden Administration, Infrastructure, Joe Biden

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Celebrates Historic Progress in Rebuilding America on 3-Year Anniversary of Transformative Bipartisan Infrastructure Law


To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced over $568 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, including over 66,000 projects and awards in all 50 states, D.C., the territories, and Tribal Nations. That’s part of the 74,000 total clean energy and infrastructure projects funded so far under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, which also includes historic investments in clean air water, climate action, and semiconductor manufacturing © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

On the 3-Year anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,
President Joe Biden issued this statement and the White House issued a fact
sheet, outlining the extent of the projects and progress. How many were you
aware of?

To have the best economy in the world, you have to have the best infrastructure in the world. That’s why three years ago, I was proud to sign the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – the largest investment in our nation’s infrastructure in a generation. And when the bill passed, we showed that we can get big things done when we work together.

In just the three years since I signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, my Administration has launched over 66,000 projects across the country, repairing 196,000 miles of roads and 11,400 bridges, replacing 367,000 lead pipes, and expanding and modernizing ports and airports. And today, we’re investing an additional $1.5 billion in funding for rail investments along the Northeast Corridor – the most heavily trafficked rail corridor in the United States, supporting 800,000 trips per day – five times more passengers than all flights between Washington and New York.

We’re doing all this with American workers and products that are made in America. These investments are creating jobs, benefitting our communities, and ushering in an infrastructure decade that is planting the seeds for a better and more prosperous future.

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Transforms Nation’s Infrastructure, Celebrates Historic Progress in Rebuilding America for the Three-Year Anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Over $695 billion in funding and over 74,000 projects announced thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda

For far too long, this country’s infrastructure was under resourced and neglected, leading to crumbling roads and bridges, aging water systems, an unreliable electric grid, and inadequate high-speed internet access. Three years ago today, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a once-in-a-generation investment in America’s infrastructure to reverse this trend, strengthen communities, and transform the U.S. economy. Since then, the Biden-Harris Administration has been breaking ground and cutting ribbons on projects in every state to rebuild roads and bridges, strengthening our supply chains, ensuring safe routes to schools, providing clean drinking water for communities, expanding high-speed internet access for all, and much more.

To date, the Administration has announced over $568 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, including over 66,000 projects and awards in all 50 states, D.C., the territories, and Tribal Nations. That’s part of the 74,000 total clean energy and infrastructure projects funded so far under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, which also includes historic investments in clean air water, climate action, and semiconductor manufacturing.

President Biden and Vice President Harris are delivering an Infrastructure Decade, unlocking access to economic opportunity, creating good-paying jobs, boosting domestic manufacturing, and growing America’s economy from the middle up and bottom out in every community across the country. His Investing in America agenda has improved the lives of millions of Americans and is planting the seeds for a better and more prosperous future for decades to come, including connecting everyone in America to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet service, replacing every lead pipe in the country and much more by the end of the decade.

HISTORIC PROGRESS BY THE NUMBERS

Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Administration has already:

  • Announced $568 billion for over 66,000 projects across the country;
  • Started improvements on over 196,000 miles of roads and launched over 11,400 bridge repair projects, increasing safety and reconnecting communities across the country;
  • Replaced 367,000 lead pipes, benefitting nearly 1 million people, with funding continuing to be deployed for more replacements;
  • Provided funding to deploy over 4,600 American-made transit buses, more than doubling their number on America’s roadways, and funded approximately over 8,900 clean school buses;
  • Delivered funding for over 580 port and waterway projects to strengthen supply chains, speed up the movement of goods, lower costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
  • Deployed investments in over 400 airport terminal projects to modernize and expand terminals—over 200 of which are under construction or complete;
  • Financed over 2,400 drinking water and wastewater projects across the country, including projects through the Indian Health Service that will deliver clean water to 100,000 Tribal households;
  • Launched over 6,000 projects to help communities build resilience to threats such as the impacts of climate change and cyber-attacks;
  • Provided funding to over 400 states, tribes, and territories and launched over 100 projects to improve the resilience and reliability of America’s electric grid and deliver cheaper and cleaner electricity—representing the largest single investment in electric transmission and distribution infrastructure in the history of the United States;
  • Funded nearly 2,400 projects for water recycling, storage, conservation, desalination, and other purposes to improve drought resilience across the West;
  • Removed hazardous fuel material from 18 million acres of land through the Infrastructure Law and other sources to protect communities from wildfires;
  • Plugged over 9,600 orphaned oil and gas wells to address legacy pollution;
  • Awarded funding to 95 previously unfunded Superfund projects, clearing a longstanding backlog of projects to clean up contaminated sites and advance environmental justice;
  • Provided funding to 180 programs that advance President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal clean energy, climate, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities;
  • Created 940,000 construction jobs and construction employment is at a record high—higher than the previous peak before the Great Recession.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS ACROSS KEY SECTORS

The Biden-Harris Administration has made notable progress implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law across key sectors:

  • Roads and Bridges: Safe, modern transportation systems connect people to opportunity and critical destinations, bringing goods to market, bringing communities together, and enabling economic growth. That’s why President Biden secured the largest investment in transportation infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and major projects, since President Eisenhower’s investment in the Interstate Highway System. Since President Biden took office, improvements have started on over 196,000 miles of roads and over 11,400 bridge repair projects are underway – making our roadways safer and reconnecting communities across the country. This includes some of the most economically significant bridges in the country, like the Blatnik Bridge between Wisconsin and Minnesota or the I-55 America’s River Crossing between Tennessee and Arkansas. The Infrastructure Law is also funding thousands of smaller bridge projects, many of which are already complete, like the Second Avenue Bridge in Detroit and the Montgomery Avenue Bridge in Philadelphia.
  • Rail: When President Biden took office, he laid out his vision to bring world-class passenger rail to the United States. That’s why the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $66 billion in rail, the largest investment in passenger rail since the inception of Amtrak and an unprecedented investment in rail safety. Projects are underway across the country to modernize the Northeast Corridor – the most heavily trafficked rail corridor in the United States – to build new high-speed rail service, improve the efficiency of freight rail service, and eliminate dangerous rail crossings. An additional $1.5 billion will be announced today from the Department of Transportation for rail investments to provide faster, safer, and more reliable service for travelers and commuters. For example, the Brightline West High Speed Rail project broke ground earlier this year, using $3 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to connect Las Vegas and Southern California with 200-mile-per-hour zero emission train service and creating more than 35,000 jobs.
  • Airports: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $25 billion to modernize and upgrade airports and air traffic facilities nationwide, improving passenger experience through expanding capacity, increasing accessibility, and reducing delays. The Biden-Harris Administration has delivered funding for over 400 airport terminal projects to modernize and expand terminals – over 200 of which are under construction or complete­. This includes projects like the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Terminal Modernization project, where a new concourse was built with five new gates and upgraded waiting area was completed this year, and the San Diego International Airport Project, where construction is underway to build a new terminal with the addition of 30 gates, a five-story parking plaza, and roadway improvements. The Administration has also completed over 1,600 projects to upgrade and replace air traffic control towers to ensure the safe operation of the Nation’s airspace.
  • Ports and Waterways: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $17 billion to upgrade our nation’s ports and waterways. The Department of Transportation and Army Corps of Engineers have together funded over 580 port and waterway projects to strengthen supply chain reliability, speed up the movement of goods, reduce costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Major projects are already under construction, including at Montgomery Locks and Dam in Pennsylvania and Soo Locks in Michigan, which received a combined $1.65 billion to modernize and expand aging locks on key rivers that are lynchpins of national supply chains, keeping critical goods flowing and lowering costs for families. The Army Corps of Engineers has also invested $142 million to make the Port of Norfolk, Virginia, the deepest port on the East Coast, allowing enhanced navigation for larger commercial vessels. And today, the Department of Transportation is announcing nearly $580 million to increase capacity and efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports, and inland river ports.
  • Transit and School Buses: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in public transit ever, at nearly $90 billion – including billions to electrify or upgrade our bus, transit rail, and ferry fleets. Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has deployed over 4,600 American-made transit buses and over 8,900 clean school buses in over 1,300 communities across the country, prioritizing disadvantaged communities. Through the Capital Investment Grant program, the Administration is funding long-awaited capital projects – like the Mill Plains BRT in Vancouver, Washington, that provides fast, reliable transit service, and which opened earlier this year; and the Phoenix Northwest Light Rail Extension, which is now complete and is expected to transport nearly 2 million Phoenix residents to new stations and employ transit-oriented development to develop new housing and retail along this route.
  • Clean Water: President Biden believes that every American should be able to turn on the tap and drink safe, clean water. To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced over $40.3 billion to provide clean water across the country and improve water infrastructure, as part of the largest investment in clean water in U.S. history. This includes $9 billion announced so far toward President Biden’s commitment to replace every lead pipe within a decade. Under this Administration, 367,000 lead pipes have already been replaced, benefiting nearly 1 million people and protecting communities across the country from the irreversible health effects of lead exposure. To further accelerate lead pipe replacement, last month President Biden announced a new rule requiring water systems nationwide to replace lead service lines within 10 years. Altogether, funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has financed 2,400 drinking water and wastewater projects across the country. For example, the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System has now completed the construction of 300 miles of water pipeline to deliver reliable clean water to 350,000 people in rural Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. In addition, the Biden-Harris Administration through the Department of Interior has funded 575 projects for water recycling, storage, conservation, desalination, and other purposes to improve drought resilience across the West. One project under construction is the B.F. Sisk Dam in California’s Central Valley, which has received over $210 million to fortify and expand the dam’s reservoir by 130,000 acre-feet, making it the largest addition of surface water storage currently underway in the country.
  • High-Speed Internet: Since President Biden took office, 2.4 million American homes and small businesses have been connected to high-speed internet for the first time, and construction has begun in 21 states on high-speed internet projects that will improve network resilience and connect rural and Tribal communities. For example, homes and small businesses in Eureka, Montana, are now being connected to fiber-based high-speed internet through a $12 million USDA project. The Biden-Administration has also provided funding to more than 281 Tribal governments to connect over 65,000 Tribal households with high-speed internet. In addition, Infrastructure Law funding has helped launch construction on middle mile networks that are building or upgrading over 3,200 miles of middle mile high-speed internet infrastructure across 15 states and territories. One example is the HERO Project in North Carolina, an $11 million project to construct over 200 miles of fiber through central and southeastern North Carolina, including around Fort Liberty, Pope Air Force Base, and Camp Lejeune, benefitting both civilian and military populations. The Administration also implemented new rules to expose internet junk fees, enabling 300 million Americans to shop for home and mobile internet plans that best meet their needs and budget.
  • Modernizing the Grid and Deploying Clean Energy: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes more than $62 billion in funding at the Department of Energy to advance our clean energy future by investing in clean energy demonstration and deployment projects, manufacturing technologies domestically, increasing U.S. competitiveness, making our power grid stronger and more resilient to extreme weather, and all while creating high-quality, good-paying union jobs and lowering costs for Americans across the nation. Since President Biden took office, the federal government has provided funding to over 400 states, Tribes, and territories and launched over 100 projects to improve the resilience and reliability of America’s electric grid and deliver cheaper and cleaner electricity—representing the largest single investment in electric transmission and distribution infrastructure in the history of the United States. For example, the Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue Transmission Study Process and Portfolio (JTIQ) project is coordinating the comprehensive planning, design, and construction of five transmission projects across seven Midwest states. Projects are also strengthening the grid locally and helping communities like Estes Park, CO to power through future severe weather events by installing an innovative battery storage project.
  • Resilience: Across the country, Americans are experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change. The Biden-Harris Administration has deployed $27.4 billion in funding towards an “all hazards” approach to protecting our infrastructure and communities from physical, climate, and cybersecurity-related threats. To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has launched over 6,000 projects to help communities proactively build resilience to these threats before disasters strike. That includes protecting communities from wildfires by removing hazardous fuels from nearly 18 million acres of land through the Infrastructure Law and other sources, as well as funding projects to elevate or relocate over 3,500 homes and buildings outside of the reach of floodwaters, and creating a record wildland firefighting workforce of 16,700 with boosted pay.
  • Legacy Pollution: The Biden-Harris Administration is cleaning up the air, land, and water in communities that have been burdened by legacy pollution for far too long. Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has helped plug over 9,600 orphaned oil and gas wells that pollute communities with methane leaks. To date, the Administration has allocated funding to 95 previously unfunded Superfund site projects, including the longstanding backlog of projects, to clean up contaminated sites and advance environmental justice, leading to completed cleanups at 10 Superfund sites and 24 brownfield sites. For example, after decades of community advocacy, the Environmental Protection Agency has completed the cleanup of the Clearview Landfill Superfund project in Philadelphia’s Eastwick neighborhood, which will prevent toxins from leaching into the nearby Darby Creek.

DELIVERING PROJECTS QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY

To deliver on the promise of this historic legislation and deliver impact to communities and workers as soon as possible, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

  • Accelerated Federal Permitting: President Biden has been clear that the government can and must deliver more projects, more quickly. Through his Investing in America Agenda, he is delivering on that promise by accelerating project reviews while protecting communities and our environment. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to accelerate and improve the federal permitting process so that Americans across the country can benefit from the promise of the Investing in America agenda – including lowering energy costs for families and creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying and union jobs. The Administration has taken a three-prong approach. First, investing $1 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act funds to hire experts and invest in new technologies to expedite reviews. Second, passing the first reforms to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in 50 years and finalizing the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to accelerate the federal environmental review process. And third, using executive authorities, wherever possible, to improve permitting and environmental review processes. Thanks to these actions, the Biden-Harris administration has cut six months off the median time it takes for agencies to complete the most extensive form of environment review, cut the average time it takes to complete a Department of Transportation environmental assessment by more than one-third, and expanded use of the fastest form of environmental review – categorical exclusions. Since the start of the Administration, over 15 federal agencies have developed, expanded, or adopted 125 categorical exclusions for projects with insignificant environmental impact in key sectors such as electric vehicle charging, broadband, semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy, and transmission.
  • Expanded Technical Assistance: In the past, too many communities have lacked the resources to access and deploy transformative Federal funding opportunities. The Biden-Harris Administration has made it a priority to help state, local, Tribal and territorial governments and other nongovernmental partners effectively navigate the historic funding provided through the Investing in America agenda. New technical assistance and capacity building programs like the Department of Transportation’s Thriving Communities, Environmental Protection Administration’s Get the Lead Out Initiative, and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Partners Network provide training, hands-on support, and expert assistance to communities across the country. The Administration has identified over 100 technical assistance programs to help would-be applicants with their planning and delivery needs—and has worked with philanthropy and civil society stakeholders to ensure that historically-underserved communities have the tools they need to take advantage of this historic opportunity.
  • Invested in Workforce: The Investing in America agenda is projected to create hundreds of thousands of good-paying and union jobs for years to come that provide critical benefits and supportive services – many of which do not require a four-year college degree. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that all workers—including women, people of color, veterans, and those that have been historically left behind–have equitable access to those job opportunities and the training and skills needed to fill them. The Administration has launched nine Investing in America Workforce Hubs in Augusta, Baltimore, Columbus, Michigan, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, and Upstate New York to build partnerships that train and connect Americans to these jobs in key sectors such as transportation, clean energy and manufacturing. In addition, the Administration has made unprecedented federal investments in these sectors. Since the President took office over $80 billion from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan have been committed to strengthen and expand the American workforce. These investments have bolstered Registered Apprenticeships resulting in the hiring of more than 1 million apprentices and deployed hundreds of millions of dollars to support for community college workforce training programs.
Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Leverages Historic U.S. Climate Leadership at Home and Abroad to Urge Countries to Accelerate Global Climate Action at COP29

Solar panels and sustainable agricultural practices in upstate New York. At COP29, the Biden-Harris Administration is highlighting global economic opportunities afforded by accelerating climate action in this decisive decade and will announce new initiatives to galvanize global efforts to keep a resilient, 1.5°C future within reach. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

This fact sheet on how the Biden-Harris Administration is leveraging its historic U.S. climate leadership at home and abroad to urge countries at the 29th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP29)  to accelerate their global climate action  is provided by the White House:

Since Day One, President Biden has treated climate change as not only one of the greatest challenges of our time, but also as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unleash a new era of economic growth, good-paying union jobs, historic investment, and energy security. The United States heads into the 29th U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan with a four-year record of spearheading the most significant climate action in history at home and leading efforts to tackle the climate crisis abroad.  At COP29, the Biden-Harris Administration will highlight global economic opportunities afforded by accelerating climate action in this decisive decade and will announce new initiatives to galvanize global efforts to keep a resilient, 1.5°C future within reach.

At home, actions like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – the largest ever investment by any country in clean energy and climate action – and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) have unleashed an unprecedented wave of investment and ignited a clean manufacturing boom.  These actions have stimulated over $450 billion in announced private investment in clean energy manufacturing and deployment since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration and created over 330,000 clean energy jobs in just over two years, with an additional 1.5 million jobs projected to be created over the next decade.  Hard-hit communities are reaping the biggest economic benefits – since the IRA passed, 75% of private clean energy investments have occurred in counties with lower than median household incomes, and clean energy investment in energy communities has doubled. This government-enabled, private-sector led approach, complemented by increased action from state and local governments, has set the United States on a path to achieve our 1.5°C-aligned emissions target under the Paris Agreement.  And historic investments in climate and disaster resilience are making communities across the country safer and stronger in the face of extreme weather events, which we know are getting more frequent and more dangerous because of climate change.
 
The investments the United States is making at home are catalyzing progress abroad, lowering the cost of clean energy for everyone and saving hundreds of billions of dollars globally.  The IRA is projected to produce more than $5 trillion in global economic benefits from reduced climate pollution between now and 2050.  Over the next seven years, according to analysis from the Department of Energy (DOE), twice as much U.S. wind, solar, and battery deployment is expected than would have been without the IRA.  This progress complements U.S. efforts to rally other countries to accelerate the clean energy transition and enhance their climate ambition.
 
At COP29, the U.S. delegation will promote U.S. efforts to seize the economic opportunities of the clean energy transition, address the risks climate change poses to our national security, and accelerate climate action in this decisive decade.  Key announcements include:
 

  • Powering Forward with Ambitious Domestic Climate Action – by announcing the finalization of a new rule to reduce economically wasteful methane emissions; establishing new, bold targets for expanding U.S. nuclear energy capacity and releasing a framework to achieve them; and highlighting new actions to unlock potential for a new source of clean baseload power: enhanced geothermal.
  • Accelerating Global Climate Action to Keep the 1.5°C Goal Within Reach – by driving progress on reducing methane and other high-impact non-carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (“super pollutants”) at a COP29 Summit on Methane and Non-CO2 GHGs alongside China and Azerbaijan and announcing new efforts to implement the over $1 billion in grant funding unveiled at COP28 as part of the Methane Finance Sprint; by announcing new members of the Carbon Management Challenge that President Biden launched in 2023; and by announcing new investments and initiatives to help partners transition away from unabated coal, deploy renewables, and reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors.
  • Mobilizing Finance at Scale – including by scaling up U.S. international climate finance for developing countries from $1.5 billion in FY21 to $9.5 billion in FY23, a more than sixfold increase that was enabled by record-high levels of investment across the USG, including the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM).  This increase puts the United States on track to meet President Biden’s pledge to work with Congress to scale up our support to over $11 billion per year by 2024.  The United States is also announcing a new $1 billion guarantee for the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific (IF-CAP), which will unlock over $4.5 billion in investment, and supporting the launch of the Climate Investment Funds Capital Markets Mechanism, which is projected to raise $5 billion or more over 10 years.
  • Bolstering Global Climate Resilience – by scaling up U.S. support for vulnerable developing countries to over $3 billion in FY23 to implement the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), achieving President Biden’s pledge to do so by 2024 one year early; by expanding access to cutting-edge climate information, data, and early-warning systems in over 80 countries; and by marshalling over $3 billion in additional resources since 2022 from 40 U.S. and global companies and partners in response to the PREPARE Private Sector Call to Action.
  • Advancing Women’s and Girls’ Leadership in Tackling the Climate Crisis – by announcing new investments to support the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) Initiative, a public-private partnership launched by Vice President Harris in 2023 through which the United States has galvanized over $2 billion in commitments by governments, private sector companies, foundations, and civil society to bolster women’s economic participation in sectors such as clean energy, fisheries, recycling, forest management, and environmental conservation.

 
POWERING FORWARD WITH AMBITIOUS DOMESTIC CLIMATE ACTION

  • Reducing Wasteful Methane Emissions – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, following the directive from Congress in the IRA to collect a Waste Emissions Charge to better ensure valuable natural gas reaches the market rather than polluting the air.  Today’s final rule delivers on this directive and incentivizes companies to take near-term action to conserve valuable energy resources and reduce methane emissions – a potent GHG that is responsible for approximately one-third of the global warming we are now experiencing. EPA estimates that this rule alone will result in cumulative emissions reductions of 34 million metric tons CO2-equivalent by 2035, with cumulative climate benefits of up to $2 billion. Today’s final rule is just one of more than 100 actions that U.S. Federal agencies have taken in 2024 alone to sharply reduce methane emissions under the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, helping to deliver on the Global Methane Pledge. U.S. actions this year have included plugging leaks and regulating emissions in the oil and gas sector, remediating pollution from abandoned coal mines, curbing food waste and emissions from agriculture practices, investing in cleaner industrial processes and buildings, and building a new, integrated system of satellite, aerial, and on-the-ground detections to stop major methane emissions events.
  • Establishing Bold Targets for Expanding Domestic Nuclear Energy and Announcing  a Framework for Action to Achieve Them – acknowledging the crucial role that nuclear power will play to support energy security and clean economic growth, the United States is establishing a national goal to build 200 GW of new nuclear power generation capacity by 2050, as our Nation’s contribution to the global “Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy” from 2020 levels endorsed by 25 countries at COP28.  The United States is also establishing nearer-term targets to jumpstart the expansion of nuclear energy deployment with 35 GW of new domestic nuclear energy capacity built or under construction by 2035 and ramping-up to a sustained pace of producing 15 GW per year by 2040.  These targets are part of “Safely and Responsibly Expanding U.S. Nuclear Energy to Tackle the Climate Crisis and Invest in America: Deployment Targets and a Framework for Action” that establishes a set of guiding principles for successfully scaling up nuclear energy in the United States in a manner that advances core values and commitments—including ensuring public health and safety protecting the environment, ensuring energy affordability, meaningfully engaging with communities and delivering local community benefits, honoring Tribal sovereignty, advancing environmental justice, and promoting national security.  The Framework also and identifies more than 30 key actions the U.S. government can take, along with the U.S. nuclear energy industry, power customers, and civil society, to meet this moment.  To help inform implementation of this Framework, the Administration is launching Tribal consultation and will issue a Request for Information to ensure that governmental, public and community engagement inform implementation of this Framework.
  • Doubling the Number of Scalable Clean Baseload Power Sources by Rapidly Commercializing Geothermal Energy – The Administration’s recent actions are enabling enhanced geothermal to become a key source of clean baseload power and heat in the United States. Last month, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved in record time the development of the world’s largest next-generation geothermal project, which has the potential to generate up to 2 GW, proposed a new environmental review tool to facilitate confirmation of geothermal resources on federal lands, and hosted the largest lease sale of federal lands for geothermal electricity projects in more than 15 years. This year, the Department of Energy (DOE) also made the first federal investment of $60 million under BIL to support novel demonstration projects for next-generation geothermal technologies. As a result of these efforts, within one year of the first 3.5 MW enhanced geothermal project’s delivery of power in November 2023, over 600 MW of power purchase agreements have been signed for geothermal power using this pioneering technology—presenting new pathways to leverage oil and gas industry expertise and workforces to support a robust, resilient, and secure energy grid with good jobs.
  • Leading by Example by Reducing U.S. Government Emissions – by announcing a new suite of actions to reduce the U.S. government’s indirect (“Scope 3”) emissions and engage other governments and suppliers.  This includes launching a new target to reduce the Federal Government’s Scope 3 emissions by 30% by 2030 – the equivalent of 40 million metric tons of CO2 annually – and releasing the first comprehensive measurement of the federal Scope 3 footprint. The United States is also launching the Government Scope 3 Alliance, a coalition of national and state governments whose members commit to set Scope 3 targets for government operations and report annually on progress.
  • Releasing a National Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Research Strategy – Today, the White House is releasing a new national strategy to advance research on the benefits, risks, and tradeoffs associated with marine carbon dioxide removal, a set of innovative technologies that could help address the climate crisis in concert with substantial cuts to carbon emissions.  Marine CO2 removal uses ocean processes to increase the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide the ocean removes from the atmosphere, but it requires additional research to determine if it is a safe and effective climate tool.  The strategy, which responds to a key objective of the Ocean Climate Action Plan, provides recommendations to guide accountable research, ensure community engagement, and clarify the regulatory process for scientific researchers.

ACCELERATING GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION
 
President Biden has rallied world leaders to accelerate action in key areas that the latest science has identified as critical to keeping the goal of limiting average warming to 1.5°C within reach.  At COP29, the United States announced progress in each of these key areas, including:
 

  • Reducing Methane and Other Non-CO2 GHG Super Pollutants:
     
  • Hosting a COP29 Summit on Methane and Non-CO2 GHGs –  The Summit, co-hosted with China and Azerbaijan, showcased new actions to cut emissions of these climate super-pollutants that account for over half of warming, including national commitments to cover all GHGs in national climate targets, new policy and regulatory actions, and new scientific progress.  As the two largest emitters in the world, responsible for roughly 10% and 30% of global GHG emissions, respectively, the United States and China have helped catalyze global attention on non-CO2 GHGs. These efforts include the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), which more than 155 countries have now endorsed and are taking steps to meet the goal to cut global methane emissions by 30% by 2030. At COP29, with announcements from new countries, there are now nearly 100 methane action plans completed or underway, including China’s national action plan on methane and the United States’s Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan update. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition, which serves as GMP Secretariat, is funding implementation projects in 65 countries. 
  • Mobilizing billions to tackle super pollutants – At the COP29 Non-CO2 Summit, partners announced implementation steps for over $1 billion in grant funding previously announced at COP28 as part of the Methane Finance Sprint. This grant funding is already mobilizing billions more in methane-related project investment by the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and regional multilateral development banks, among others.
  • Leveraging new action and science to cut nitrous oxide (N2O) and Tropospheric Ozone – The United States and partners announced new global action and science on cutting super pollutants like N2O and tropospheric ozone, which account for roughly one-fifth of today’s warming, with significant impacts on public health and agricultural productivity. New steps include the release of a Global N2O Assessment, the United Nations  Environment Program’s new commitment to advance science on reducing climate impacts of tropospheric ozone, and private sector steps to tackle N2O and tropospheric ozone precursors.
  • Leading Global Efforts to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Deployment:
  • Implementing and expanding the effort to triple nuclear energy – by co-leading a coalition of countries working to advance the global goal of tripling nuclear energy capacity from 2020 levels by 2050, including by setting an example that shows how the United States will do its part, by establishing 2050 and nearer-term domestic nuclear energy deployment targets and outlining a Framework for Action.  Thirty countries from four continents now endorse the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy, after an additional five countries joined the effort at COP29.  Endorsers also highlighted recent stakeholder support for the effort, including from 14 major global financial institutions that announced support for the tripling goal during New York Climate Week in September 2024.
  • Supporting Ukraine’s leadership in safe and secure nuclear energy – by announcing $30 million in funding from the U.S. Department of State for cooperation with Ukraine under the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Technology (FIRST) program to develop: (1) a Clean Fuels from SMRs Pilot Plant, which will demonstrate the production of clean hydrogen and ammonia, a key ingredient in fertilizers, in Ukraine using simulated SMR technology; (2) Project Phoenix, to facilitate the conversion of Ukraine’s coal plants to SMRs by developing a comprehensive strategy, conducting feasibility studies, and providing advisory services; and (3) the Clean Steel from SMR Roadmap, which will help rebuild, modernize, and decarbonize Ukraine’s steel industry using clean electricity, process heat, and hydrogen from SMRs for steel manufacturing.
  • U.S. – Romania Partnership to Create Over 1.5 GW of Clean Energy – Sargent & Lundy (U.S.), AtkinsRealis (Canada), and Ansaldo (Italy) reached a new milestone in the Cernavoda nuclear power plant project, and finalized a contract for an international consortium to complete two new reactors at Romania’s Cernavoda site, which, once completed, will generate over 1.5 GW of clean power for the region. The U.S. Department of Energy and the Romania Ministry of Energy facilitated the agreement and catalyzed the project by signing an intergovernmental agreement between the U.S. and Romania.
  • Decarbonizing the Energy Sector by Scaling Technologies Critical to Achieving the 1.5°C Goal:
  • Advancing the goal to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency – including by co-leading the effort to establish international goals at COP29 to increase energy storage and expand and modernize grids, two key ingredients needed to scale up renewable energy in line with keeping the 1.5°C goal within reach.  Endorsers of the Energy Storage and Grids Pledge will set global goals to achieve 1500 GW of energy storage and 25 million km of built or refurbished grids by 2030, with an additional 65 million km by 2040.  The United States also provided over $4.5 billion in support for international clean energy projects in FY23, which will significantly advance efforts to triple renewable energy and double efficiency by 2030.
  • Zero Emissions and Resilient Buildings Accelerator (ZERB Accelerator) – which brings together a cohort of leading cities, states, and regions committed to ambitious climate mitigation and resilience goals in the buildings sector, including the collective reduction of annual emissions by at least 50 million metric tons below 2020 levels, by 2030.  Incubated by the Subnational Climate Action Leaders’ Exchange (SCALE) partnership, the initiative will strengthen multilevel collaboration between these subnational jurisdictions and their national governments and will mobilize a broad coalition of organizations offering support in the areas of policy and technical assistance, financing, and measuring, reporting, and verification capacity to move the building sector to zero emissions and resiliency.
  • Advancing the Carbon Management Challenge – Since President Biden announced the Carbon Management Challenge (CMC) last year at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, 22 countries and the European Commission have joined the initiative.  This includes 5 new members since COP28: Bahrain, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Senegal.  In the past year, the CMC established a Secretariat to advance carbon management at the billion-ton scale by delivering outcomes on (1) developing country finance; (2) project deployment and tracking; and (3) strategic communications and engagement.
  • Launching the U.S-India Low Carbon Comfort Cooling Collective – a new initiative aimed at harnessing the power of the public and private sectors to mobilize large-scale private investment towards a 50% reduction in cooling-related emissions in India by 2030.  At COP29, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced $1 million to support this new partnership.  In the face of intensifying extreme heat, the activity aims to reduce carbon emissions from cooling, decrease stress on electricity networks, and lower the cost of efficient cooling and alternative cooling solutions.
  • Mobilizing Investment for Early Retirement of Indonesia Coal-fired Power Plant – USAID is assisting a consortium in Indonesia, led by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, to establish an approximately $255 million equity investment in the first coal power, early phase-out transaction under the Indonesia Just Energy Transition Partnership.  USAID will support an agreement between Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund and public infrastructure company, PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur, and private investors to finalize the early retirement of the 660 MW Cirebon coal-fired power plant.
  • Accelerating clean energy deployment and decarbonization in the power and industrial sectors – through the Power Sector Program and Energy and Mineral Governance Program, the Department of State is committing $10.6 million to strengthen grid infrastructure to improve reliability and resiliency, deploy clean energy technologies to decarbonize the power and industrial sectors, expand cross border power trade, and create opportunities for private sector investment. The Energy and Mineral Governance Program is committing a further $5 million to expand technical support to enable emissions reductions in the oil and gas sector through methane abatement and decarbonization technologies, in support of the Global Methane Pledge.
  • Advancing the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) – At COP29, AIM for Climate will announce $2.9 billion in new investments, innovation sprints, and partners.  Launched by President Biden at COP26, AIM for Climate is a 5-year initiative co-led by the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  In just 4 years, AIM for Climate partners have mobilized $29.2 billion in increased investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation, over a 2020 baseline, including over $4.3 billion by the United States.  On the margins of COP29, the United States and the UAE will host the 3rd AIM for Climate Ministerial, a strategic opportunity to highlight the institutional legacy of AIM for Climate, including the recent  AIM for Climate Report.

MOBILIZING FINANCE AT SCALE

From Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has been committed to boosting international climate finance.  This includes scaling-up our own bilateral finance, fully leveraging multilateral financial institutions, and mobilizing private investment.  These efforts are also in direct support of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.  As a result of these efforts over the last three years, the United States significantly scaled up our climate finance – from $1.5 billion in FY21 to over $9.5 billion in FY23, a more than sixfold increase.  These actions build on domestic efforts to catalyze investments in game-changing climate mitigation and climate resilience innovations.  At COP29, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new efforts to mobilize investment at the speed and scale the climate crisis requires, including:

  • Announcing a $1 billion guarantee for ADB’s Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific (IF-CAP) – a $2.5 billion climate finance platform for Asia and the Pacific, making the United States the Facility’s largest donor.  The U.S. guarantee will enable $4.5 billion in new lending from ADB, which will start this month.
  • Supporting the Launch of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Capital Markets Mechanism – an innovative new mechanism that will allow the CIF to raise funds directly in the capital markets, where it estimates it could raise $5 billion or more over 10 years.
  • Achieving Record-Levels of Climate Investments through DFC and EXIM – with DFC reaching $3.71 billion in FY24 and mobilizing significant private investment to support over 1 GW of new clean energy capacity, improving U.S. partners’ energy security and access.  In line with its congressional mandate, EXIM has more than doubled its investments in clean energy and other environmentally beneficial exports – from $1.1 billion in FY23 to a record $1.6 billion in FY24.  These new investments, which represent over one-fourth of EXIM’s transactions this year, supported $1.7 billion in clean energy and other environmentally beneficial exports, EXIM’s highest-ever levels.
  • Pioneering Innovative Approaches to Mobilize Private Investment – working with Congress, USAID is investing $41.1 million to drive private finance into hard-to-reach geographies and sectors.  This includes a $7.25 million investment through the Enterprises for Development, Growth, and Empowerment (EDGE) Fund to incentivize private investment in impact funds and mobilize investment in natural climate solutions which includes $2.75 million in grants to enable two new investment fund managers under the PREPARE Adaptation Finance Window that aim to catalyze additional public partners to co-invest.  USAID will also commit $27.7 million for the Colombia Invest for Climate activity, which aims to transform markets and financial systems and direct public and private funds into climate-smart businesses.  Finally, USAID is committing $6.1 million to the Partnerships for Green Investment initiative announced at COP28 last year to mobilize at least $200 million to achieve 50 million tons of emissions reductions, climate resilience, biodiversity protection, and benefit sharing across Southeast Asia.    
  • Supporting the Development of the Cambodia Climate Financing Facility (CCFF) – USAID provided technical assistance to support the development of the CCFF, a $100 million green bank that will fill a critical funding gap for climate projects in Cambodia.  Once operationalized, the facility will provide concessions to local banks and businesses to stimulate investment in climate adaptation and mitigation projects, assisting Cambodia in meeting its Nationally Determined Contribution.
  • Investing in Clean Energy and Critical Minerals Value Chains in Africa – as part of collaboration with Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway, the United States, working with Congress, will make an initial commitment of $10 million over two years into the Investment Mobilization Collaboration Alliance’s third funding window through Power Africa, supporting clean energy and critical mineral investments in Africa.  This investment will improve critical minerals value chains and increase access to and use of energy to advance industrialization.  In joining this impactful, innovative international partnership, Power Africa will leverage partner funds and support proposals to advance clean energy across the continent.

 
BOLSTERING GLOBAL CLIMATE RESILIENCE
 
The Administration is announcing new efforts to accelerate the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), which aims to help more than half a billion people in developing countries adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change this decade.  Through these efforts, the United States has provided over $3 billion in adaptation finance in FY23, achieving President Biden’s pledge to work with Congress to increase U.S. international public adaptation finance to $3 billion by FY24 to help implement PREPARE one year early.  This includes the following additional efforts across PREPARE:
 

  • Scaling-Up DFC’s Adaptation Investments to Record-High Levels – DFC invested $1.3 billion in adaptation in FY24, including projects that will strengthen food and water security and sustainable practices to adapt to and increase resilience to the threat of climate change.  
  • The $458 million Zambia Farm-to-Market Compact – MCC’s $458 million Zambia Farm-to-Market Compact, signed in October 2024, aims to improve Zambia’s agriculture and agro-processing sectors. The compact will focus on rural road infrastructure, increasing access to finance for irrigation, electricity, storage and processing facilities, and supporting agricultural policy reform initiatives. The Improving Roads Activity will improve road conditions, quality, access, and climate resilience for selected segments within the identified agricultural corridors through the design, construction, expansion, rehabilitation, upgrades, and strengthening in key agricultural corridors It also focuses on integrated planning, climate-resilient road infrastructure, building a local green/climate finance market, and improving agricultural productivity through better management of soils, irrigation, and watersheds.
  • Expanding Access to Cutting-Edge Climate Information and Early Warnings through PREPARE – The United States has invested billions to develop world-leading weather and climate-related information and service capabilities – from launching leading-edge satellites, amassing relevant observational data from a global network of sensors, and developing advanced modelling technology.  The United States is using these capabilities to support vulnerable developing countries to better understand, anticipate, and prepare for climate impacts.  At COP29 the United States is announcing several new efforts, including working with Congress to announce a new the SERVIR Central America Hub that will launch in December and will bolster the resilience of over 50 million people to reduce vulnerability to climate impacts and environmental degradation. NOAA is announcing $4.7 million to bolster multi-hazard early warning capabilities in Pacific Islands, including through capacity building, data sharing, and expansion of sea-level rise monitoring stations to help with coastal inundation. The United States is also launching the Global Sea Level Explorer – a new earth.gov platform that will provide foundational information about global sea level and flooding to help inform decision-making, resource management, and emergency operations for each coastal country across the globe.
  • Climate Smart and Disaster Ready – as part of its Climate Smart and Disaster Ready initiative, USAID announced $11.8 million in new awards to strengthen localized climate adaptation for communities at the greatest risk of climate-related disasters in current and foreseeable humanitarian contexts, bringing the total investment under this initiative to date to $16.2 million.  Under this program, USAID has funded five multi-year initiatives in West Africa, Central America, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands, including the previously announced $4.4 million to support young people in the Pacific Islands to advance disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation efforts in their own communities.
  • Climate Finance for Agriculture in Africa – USAID will invest $9.3 million to accelerate climate finance for climate-resilient and low emissions development investments in agriculture and food systems across Africa, working with Congress.  In Zambia, USAID is supporting the country’s first climate-focused investment fund, aiming to mobilize $70 million for climate adaptation in critical sectors, including agriculture. In Ghana, USAID created a $2.6 million co-investment program to incentivize private sector investment in climate adaptation and mitigation in agriculture, complementing cooperation with the government on national carbon market development. Finally, through the Africa Trade and Investment activity, USAID is supporting a pan-Africa Fund to finance African microfinance institutions and agricultural entities, aiming to leverage an additional $5 million in commercial investments for climate-smart agriculture, with a total investment leverage ratio of 6:1. 
  • Expanding Technical Support for SIDS through the Local2030 Islands Network – the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Department of State will invest nearly $500K to expand technical support to the Local2030 Islands Network for peer-to-peer learning, engagement and training to bolster the use of adaptive solutions and scientific data and planning.  This announcement builds on a prior investment of approximately $12 million into the Local2030 Islands Network, a global island-led network committed to net zero emissions and strengthening island resilience to climate change, with an emphasis on advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
  • $144 million in new partnership agreements in Mozambique – MCC’s $144 million in new partnership agreements in Mozambique with local non-governmental partners Biofund and ProAzul for MCC’s Coastal Livelihoods and Climate Resilience Project will leverage nature-based low carbon infrastructure to restore coastal ecosystems and their functions.
  • Bolstering the Resilience of Critical Infrastructure: Enhancing Grid Resilience in Africa – The U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a feasibility study grant to Côte d’Ivoire Energies to help develop a smart grid control system that will increase stability of the national grid and reduce potential blackouts in the face of extreme weather events or climate disruptions.  USTDA is also supporting a grid resilience and efficiency event series, which will connect officials from public and private entities in sub-Saharan Africa’s power sector to the latest U.S. technologies services, and equipment for improved electricity transmission and distribution systems.

 
 
ADVANCING WOMEN AND GIRLS’ LEADERSHIP IN CLIMATE ACTION

Recognizing that no economy can get ahead if half of its population is left behind, the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to preparing women for leadership roles in the industries of the future, including through efforts that advance the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) Initiative—an over $2 billion public-private partnership that aims to close gender gaps in access to training, jobs, leadership roles, and finance in green and blue sectors.  At COP29, the Administration announced:
 

  • Advancing Women’s Leadership in the Clean Energy Economy – At COP29, USAID is announcing $10.8 million to champion women as decision-makers, stakeholders, educators, and experts in responding to the climate crisis.  USAID is investing in programs that support women’s equitable access to land; integrate gender-based violence prevention in fisheries conservation; and promote women’s participation and economic empowerment in green industries and clean energy sectors. 
  • Accelerating Women’s Leadership in Climate Action – One year after the release of the U.S. Strategy to Respond to the Effects of Climate Change on Women, the State Department is releasing a progress report outlining initiatives and programs worth $10.7 million to empower women and girls as climate leaders while addressing the disproportionate impacts they face from the climate crisis.  These initiatives include efforts to train and connect women leading the clean energy transition, building climate-smart agricultural systems, and promoting Indigenous management of natural resources.
  • Women In Agriculture Gain Economic Security (WAGES) – This program supports women in agricultural cooperatives across Tunisia to address the impacts of climate change, increase profitability, and improve food security.  The project focuses on optimizing natural resource use and enhancing the business operations of women-led cooperatives.  The $2.1 million project tackles women’s limited access to training and resources by forming partnerships with regional stakeholders and adapting approaches to address the needs of local women leaders. 
  • Supporting Women Environmental Defenders – The Department of State is expanding support for women environmental defenders through the EMPOWER and WE-Defend programs, enabling their safe and meaningful participation in environmental governance and policy making. The EMPOWER program, now totaling $1.7 million, supports defenders globally, while WE-Defend, with a total investment of $1.2 million, focuses on empowering Filipina environmental defenders in decision-making processes related to environmental policies.

Advancing Women in Clean Energy and Minerals (AWCEM) Program – The Department of State announced $1.25 million to increase women’s leadership in the clean energy and critical mineral mining sectors in Latin America, empowering women to become leaders and agents for change to support decarbonization and the clean energy transition.

Biden Administration, Gender Equity, Health Care

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $110 Million in Awards from ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health to Accelerate New Discoveries, Innovations

First Lady Jill Biden at the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative announced the Department of Defense’s new commitment to spend $500 million on vital women’s health research. With this new investment, the Department will fund research on conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, or differently—such as ovarian cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and musculoskeletal injuries © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

As the Biden-Harris administration institutes new actions to protect women’s access to contraceptives and researchers have just published findings on risk factors for stroke that women – who suffer 57 percent of strokes – face, the administration just announced $110 million in awards from ARPA-H’s “Sprint for Women’s Health” to accelerate new discoveries and innovation. The President and First Lady recognized that medical research largely ignored women, focused almost entirely on men, and established the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

Meanwhile, three states – Missouri, Idaho and Kansas (despite recently approving abortion rights  – have revived the lawsuit that the Supreme Court rejected last year, to curb access to abortion medication. Indeed the fact that pregnancy is one of the factors in women’s increased risk of stroke demonstrates why increasing access to contraception and abortion medication is vital, along with the statistics which show spikes in maternal and infant mortality in states that ban abortion and have criminalized pregnancy. The stakes and the contrast in this election – by pro-women’s rights candidate Kamala Harris vs. anti-women’s freedom candidate Donald Trump, could not be more clear. Here is a fact sheet provided by the White House on the latest women’s health initiative. – Karen Rubin/[email protected], news-photos-features.com

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden created the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research to fundamentally change how our nation approaches and funds women’s health research. Despite making up more than half the population, women have historically been understudied and underrepresented in health research. Since its launch in November 2023, the Initiative has made significant investments to close gaps in research on women’s health—from menopause-related conditions to endometriosis to auto-immune conditions to cardiovascular disease—so that we can improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, and differently.
 
Today in Las Vegas, Nevada, the First Lady will announce $110 million in awards from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to accelerate transformative research and development in women’s health. President Biden established ARPA-H, a new research and development funding agency, with bipartisan Congressional support to generate high-impact biomedical and health breakthroughs. In February 2024, the First Lady launched ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health, the first major deliverable of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Over the last 10 months, ARPA-H received an unprecedented response to this call for solutions for women’s health, with over 1,700 submissions across 45 states and D.C. as well as 34 countries.
 
In less than a year, the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research has galvanized nearly a billion dollars in funding for women’s health research, including the First Lady’s recent announcement of $500 million from the U.S. Department of Defense and $200 million from the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, in his State of the Union address, President Biden called on Congress to make a bold, transformative investment of $12 billion in new funding for women’s health research. President Biden also signed a first-of-its-kind Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation, directing the most comprehensive set of executive actions ever taken to expand and improve research on women’s health. Through the Initiative, federal agencies have committed to taking over 100 actions to prioritize investments in women’s health research and integrate women’s health across the federal research portfolio.
 
Accelerating Progress in Women’s Health Research
 
Today’s ARPA-H awardees will spur innovation and advance high-impact, novel approaches to diseases and conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, and differently. Today’s awardees are working across a range of women’s health issues—from pursuing new ways to prevent, detect, and treat cardiovascular conditions, ovarian cancer, endometriosis, neurological diseases, and pain in women to developing next-generation approaches to menopause, migraines, obstetrics, and gynecological care.
 
One-quarter of today’s awardees are pursuing “launchpad” projects, meaning those projects have the potential for commercialization within two years. The remaining awardees are pursuing “spark” projects that are in the early stage of research. ARPA-H’s support for these projects will help ensure that women and their health care providers can soon benefit from the research investments being made today.
 
The $110 million in ARPA-H awards announced today across 23 teams fund bold and transformative women’s health solutions, including:
 

  • Aspira Women’s Health Inc. of Shelton, Connecticut will receive $10 million to create a first-of-its-kind definitive, non-invasive blood test to diagnose endometriosis. Endometriosis is a debilitating condition that affects about 1 in 10 women and often takes years and surgery to be diagnosed. Aspira Women’s Health Inc. aims to reduce the time it takes to diagnose endometriosis from years to days while helping health care providers identify the most appropriate treatment option for each woman’s needs.
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts will receive $9.1 million to improve our ability to assess brain disorders in women through a novel non-invasive MRI imaging biomarker. Even though conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and multiple sclerosis disproportionately affect women, there are significant gaps in our knowledge about how to prevent, detect, and treat these conditions in women. By developing a novel and non-invasive MRI technology to measure a specific brain protein, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc. will advance our understanding of, and improve treatments for, brain disorders in women. 
  • Children’s Research Institute of Washington, DC—through its research arm on families—will receive $8.1 million to develop a novel way to assess chronic pain in women. Women experience pain differently than men which can lead health care providers to underestimate and undertreat this pain, resulting in prolonged suffering, delayed diagnosis and treatment, and a reluctance to seek medical care. Despite this need, there is currently no objective, quantitative indicator of chronic pain in women. Children’s Research Institute aims to fill this gap by studying how a woman’s eyes react to external stimulation, which is directly related to how she perceives pain.
    •  Gravidas Diagnostics, Inc. of Los Angeles, California will receive $3 million to create a first-of-its-kind at-home test to revolutionize our ability to detect early preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. By making it easier to identify preeclampsia quickly, Gravidas Diagnostics Inc.’s new low-cost fingerstick test would help women and their doctors get the information they need sooner to reduce pregnancy-related complications and improve maternal and child health.
    •  The University of Iowa will receive $10 million to revolutionize the treatment for late-stage and metastatic ovarian cancer by using personalized nanoparticles to boost a woman’s immune system. More than half of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed only after the cancer has metastasized, making it harder to treat and reducing survival rates. Leveraging nanotechnology, the University of Iowa will engineer personalized nanoparticles to use a woman’s own immune system to attack multiple cancers and help more women get the treatment they need to live longer.
       

Additional information and a full list of awardees is available here.

See also:

States Revive Lawsuit to Sharply Curb Access to Abortion Pill

To Protect Women’s Freedom, Liberty, Life, Vote for Harris, Democrats and the ERA

New Stroke Recommendations Call Out Risks Unique to Women

At Clinton Global Initiative, First Lady Announces $500 Million More Funding for Women’s Health Research; President Biden Receives Global Citizen Award

Biden Administration, Health Care, News & Photo Features, Obamacare

Biden-Harris Administration Proposes Rule to Expand Coverage of Affordable Contraception Under the Affordable Care Act

Women’s March outside Trump International, NYC, 2019. Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, the Administration is taking bold action to expand coverage of contraception for the 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance, marking the most significant expansion of contraception benefits under the Affordable Care Act in more than a decade. This action builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s strong record of defending access to reproductive health care and commitment to ensuring that women have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including if and when to start or grow their family. In contrast, Trump and  Republican elected officials continue to threaten women’s health, lives, and freedom through extreme abortion bans, some with no exceptions for rape or incest, are moving to ban contraception and Morning After medication. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Today, October 21, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration proposed a rule to expand coverage of affordable contraception under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Here is a memo from Jennifer Klein, Director of the White House Gender Policy Council which Biden established, and a fact sheet from the White House on the proposal:


Interested Parties Memo: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Expands Coverage of Contraception Under the Affordable Care Act as Republican Elected Officials Continue Attacks on Reproductive Freedom
From: Jennifer Klein, Director, White House Gender Policy Council
 

Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, the Administration is taking bold action to expand coverage of contraception for the 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance, marking the most significant expansion of contraception benefits under the Affordable Care Act in more than a decade.

Today’s announcement builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s strong record of defending access to reproductive health care and commitment to ensuring that women have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including if and when to start or grow their family.

Meanwhile, Republican elected officials continue to threaten women’s health, lives, and freedom through extreme abortion bans, some with no exceptions for rape or incest. Women are being denied essential medical care while doctors and nurses are threatened with jail time. Abortion, contraception, and IVF are under attack, while Republicans in Congress refuse to protect nationwide access to this vital reproductive health care. This extreme agenda is out-of-touch with the American people—which is why voters have overwhelmingly chosen to protect reproductive freedom in every state where abortion has been on the ballot.

President Biden and Vice President Harris stand with the vast majority of Americans in supporting a woman’s right to choose, and they will continue the fight against a national abortion ban and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law once and for all.

Read the Rest of the Interested Parties Memo Here
Read President Biden’s Statement Here
Read Vice President Harris’ Statement Here
Read the Fact Sheet Here (and below)

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Proposes Rule to Expand Coverage of Affordable Contraception Under the Affordable Care Act

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Proposal for Most Significant Expansion of Contraception Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act in More Than a Decade

President Biden and Vice President Harris have protected and built on the Affordable Care Act. Nearly 50 million people over the past decade have had coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplaces, and the law has protected more than 100 million people with preexisting medical conditions. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, Affordable Care Act coverage is more affordable than ever with millions of families saving an average of $800 per year on Marketplace coverage.
 
The Affordable Care Act has also helped millions of women save billions of dollars on contraception—an essential component of reproductive health care that has only become more important since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. As part of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ steadfast commitment to reproductive rights, the Biden-Harris Administration has further strengthened contraception access and affordability under the Affordable Care Act, through Medicare and Medicaid, through the Title X Family Planning Program, through federally qualified health centers, and for federal employees, Service members, veterans, and college students.
 
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is proposing a rule that would significantly increase coverage of contraception without cost sharing for 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance. Building on the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most private health plans must cover contraception without cost sharing, today’s proposed rule from the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury would:

  • Expand coverage of over-the-counter contraception without cost sharing. Under the proposed rule, for the first time, women would be able to obtain over-the-counter (OTC) contraception without a prescription at no additional cost. As a result, more women would be able to access and afford critical OTC medications such as emergency contraception and the first-ever daily oral contraceptive approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use without a prescription that is now widely available across the country.
     
  • Make it easier to learn about coverage for OTC contraception. To help ensure that women understand this new benefit, most private health plans would be required to disclose that OTC contraception is covered without cost sharing and without a prescription—and take steps to help women learn more about their contraception coverage.
     
  • Strengthen coverage of prescribed contraception without cost sharing. The proposed rule would make it easier for most women with private health insurance to obtain contraception without cost sharing that is prescribed by their health care provider. Health plans would be required to cover every FDA-approved contraceptive drug or drug-led combination product without cost sharing unless the plan also covers a therapeutic equivalent without cost sharing, eliminating barriers that some women continue to face in accessing contraception prescribed by their provider.

This proposed rule, if finalized, would be the most significant expansion of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act since 2012, when contraception was first required to be covered. Also today, the Biden-Harris Administration is issuing new guidance to help ensure that patients can access other preventive services, such as cancer screenings, that must be covered without cost sharing under the Affordable Care Act.
 
The Biden-Harris Administration is issuing this proposed rule at a time when reproductive rights are under attack, and Republican elected officials remain committed to repealing the Affordable Care Act. Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, dangerous and extreme abortion bans are putting women’s health and lives at risk and disrupting access to critical health care services, including contraception, as health care providers are forced to close in states across the country. At the same time, Republican elected officials in some states have made clear they want to ban or restrict birth control in addition to abortion, and Republicans in Congress have attacked contraception access nationwide by proposing to defund the Title X Family Planning Program. In contrast, President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family.
 
Today’s announcements build on actions that the Biden-Harris Administration has already taken to expand access to affordable contraception, including to implement the President’s Executive Order on Strengthening Access to Affordable, High-Quality Contraception and Family Planning Services from June 2023. The Administration has taken action to:

  • Expand contraception coverage and affordability under the Affordable Care Act. The Departments of HHS, Labor, and the Treasury proposed a rule to provide a new pathway under the Affordable Care Act for women to access coverage of contraceptives when their private health coverage is exempt from covering this benefit due to a religious objection. These agencies also issued new guidance to support expanded coverage of a broader range of FDA-approved, cleared, or granted contraceptives at no additional cost under the Affordable Care Act, building on guidance issued after Roe v. Wade was overturned to clarify protections for contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Further, HHS strengthened the standard for inclusion of family planning providers in Marketplace plan provider networks and provided nearly $9 million in grant funding to support state efforts to enhance and expand coverage of, and access to, reproductive and maternal health services, including contraception. And the Internal Revenue Service issued new guidance affirming that high-deductible health plans can cover OTC contraception as preventive care.
     
  • Bolster family planning services through Title X clinics. HHS continues to rebuild and grow the Title X Family Planning Program, which has played a critical role in ensuring access to a broad range of high-quality family planning and preventive health services for more than 50 years. During the prior administration, more than 1,000 service sites left the Title X Family Planning Program, leading to a significant decline in people served. The Biden-Harris Administration reversed the policy changes that led to those departures, strengthening the Title X Family Planning Program and helping ensure that the Program remains a critical part of the nation’s health safety net. In 2023, HHS provided about $287 million to nearly 4,000 Title X clinics across the country to provide free or low-cost voluntary, client-centered family planning and related preventive services for 2.8 million women and families—an 80 percent increase since 2020.
     
  • Support family planning coverage through the Medicaid and Medicare programs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance to state Medicaid programs and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) to help ensure that enrollees can access family planning services. The new guidance outlined existing state obligations under federal law, highlighted strategies to enhance access to contraception, affirmed confidentiality requirements for those seeking family planning services, and shared recommendations on ways to measure quality in delivering family planning services. To help ensure that women with Medicare coverage have access to more covered types of contraception without unnecessary barriers, CMS updated its Medicare Part D formulary clinical review process for plan year 2024 and 2025 to include additional contraceptive types, such as long-acting contraceptives, and is increasing public awareness of contraceptive coverage options under Medicare Part B. The Secretary of HHS also issued a letter to state Medicaid and CHIP programs as well as private health insurers and Medicare plans about their existing obligations to cover contraception for those they serve.
     
  • Increase contraception access through federal health centers. Federal health centers continue to be an important source of family planning services: in 2023, health centers provided nearly 3 million contraceptive services visits to patients, a 14 percent increase since 2020. To support health centers in providing high-quality family planning services, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provided updated guidance on existing federal requirements for family planning and related services, which is a required primary health care service under federal law, as well as evidence-based recommendations and resources. HRSA also adopted new data measures for health centers that will help assess whether patients have been screened for contraception needs. Screening and data measures will help enhance the overall delivery of voluntary family planning and related services.
     
  • Support contraception access for federal employees and their families. The Office of Personnel Management strengthened access to contraception for federal workers, retirees, and family members by issuing guidance to insurers participating in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program to clarify standards and support expanded coverage of a broader range of FDA-approved, cleared, or granted contraceptives at no additional cost. The Office of Personnel Management also required insurers that participate in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program to take additional steps to educate enrollees about their contraception benefits and launched a public education campaign to highlight contraception benefits available to federal employees and their families.
     
  • Promote contraception access and affordability for Service members and their families and certain dependents of veterans. To improve access to contraception at military hospitals and clinics, the Department of Defense expanded walk-in contraceptive care services for active-duty Service members and other Military Health System beneficiaries and eliminated TRICARE copays for certain contraceptive services. And the Department of Veterans Affairs eliminated out-of-pocket costs for certain types of contraception through the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
     
  • Support access to affordable contraception for college students. To help increase access to contraception for college students, President Biden directed the Secretary of Education to convene institutions of higher education to share best practices and ways to help students understand their options for accessing contraception. In 2023, Vice President Harris joined a Department of Education convening of representatives from 68 colleges and universities across 32 states to discuss promising strategies for protecting and expanding access to contraception for their students. This convening followed Vice President Harris’s multiple conversations about reproductive health access with students on college campuses across the country.
     
  • Enhance contraception access through technical assistance and public-private partnership. In June 2023, HHS announced a new five-year public-private partnership to expand access to contraception with Upstream, a national nonprofit organization that provides health centers with free patient-centered, evidence-based training and technical assistance to eliminate provider-level barriers to offering the full range of contraceptive options. To date, HHS has connected Upstream to more than 130 health care clinics, resulting in partnerships that will help Upstream accelerate their national expansion to reach 5 million women of reproductive age every year.
     
  • Promote research and data analysis on contraception access. To document the gaps and disparities in contraception access as well as the benefits of comprehensive coverage, HHS convened leading experts to discuss the state of research, data collection, and data analysis on contraception access and family planning services. These convenings helped identify research gaps, opportunities for collaboration, and ways to bolster research efforts for both Federal agencies and external partners.

In addition to strengthening access to affordable contraception, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to implement President Biden’s threeExecutiveOrders and a Presidential Memorandum directing federal agencies to protect access to reproductive health care issued since the Court overturned Roe v. Wade. To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to protect access to abortion, including FDA-approved medication abortion; defend access to emergency medical care; support the ability to travel for reproductive health care; safeguard the privacy of patients and health care providers; and ensure access to accurate information and legal resources.

The Vice President has led the White House’s efforts to partner with leaders on the frontlines of protecting access to abortion, highlighting the harm of abortion bans to women’s health at more than 100 events in more than 20 states since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and meeting with hundreds of  state legislators, health care providers, and advocates. On what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Vice President launched a nationwide Fight for Reproductive Freedoms tour to continue fighting back against extreme attacks throughout America.

President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law to ensure that women in every state are able to make their own decisions about reproductive health care.

See also:
To Protect Women’s Freedom, Liberty, Life, Vote for Harris, Democrats and the ERA

Biden Administration, News & Photo Features

Biden-Harris Administration Updates on Hurricane Helene Response in Florida, Georgia, Oct. 2

This update on Biden-Harris Administration’s Hurricane Helene Response is provided by the White House:

President Biden and Vice President Harris continue to mobilize an intensive Federal response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene. The Administration is prioritizing life-saving and life-sustaining response efforts in impacted communities, as well as ensuring people displaced from the storm have prompt access to Federal resources that will enable them to both purchase essential items and begin their road to recovery and rebuilding.
 
President Biden has “received praise from Republican governors” as a result of his leadership throughout the response – including speaking to several Republican leaders across the country.

Biden-Harris Administration Updates on Hurricane Helene Response in Florida

Latest updates as of October 2:

  • The White House has reached out to more than 200 officials across Florida over the last few days to offer support and gauge additional assistance needs.
  • President Biden made additional disaster assistance available to the State of Florida by authorizing an increase in the level of Federal funding for emergency work. Under the President’s order today, Federal funds for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, has been increased to 100 percent of the total eligible costs for 90 days from the start of the incident period.
  • President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for the state of Florida, allowing survivors to immediately access funds and resources to jumpstart their recovery. People in 17 counties in Florida can now apply for assistance with FEMA. People can apply in three ways: online by visiting disasterassistance.gov, calling 1-800-621-3362 or on the FEMA App.
    • FEMA assistance in Florida may include upfront funds to help with essential items like food, water, baby formula and other emergency supplies. Funds may also be available to repair storm-related damage to homes and personal property, as well as assistance to find a temporary place to stay.
  • Five counties were added for individual assistance in response to Hurricane Helene. Florida homeowners and renters in 22 counties who had uninsured damage or losses caused by Hurricane Helene may be eligible for FEMA disaster assistance.
    • FEMA may be able to help with serious needs, displacement, temporary lodging, basic home repair costs, personal property loss or other disaster-caused needs. Homeowners and renters in Charlotte, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Suwannee, Taylor and Wakulla counties can apply.
  • FEMA has already approved more than $3 million to help survivors recover.
  • FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crews are in Florida neighborhoods helping people apply for FEMA assistance after Hurricane Helene.
  • Disaster Recovery Centers are operating in Pinellas, Taylor, Manatee, Sarasota and Hillsborough counties to provide one-on-one help to Floridians affected by Hurricane Helene.
  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting debris assessments in four counties and water/wastewater assessments in three counties.
  • The Salvation Army has 29 active mobile feeding units serving meals & distributing supplies in nine counties.
  • The American Red Cross is conducting direct emergency feeding and working with feeding partners to provide distribution in support of partner production
  • Team Rubicon Greyshirts will arrive soon to begin several weeks of muckouts/removal of mud and debris from homes.
  • FEMA awarded an expedited grant of nearly $18.7 million to the State of Florida for emergency protective measures for Hurricane Helene, including search and rescue, search and recovery, patient movement, critical infrastructure and hazardous materials response, emergency operations support and mass care coordination.
  • FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaisons are working are working with the state to help coordinate voluntary support efforts.
  • EPA is providing a mobile testing lab to assist the state with water sample testing.

Biden-Harris Administration Updates on Hurricane Helene Response in Georgia

Latest updates as of October 2:

  • Vice President Harris visited Georgia today to receive operational briefings, meet with residents impacted by the storm, and provide updates to local officials on actions that are being taken to support emergency response and recovery efforts in Georgia.
  • The President has approved Governor Kemp’s request for a 100 percent Federal cost share for debris removal and emergency protective measures for three months. This will support the urgent work to address the impacts from debris removal and flooding, and will cover costs of first responders, search and rescue, shelters, mass feeding, and other emergency response activities in this critical time.
  • President Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for Georgia, allowing individuals in 41 counties to apply for FEMA assistance. People in these Georgia counties can now apply for assistance with FEMA.
    • People can apply in three ways: online by visiting disasterassistance.gov, calling 1-800-621-3362 or on the FEMA App.
  • FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance teams are in the field, focusing on shelters where they will assist survivors in applying for assistance.
  • FEMA has already approved more than $663,000 in individual assistance to survivors.
  • Power restoration crews continue working 24 hours a day throughout parts of Georgia. Generators, mutual aid crews and additional power restoration assets are being moved into the hardest hit areas as debris removal allows.
  • The U.S. Department of Energy has responders deployed to Georgia to assist restoration efforts.
  • A FEMA Incident Management Assistance Team is onsite at the state Emergency Operations Center to coordinate with the state and facilitate any requests for assistance.
  • In Georgia, 520 survivors are staying in eight shelters.
  • The American Red Cross is conducting direct emergency feeding and working with feeding partners to provide distribution in support of partner production.
  • The Salvation Army has 26 active mobile feeding in 10 Georgia counties.
  • Team Rubicon is conducting route clearing operations in Ray City.
  • Residents can find resources like shelters and feeding sites at gema.georgia.gov/hurricane-helene. 
  • In Georgia 75% of power outages have been restored.
  • Five FEMA Division Supervisors are establishing contact with Georgia Emergency Management Agency Regional Coordinators.
  • FEMA is supporting commodity requests across the state, including water, ice, shelf-stable meals, fuel (gasoline, diesel, propane) and tarps.
  • FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance teams are conducting Assess, Inform Report missions. These mission focus on disaster impacts to the community and reflect emerging or critical issues impacting the community such as infrastructure and public services. These data points are issues that could affect most if not all survivors in the community.
  • Ten American Red Cross shelters are open with a population of 513. Shelters are in Brooks, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Lanier, Lowndes, McDuffie, Pierce, Richmond, and Treutlan counties
  • Two animal shelters are open including one American Red Cross shelter in Cook County.