While lying about the Biden administration’s swift and efficient relief efforts after Hurricane Helene, Trump has gone out of his way to undermine the relief effort, even deflecting resources by his showboat appearance in a stricken community, and sowing anxiety and distress among traumatized, desperate people.
Claiming to have had a sterling record on hurricane relief when he was president? Recall the disgusting scene of him tossing paper towels in Puerto Rico to victims of Hurricane Maria, and saying Puerto Rico was too far out into the ocean to get relief, then hiring a crony from Montana to fix the electric grid (it didn’t).
Trump, who in yet another instance of projection, accuses Biden of steering aid away from Republican communities (not true), but was the one who withheld disaster aid to California enduring historic wildfires, actually blamed the state for not trimming trees enough, and withheld coronavirus tests and masks to Democratic areas, telling Governors to fend for themselves.
Here’s a reminder from the Harris-Walz campaign: – Karen Rubin, news-photo-features.com, [email protected]
Damning News Report Revives Questions About Trump and Flood Protections
As Donald Trump campaigns in states impacted by Hurricane Helene, headlines are calling attention to a “damning” news report that raises questions about Trump’s record of rolling back flood protections and storm standards intended to prevent the kind of devastation we are seeing today.
The news comes on the heels of shocking reporting that Trump refused to provide disaster relief as President until he was briefed with political maps of how many people there voted for him.
This week’s news reflects Trump’s consistent record as President: gutting FEMA, blocking critical disaster relief, and making crisis after crisis about himself while leaving hard working Americans on their own.
Trump rolled back flooding standards intended to prevent the very kind of devastation we’re currently seeing in Western North Carolina and other parts of the South in order to benefithis wealthy donors
Trump diverted over $150 million in FEMA disaster funds ahead of Hurricane Dorian hitting the Southeast
He threatened to veto legislation providing nearly $5 billion in disaster relief funding after extreme earthquakes
He dangled federal aid for Michigan over his opposition t0 the state’s mail-in ballot program
Trump called for cuts to numerous programs that help prepare, manage, and mitigate wildfiresHe proposed budget cuts to NOAA that would have left the US unprepared for extreme weather
He refused to give California wildfire aid until told how many people there voted for him
Trump’s running mate is no better: JD Vance voted against $16 billion in disaster relief and lifting restrictions for FEMA funding.
Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 agenda would go even further.
Project 2025 proposes eliminating disaster loans for families and small businesses rebuilding after storms and to cut assistance for hurricane victims
Project 2025 calls to increase FEMA’s threshold for state and local government disaster assistance
Project 2025 recommendsprivatizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program and rolling back FEMA emergency response spending, saddling states and localities with the majority of preparedness and response costs at a time when climate change is raising the likelihood and cost of natural disasters
And it would officially dismantle NOAA and eliminate the National Weather Service’s federal weather forecasting
DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd added, “JD Vance took time in Georgia today to shout out his ‘great friend’ right after she finished spreading fresh conspiracy theories about how ‘they’ can control the weather while Georgia is still recovering from Hurricane Helene. Let’s be clear: Marjorie Taylor Greene is a wildly out-of-touch conspiracy theorist and election-denying extremist who is as toxic to voters as the Trump-Vance Project 2025 agenda itself — and that’s just another reason why we’re sure that Vance will have plenty more free time to spend with his ‘great friend’ after this November.”
Harris-Walz 2024 Spokesperson Sarafina Chitika stated, “As president, Donald Trump gutted FEMA, blocked disaster relief, rolled back flooding standards to benefit his wealthy donors, and made crisis after crisis about himself instead of keeping Americans safe,.
” A Trump victory this November is a disaster waiting to happen: His Project 2025 agenda would slash FEMA funding, privatize weather forecasting, and leave us unprepared for the coming storms.
“Americans deserve a president who works to prevent these extreme weather crises, not an unserious man who tosses paper towels at a photo op when people are suffering. Vice President Harris will always fight to ensure families and communities have the resources they need to make it through extreme weather events like we’re seeing now.”
This fact sheet of the Biden-Harris administration’s continued life-saving response to the devastation of Hurricane Helene 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.
As part of this coordinated response, today, President Biden is announcing he has directed the Department of Defense to deploy up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support the delivery of food, water, and other critical commodities to communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. The announcement is effective immediately, and these forces will be available for deployment starting today. This action will provide additional manpower and logistics capabilities, enabling FEMA and other interagency partners to reach the hardest hit areas as quickly as possible.
This comes as the President is traveling today to North Carolina and South Carolina. In Western North Carolina, he will survey areas impacted by Hurricane Helene by air, receive operational briefings, and meet with first responders and local officials. He will also meet with first responders and officials in South Carolina. The President will also visit Florida and Georgia in the coming days. The Vice President will travel to Georgia today and North Carolina in the coming days.
Yesterday, President Biden received a briefing from his Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and leaders across his Administration, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, Department of Defense Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks, Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves, Department of Energy Deputy Secretary David Turk, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer LTG William H. (Butch) Graham Jr., Small Business Administration Deputy Administrator Dilawar Syed, Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Robert Bonnie, and Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Dawn O’Connell.
Additional updates on the Administration’s response efforts include:
Mobilizing Defense Department Resources to Support Prompt and Effective Hurricane Response
Today, the President is announcing he has directed the Department of Defense to deploy up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support response efforts. These soldiers are part of an Infantry Battalion Task Force, based out of Fort Liberty, North Carolina, which includes a Forward Support Company with the necessary support structure (fuel, water, mechanics, etc.) to conduct operations.
These soldiers are in addition to the support the Department of Defense is already providing to FEMA for the response to Hurricane Helene including:
US Army and US Navy helicopters, soldiers, and sailors to provide critical capability to move personnel and supplies in areas where access via roads is not available or viable.
US Air Force aircraft, helicopters, and airmen to provide search-and-rescue capabilities.
US Army soldiers and high wheeled vehicles to move personnel and supplies over roads and terrain damaged or impassable to normal vehicles.
The Army Corps of Engineers is supporting with response efforts with Temporary Power Teams and subject matter experts to support for debris removal, water and wastewater management, and bridge inspections.
At the President’s direction, the Department of Defense has activated 22 helicopters to aid in search and rescue operations and provided dozens of high-water vehicles. The National Guard, in its state capacity, is also aiding these efforts. 700 National Guard from North Carolina are supporting debris removal, air lifts, and search and rescue. They are accompanied by National Guard from eight additional states under Emergency Mutual Assistance Compacts, with helicopters and rescue vehicles to further assist with road clearance, commodities, transport, and search and rescue.
Although not operating under Department of Defense authority, over 6,000 National Guard personnel from 12 states are spearheading the response effort across the impacted region in support of their Governors, providing critical life-saving and life-sustaining support to the victims of this unprecedented natural disaster.
Supporting On-The-Ground Response and Emergency Efforts
More than 4,800 personnel from across the Federal workforce are deployed and supporting state-led response efforts across the region. FEMA and other agencies have more than 1,200 personnel in North Carolina, with more resources and staff arriving daily.
Search and rescue efforts by state, local, and Federal partners are ongoing, and nearly 600 additional personnel are arriving in the region in the coming days, increasing the total number of Urban Search and Rescue personnel to over 1,250.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra declared Public Health Emergencies for South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. These declarations give the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. HHS has established a National Disaster Medical System medical treatment site at the Mission Hospital campus in Asheville and Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pines, North Carolina. HHS Health and Medical Task Force Teams are supporting state medical needs shelters in Hickory and Mills Springs, North Carolina. An HHS Incident Management Team is working closely with state officials to identify health care needs including in rural communities and areas which may be cut off from transportation systems. HHS has also deployed two Disaster Mortuary Assistance Team (DMAT) to assist state mortuary services in mortuary care of victim identification. HHS has made 9 DMAT teams available nationwide. Additionally, 200 Federal ambulances have been provided to North Carolina.
In total, FEMA has shipped over 8.5 million meals, more than 7 million liters of water, 150 generators and over 220,000 tarps to aid response efforts for this historic storm.
Restoring Power and Communications to Impacted Communities
Power outage numbers are improving as restoration teams from across the nation gain access to communities and debris is removed, although much more work remains to bring power back to badly impacted areas across the region. As of this morning, approximately 1.6 million customers are still without power, which is a reduction of more than 65% from the region-wide peak of 4.6 million on September 27.
In addition to intensive efforts to restore power, crews are working around the clock to restore cell service and communications to impacted communities. FEMA, the FCC, and private telecommunications providers are working together to help restore temporary communications as quickly as possible by establishing temporary cell sites and allowing for roaming where possible, where a resident can connect to any network available, even if they aren’t subscribed to that network.
FEMA has provided 50 Starlink satellite systems to help with responder communications and 65 satellite phones have been shipped to assist with communications.
Restoring Road Access
The Department of Transportation activated its 24-hour toll-free Routing Assistance Hotline to provide routing assistance for first responders conducting relief missions. The Hotline supports the movement of Federal, state, local, Tribal, and Territorial response personnel and contractors, equipment, and goods by providing recommended safe routes using a variety of data sources. To reach the Hotline, responders can call 511 from their mobile phones or 833–99-ROADS (833-997-6237). The Department of Transportation also announced that with the President’s approval of Emergency Disaster Declarations it has initiated a 14-day period of emergency regulatory relief from Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations, including maximum driving time for property- and passenger-carrying vehicles from the date of declaration. This allows truck drivers to get essential supplies to affected areas.
Extending Housing Aid to Impacted Families
Following President Biden’s approval of a Major Disaster declaration in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) began implementing supplemental assistance, which includes a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of FHA-insured mortgages and mortgages guaranteed under the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee program, as well as an automatic 90-day extension for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages.
Anyone whose home has been destroyed or severely damaged is also eligible to apply for HUD mortgage insurance. HUD is also enabling homeowners to finance rehabilitation and repairs for damaged homes.
To support households and communities through disaster recovery, HUD will provide Housing Counseling assistance and offer waivers and additional flexibilities to Public Housing Agencies, Tribes, and recipients of designated federal funding to allow communities to use existing resources to aid in response and recovery efforts. Additionally, HUD offered a suite of waivers and alternative requirements to allow impacted communities to use existing community development and homelessness assistance funds to aid in response and recovery efforts.
Approving Additional Emergency Assistance
President Biden has now also approved Major Disaster Declarations for Georgia and Virginia, allowing individuals in 41 counties in Georgia and 6 in Virginia to apply for FEMA assistance. Administration officials are in touch with Georgia emergency management officials, and based on their ongoing assessments of impacts on the ground, FEMA is in the process of approving federal assistance for additional counties. This is in addition to approving Major Disaster declarations for Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina earlier in the weekend.
To date, more than $10 million in Individual Assistance has been provided to survivors who have been affected by Hurricane Helene, and we expect that number to increase over the coming days. In North Carolina, through the expedited Serious Needs Assistance program, FEMA has paid out more than $1 million to over 1,400 households in less than 24 hours.
FEMA assistance in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia can include a one-time $750 payment to help with essential items like food, water, baby formula and other emergency supplies. After registering for disaster assistance, individuals may also qualify to receive disaster-related financial assistance to repair storm-related damage to homes and replace personal property, as well as assistance to find a temporary place to stay. Homeowners and renters with damage to their home or personal property from previous disasters, whether they received FEMA funds or not, are still eligible to apply for and receive assistance for Hurricane Helene.
FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance teams are deployed to Florida and North Carolina to help survivors register for disaster assistance, visiting shelters and going door to door to help people get Federal assistance where they need it as quickly as feasible.
This update Biden-Harris Administration’s continued response efforts after the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Helene across multiple states for days, one of the deadliest storms ever to hit is provided by an administration official.
The National Weather Service reported Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm late in the evening of September 26, 2024. Although slowly weakening as it moved north across the Deep South and then northwestward across the southern Appalachians, Helene caused significant impacts across a large portion of the Southeast U.S., especially around the southern Appalachians. It brought record wind and rain, lines of tornadoes.
While FEMA has attributed Helene’s severity to the ongoing climate crisis, Donald Trump dismisses climate change as a “scam” and didn’t mind disrupting rescue and recovery efforts underway in order to showboat a photo opp in a devastated Georgia community, actually lying about the Biden-Harris administration’s response and outreach to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and others and charging that the Biden administration discriminates against sending disaster aid to red states (which is what Trump did throughout his presidency. And be reminded that Trump pressured Speaker Johnson to shutdown government unless he got a law requiring voters to prove their citizenship attached to the budget authorization, which would have left these communities without any assistance whatsoever. Trump is the last one to criticize federal response when his “help” to Puerto Rico after devastating Hurricane Maria was to toss paper towels and give the contract to rebuilt the power infrastructure to a Montana crony.
Trump advocates shutting down NOAA, the Weather Service and Hurricane Preparedness (because they provide evidence of human-caused climate change). Trump, who pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accord in his first term and reversed Obama’s climate initiatives) also promised Big Oil donors that if they ponied up $1 billion, he would reverse Biden’s historic climate actions, and his answer to everything from inflation to housing affordability is “drill baby, drill.”
In contrast, “Vice President Kamala Harris canceled her West Coast campaigning and headed straight to FEMA headquarters in DC to do what she’s always done — confront the existential threat of climate change head-on. Through her unwavering support for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 infrastructure law, Harris has championed investments in environmentally friendly programs and resources, showcasing a dedication to safeguarding our planet for future generations,” the progressive organization Indivisible writes.
“Trump’s legacy of environmental deregulation and his current ambitions to dismantle vital agencies like the National Weather Service pose a direct threat to our nation’s ability to respond to climate-related disasters — such actions would leave us blindsided in the face of future crises, rendering the unconscionable notion of being unprepared a reality.”
The Biden-Harris Administration continues to lead a robust Federal response to help impacted communities in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The Administration is working around the clock and mobilizing every resource available to support life-saving response efforts in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.
The President and Vice President continue to receive regular briefings from their teams, including today, and Administration officials remain in constant communication with state and local officials to ensure they have the support and resources they need. President Biden has spoken with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, and Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, along with other state and local officials in the impacted areas to offer further assistance as needed. This afternoon, the President was briefed by Governor Cooper and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell from the field following surveys of Helene’s impacts across the State. Vice President Harris also received an in-person briefing at FEMA today and has been in touch with Governor Cooper, Governor Kemp, Greenville Mayor Knox White, and Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
President Biden directed Administrator Criswell to determine what more can be done to accelerate delivering support to those who are having the most difficult time accessing assistance in isolated communities. At the President’s direction, Administrator Criswell has been on the ground to survey damage and determine any unmet needs, and at the President’s direction she will remain on the ground in Asheville, North Carolina, until the situation has stabilized.
An administration official provided this update as of October 1:
Biden-Harris Administration Updates on Hurricane Helene Response in North Carolina
Latest updates as of October 1:
At the Direction of President Biden, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is in North Carolina and will remain there until the situation has stabilized. FEMA and other agencies have more than 1,200 personnel in North Carolina, with more resources and staff arriving daily.
President Biden plans to visit North Carolina on Wednesday to survey the damage, receive a briefing at the State Emergency Operations Center and participate in an aerial tour of Asheville.Yesterday, the White House reached out to over 130 officials in North Carolina and Georgia.
After President Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for North Carolina over the weekend, people in 25 counties in North Carolina can now apply for assistance with FEMA. More counties may be declared in these states as damage assessments continue.
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 deployed to North Carolina to help survivors register for disaster assistance, answer questions and help people jumpstart their recovery. Team members will be visiting shelter locations to help survivors without cell service or power be able to begin their application.
FEMA assistance in may include funds to help with essential items like food, water, baby formula and emergency supplies. Funds may also be available to repair storm-related damage to homes and personal property, as well as assistance for a temporary place to stay.
Homeowners and renters with damage to their home or personal property from previous disasters, whether they received FEMA funds or not, are still eligible to apply for and receive assistance for Hurricane Helene.
Power restoration crews continue working 24 hours a day throughout parts of North Carolina. 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 Health and Human Services teams are working in North Carolina, one team started emergency department decompression at Mission Hospital in Asheville and is treating patients. Another team is moving to Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine to support emergency department decompression mission. Additionally, 200 federal ambulances have been provided to the state.
With 10 search and rescue teams on the ground, another nine teams are arriving today for more than 900 personnel to assist with these efforts.
Together with local and state responders, teams have rescued or supported more than 1,130 in North Carolina.
The U.S. Coast Guard crews have saved 21 lives and five pets in the response so far, with rescues continuing in North Carolina.
The U.S. Department of Energy has responders deployed to North Carolina to assist restoration efforts.
Two FEMA Incident Management Assessment Teams are in North Carolina. The team will coordinate directly with the state to facilitate requests for assistance.
So far, 25 trailer-loads of meals and 60 trailers-loads of water have been delivered to the state to support response efforts. More trailer loads of meals and water will be delivered in the coming days.
A C-17 cargo plane full of food, water and other commodities has arrived at the forward operating base in Asheville, with a daily flow of commodities established via air bridge.
There are 29 shelters open with over 1,000 occupants.
40 Starlink satellite systems are available to help with responder communications and an additional 140 satellites are being shipped to assist with communications infrastructure restoration.
One Starlink will be deployed per county EOC to assist with communications and continuity of government.
Generators are moving from Charlotte-Mecklenberg to Asheville, with another 30 generators enroute to the staging base in Mecklenburg.
Disaster Medical Assistance Teams are in Asheville providing emergency room medical support at hospitals.
FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance teams are going to the field, focusing on shelters, where they will assist survivors in applying for assistance.
The Salvation Army is coordinating with county emergency management agencies and partner organizations. North Carolina’s Incident Management Team is activated, with two canteens in Boone and Buncombe County.
Biden-Harris Administration Updates on Hurricane Helene Response in Georgia
Latest updates as of October 1:
President Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for Georgia, allowing individuals in 41 counties to apply for FEMA assistance. More counties may be declared as damage assessments continue.
People can apply in three ways: online by visiting disasterassistance.gov, calling 1-800-621-3362 or on the FEMA App.
Yesterday, the White House reached out to over 130 officials in North Carolina and Georgia.
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.
FEMA supplied over 500,000 meals primarily to Macon-Bibb County.
FEMA is trucking in 2,500 gallons of gasoline a day to help alleviate potential fuel issues in hard hit communities.
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.
FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance teams are going to the field, focusing on shelters, where they will assist survivors in applying for assistance.
The American Red Cross, in coordination with FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services are supporting shelter operations. Eight shelters are open, supporting 519 survivors.
FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission are working with commercial carriers to augment or have telecommunication systems restored.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency personnel are traveling to impacted areas to extend emergency credit to farmers and agriculture producers who lost crops and livestock.
The Salvation Army is coordinating with county emergency management agencies and partner organizations. In Georgia, meal services are underway in Valdosta, Alma, Vidalia, with six units serving Chatham County and Augusta.
Biden-Harris Administration Updates on Hurricane Helene Response in Florida
Latest updates as of October 1:
The White House has reached out to more than 200 federal, state, and local officials across Florida over the last few days to offer support and gauge additional assistance needs.
FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance teams are in Florida neighborhoods and shelters helping people apply for FEMA assistance after Hurricane Helene.
Two FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams are onsite at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee to coordinate with the state and facilitate any requests for assistance.
30 FEMA Division Supervisors are embedded in 21 Florida county Emergency Operations Centers.
All federal Urban Search and Rescue teams have been released from the state to assist other affected states, specifically the Asheville area in North Carolina.
Disaster Recovery Centers are operating in Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties to provide one-on-one help to Floridians affected by Hurricane Helene.
On September 28, 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.
Florida homeowners and renters in 17 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, Dixie, Franklin, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Taylor and Wakulla counties can apply.
Biden-Harris Administration Updates on Hurricane Helene Response in South Carolina
Latest updates as of October 1:
President Biden has spoken with South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster.
President Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for South Carolina this weekend, allowing survivors to immediately access funds and resources to jumpstart their recovery.
FEMA assistance in South Carolina may include a one-time $750 payment to help with essential items like food, water, baby formula and other emergency supplies. After registering for disaster assistance, individuals may also qualify to receive disaster-related financial assistance to repair storm-related damage to homes and replace personal property, as well as assistance to find a temporary place to stay.
Homeowners and renters with damage to their home or personal property from previous disasters, whether they received FEMA funds or not, are still eligible to apply for and receive assistance for Hurricane Helene.
People in 13 counties in South Carolina can now apply for assistance with FEMA. People can apply in four ways: online by visiting disasterassistance.gov, calling 1-800-621-3362, on the FEMA App, or via disaster recovery centers.
Emergency declarations were also approved for South Carolina. Under an emergency declaration, FEMA provides direct Federal support to states for life saving activities and other emergency protective measures, such as evacuation, sheltering, and search and rescue.
A FEMA Incident Management Assistance Team is onsite at the state Emergency Operations Center in Columbia to coordinate with the state and facilitate any requests for assistance.
HHS declared a public health emergency for South Carolina to address the health impacts of Hurricane Helene.
Two Urban Search and Rescue teams are working near Greenville and Pickens.
10 shelters are open with a total of 63 survivors seeking shelter there. Additionally, there are 10 medical shelters active in the state.
On Wednesday, President Biden will travel to North Carolina. He will also travel to Georgia and Florida as soon as possible.
Additionally, the Federal government is closely monitoring an additional weather disturbance in the Caribbean Sea that has the potential to form into another storm in the coming week. Residents throughout the Gulf Coast should remain alert, listen to local officials, and make additional preparations as needed.
During Climate Week, President Biden delivered remarks highlighting his climate, conservation, clean energy, and environmental justice agenda, which is lowering costs, creating good-paying and union jobs, and reducing harmful emissions.
As the latest historic hurricane event pummels the Southeast, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who routinely calls Climate Change a hoax, promises to “drill baby drill” and pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and Republican governors in Florida, Texas, South Carolina deal with climate change by outlawing the term, House Republicans continue reckless attempts to roll back climate, conservation, and clean energy investments– even proposing to shut down NOAA, which gives warnings of weather events.
This fact sheet reviewing President Biden’s historic climate legacy was provided by the White House:
When President Biden took office, he pledged to restore America’s climate leadership at home and abroad. Every day since, the Biden-Harris Administration has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate, conservation, clean energy, and environmental justice agenda in history, including securing the largest ever climate investment and unleashing a clean energy manufacturing boom that has attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment; created hundreds of thousands of new clean energy jobs; and lowered energy costs for families while delivering cleaner air and water for communities across the country.
As business leaders, government officials, young people, and other advocates from around the world gather in New York City to participate in Climate Week, tomorrow President Biden delivered remarks in New York City highlighting his Administration’s unprecedented progress in tackling the climate crisis, cutting energy costs for everyday Americans, and creating good-paying union jobs.
Meanwhile, as President Biden and Vice President Harris continue to implement their Investing in America agenda, many Congressional Republicans continue to deny the impacts of climate change and are actively working to roll back this Administration’s historic and urgent climate investments – in fact, House Republicans have voted more than 50 times to repeal parts of President Biden’s climate investments. The contrast couldn’t be clearer.
From replacing toxic lead pipes and modernizing our electric grid to reducing air pollution and conserving our nation’s lands and waters, President Biden and Vice President Harris have positioned America to lead the global effort against climate change and protect the health, safety, and economic vitality of our communities and our environment for generations to come.
Biden-Harris Administration’s Top Climate Accomplishments
Deploying Clean, Affordable Electricity and Strengthening America’s Power Grid Through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, President Biden has secured unprecedented investments in a clean power sector, unleashing a boom in American solar, wind, battery storage, nuclear, and other clean energy technologies that are creating good-paying jobs and saving families money on utility bills. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is supporting the U.S. offshore wind industry, transmission buildout and other power grid upgrades, residential solar for low-income households, investments in clean electricity across rural America, efficient permitting to get new projects built, and American manufacturing of clean energy technologies. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, the US has added more than 100 gigawatts of new clean energy – enough to power more than 25 million homes. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, clean energy project developers get access to expanded tax incentives if they pay workers prevailing wages and employ registered apprentices, build their projects with domestic content, or locate projects in historic energy communities—provisions that are helping make more clean energy jobs good-paying and union jobs, supporting American manufacturing, and driving clean energy investment to the places that can benefit the most. Bolstering Climate Resilience and Adaptation The Biden-Harris Administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to addressing climate impacts, including through Federal climate adaptation planning and integrating consideration of climate impacts into Federal policies, programs, and funding. The Administration released a National Climate Resilience Framework and President Biden secured more than $50 billion for climate resilience and adaptation investments that are upgrading aging roads and bridges, including critical evacuation routes; restoring critical waterways, forests, and urban greenspaces; building forest health and reducing wildfire risk; bolstering water infrastructure and drought resilience across the American West; reducing the risk to federal assets from future floods; and modernizing our electric grid. Through portals like Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) and Heat.gov, the Administration is equipping communities with the information and resources they need to assess climate risks and implement adaptation actions in their communities. With historic investments from the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Administration stabilized the short-term security of the Colorado River and is making investments to ensure the long-term stability of the Colorado River Basin. Accelerating a Clean Transportation Future Last year, the Biden-Harris Administration released the National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, a landmark strategy for eliminating nearly all greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. transportation sector by 2050. The Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act invest tens of billions to decarbonize maritime, trucking, transit, rail, and aviation, all while making communities more walkable, bikeable, and connected. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is also investing $7.5 billion to build a nationwide network of convenient, reliable electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure along corridors and within communities, and $5 billion to put clean school buses on our roads. In addition, the President rallied automakers and autoworkers around a historic goal of having electric vehicles account for at least 50% of new passenger vehicles sold by 2030. To support this goal while driving down consumer costs, the Administration secured tax credits that reduce the cost of new or used clean vehicles by thousands of dollars directly at the dealership as well as tax credits to deploy EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure to support clean vehicle deployment needs for individuals and businesses within rural and low income communities. The Administration is also leading by example to electrify the federal vehicle fleet, including 66,000 U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicles over five years. Cutting Energy Costs and Pollution at Homes, Schools, and in Communities Last year, 3.4 million American families saved $8.4 billion from IRA home energy tax credits for heat pumps, insulation, solar, and other clean energy technologies, and today states across the US are rolling out IRA rebates of up to $14,000 per household to help low- and middle-income families afford cost-saving electric appliances and energy efficiency improvements. The President established a $20 billion national clean energy financing network that will support tens of thousands of clean energy projects and cost-saving retrofits, reducing or avoiding up to 40 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually over the next seven years. The Biden-Harris Administration has also 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. Schools across the country are using IRA clean energy tax credits and elective pay to install solar, energy storage, and ground source heat pumps.
Revitalizing American Manufacturing for the Clean Economy President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has helped catalyze historic manufacturing growth, with factories opening across the nation. The private sector has committed over $910 billion in investments in American manufacturing and clean energy, including sectors central to our industrial strength. The President’s agenda is helping to make U.S. manufacturing the cleanest and most competitive in the world. The Inflation Reduction Act is investing more than $6 billion to slash climate pollution and support workers and community health at U.S. factories producing the steel, aluminum, cement, and other materials that form the backbone of our economy, nearly $2 billion to support shuttered or at-risk auto facilities retain or re-hire workers to support manufacturing in the electric vehicle supply chain, over $3 billion to bolster battery manufacturing, and over $4 billion through the Federal Buy Clean Initiative to bolster markets to buy cleaner materials. The Biden-Harris Administration’s historic steps to reduce super-polluting methane and hydrofluorocarbons are also harnessing American innovation and creating good-paying union jobs. Advancing Environmental Justice Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized a whole-of-government approach to environmental justice. The President signed a historic Executive Order that mobilizes the federal government to bring clean energy and healthy environments to all and mitigate harm to those who have suffered from pollution and environmental burdens like climate change. Through the Justice40 Initiative, over 500 programs across 19 federal agencies are being reimagined and transformed to maximize the benefits of President Biden’s unprecedented investments – from clean energy projects to floodwater protections to wastewater infrastructure – to communities that need them most. At the same time, the Administration is taking unprecedented action to protect communities from PFAS pollution, accelerate Superfund and brownfield cleanups, tighten standards for hazardous air pollutants, and enhance air quality enforcement. To ensure the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of communities with environmental justice concerns are heard in the White House and reflected in federal priorities, policies, investments, and decision-making, President Biden also created the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Delivering Clean Water and Replacing Lead Pipes President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to ensure a future where every American has access to clean, safe water. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests over $50 billion in upgrading the nation’s water infrastructure – the largest investment in clean water in American history. The Administration has already launched over 1,700 projects to expand access to clean drinking water, replace lead pipes, improve wastewater and sanitation infrastructure, and remove PFAS pollution in water. The Biden-Harris Administration invested over $1 billion from the President’s Investing in America agenda to specifically accelerate the delivery of drinking water and community sanitation infrastructure projects in Indian Country, where almost 50% of communities are lacking this basic human right. President Biden has also made a commitment to replace every toxic lead pipe in the country within a decade, protecting families from lead poisoning that can irreversibly harm brain development in children.
Empowering Every Community to Advance Climate Solutions The historic set of federal actions that the Biden-Harris Administration has taken are supporting communities across the country in seizing opportunities in the clean energy economy. The Administration has mobilized billions of dollars in investment in the energy communities and workers that have powered our nation for generations. To help young people access skills-based training for good-paying careers in the clean energy and climate resilience economy, the Administration launched the American Climate Corps, which will mobilize a new, diverse generation of more than 20,000 Americans. And with direct support from the Administration’s Investing in America Agenda, more than 45 states and more than 200 Tribes, territories, and metro areas have now developed their own Climate Action Plans. All of these foundational efforts will support climate solutions in the near-term and for years to come, helping the nation achieve the goal of reducing climate pollution by 50-52% below 2005 levels in 2030 and reaching a net-zero economy by no later than 2050.
Conserving our Lands and Waters President Biden’s America the Beautiful initiative is supporting and accelerating voluntary, locally led conservation and restoration efforts across the country, and with 42 million acres already protected under President Biden, the U.S. is on track to meet the first-ever national goal to conserve at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030. The Biden-Harris Administration has established or expanded eight national monuments and restored protections for three more; created five new national wildlife refuges and significantly expanded five more; established two new national marine sanctuaries and begun the process to designate or expand protections for five more; created one new national estuarine research reserve; protected the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, the nation’s most visited wilderness area; safeguarded Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska from the impacts of mining; protected the Arctic Ocean from oil and gas development; and withdrawn Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Thompson Divide in Colorado from further oil and gas leasing which will protect pristine lands and thousands of sacred sites. The Administration also directed the conservation of old-growth and mature forests, put conservation on equal footing with development in managing our public lands, launched the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challengeto protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of our nation’s river and streams, protected vast areas of caribou habitat in the Western Arctic for future generations, and is advancing the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California. Rallying Leaders of the World’s Largest Economies to Raise Global Climate Ambition President Biden has restored America’s climate leadership at home and abroad. Under his leadership, the Administration is securing commitments from more than 155 countries to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 percent by 2030; successfully galvanizing other countries at COP28 to commit, for the first time, to transition away from unabated fossil fuels, stop building new unabated coal capacity globally, and triple renewable energy globally by 2030 and nuclear energy by 2050; launching a new Clean Energy Supply Chain Collaborative to work with international partners to diversify supply chains that are critical to a clean and secure energy transition; mobilizing other governments to follow the U.S. lead and commit to achieve net-zero government emissions by 2050 through a new Net-Zero Government Initiative; and becoming a world leader in innovative debt-for-nature swaps that have helped countries restructure over $2 billion in debt and unlock hundreds of millions of new financing for nature and climate.
Accelerating Federal Permitting to Deliver Clean Energy and Infrastructure More Quickly The Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to accelerate clean energy infrastructure and deliver other critical projects by securing and directing long overdue resources to improve and accelerate permitting and environmental reviews. The Administration also finalized the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to address climate change, protect public health, encourage better environmental outcomes, and promote meaningful public input on Federal decisions and projects.
House Republicans Continue Attempting to Roll Back Climate Protections As President Biden and Vice President Harris implement the most ambitious and impactful climate and conservation agenda in history, House Republicans are taking action right now that would roll back investments in climate, clean energy, and public health. House Republicans’ efforts to gut climate protections through a variety of avenues – including appropriations bills, Congressional Review Act resolutions, and other legislative actions – would raise consumer energy costs, undermine public health protections, worsen the impacts of extreme weather events, and destroy environmental safeguards for our lands and waters.
Ongoing attempts by Congressional Republicans to roll back climate and environmental protections would:
Raise Consumer Energy Costs, including by:
Attempting to eliminate funding for the development of U.S. manufacturing capabilities in vehicles, trains and locomotives, maritime vessels including offshore wind support vessels, and aircraft.
Blocking progress on programs that support residential solar projects to reduce utility bills in low-income and disadvantaged communities, and clean energy tax credits that deliver economic benefits from new projects and factories in communities across the country.
Taking steps to undermine clean vehicle deployment by eliminating guidance implementing tax credits for new and used clean vehicles.
Targeting commonsense energy efficiency standards for appliances that are expected to deliver $1 trillion in consumer savings over 30 years
Trying to overturn a Biden-Harris Administration rule that will reduce by 96% the number of people with elevated cancer risk near certain chemical plants, by reducing emissions of toxic chloroprene and ethylene oxide from those facilities.
Rolling back the Clean School Bus program that will reduce climate pollution and provide cleaner air for our nation’s children.
American Climate Corps Has Already Put 15,000 Young Americans to Work as Part of Its Inaugural Cohort
Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps Announce a New Environmental Justice Climate Corps; the Department of Housing and Urban Development Joins the Interagency American Climate Corps Initiative
During Climate Week, the Biden-Harris administration announced progress on its American Climate Corps. This fact sheet was provided by the White House:
Since taking office, President Biden has delivered on the most ambitious climate, clean energy, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history – signing into law the largest investment in climate action ever, protecting more than 42 million acres of public lands and waters, creating good-paying clean energy jobs, and establishing the Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits from certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
As part of his historic commitment to tackle the climate crisis, President Biden launched the American Climate Corps (ACC) to mobilize the next generation of clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience workers, with a goal to put 20,000 young people to work in the clean energy and climate resilience economy in the initiative’s first year. Today, in celebration of Climate Week, the White House is announcing that more than 15,000 young Americans have been put to work in high-quality, good-paying clean energy and climate resilience workforce training and service opportunities through the American Climate Corps – putting the program on track to reach President Biden’s goal of 20,000 members in the program’s first year ahead of schedule.
Across the country, American Climate Corps members are working on projects to tackle the climate crisis, including restoring coastal ecosystems, strengthening urban and rural agriculture, investing in clean energy and energy efficiency, improving disaster and wildfire preparedness, and more. The American Climate Corps is giving a diverse new generation of young people the tools to fight the impacts of climate change today and the skills to join the clean energy and climate-resilience workforce of tomorrow.
The Biden-Harris Administration is making several additional announcements:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and AmeriCorps are Announcing a New Environmental Justice Climate Corps, which will put more than 250 American Climate Corps members to work over the next three years providing technical assistance to community-based organizations in environmental justice communities – helping them access resources to carry out locally driven projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, improve public health and safety, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. Environmental Justice Climate Corps members will be paid a living allowance and reimbursed for selected living expenses. In total, this allowance is equivalent to receiving more than $25 per hour throughout their year of service. They will also obtain the benefits of AmeriCorps VISTA service—including the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which is valued at $7,395 in FY24, and streamlined pathways into certain federal jobs—and gain mentorship and professional development opportunities. Applications for the Environmental Justice Climate Corps will open in early 2025, with a goal for its first cohort to start later that year. The partnership with EPA is AmeriCorps’ largest environmental partnership in the agency’s history and will build on the success of three other partnerships announced under the American Climate Corps: AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps, Working Lands Climate Corps and Energy Communities AmeriCorps, which together will support more than 500 new ACC positions over the coming years.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is Joining the ACC Interagency Initiative. Joining the seven initial signatories of the December 2023 ACC Memorandum of Understanding, today HUD will become the eighth federal agency member of the ACC Interagency Initiative. This step brings the ACC to the communities HUD serves, building upon the Department’s commitment to using low- and zero-carbon energy and supporting communities to increase their resilience, advance environmental justice, and create good jobs for residents.
The American Climate Corps is Fostering Federal-State Partnerships by establishing a partnership with state service commissions, which support national service in states across the country, to grow the number of state climate corps and strengthen existing state climate corps programs. Together, the American Climate Corps, state-level climate corps programs, and state national service leadership are committed to strengthening state climate corps, supporting impactful program implementation, and leveraging state and local partnerships to scale climate corps efforts across the country. To date, 14 states have launched their own state-based climate corps programs, including New Jersey who just today announced the creation of the New Jersey Climate Corps.
American Climate Corps Will Host a Virtual Job Fair. The American Climate Corps is working to ensure that its members have a pathway to good-paying jobs following their terms of service, which is why later this year, ACC will host a virtual job fair for current and past members to learn about high-quality career opportunities in the clean energy and climate resilience economy. The virtual job fair will bring together the private sector, labor unions, and the public sector, including Federal agencies, to showcase career pathways available to ACC members.
Today’s announcements build on a year of successful program implementation, including:
Launch of the American Climate Corps Tour. This fall, to showcase ACC members’ important work across the nation, the American Climate Corps and senior Biden-Harris Administration officials is embarking on a national tour and visiting ten locations to highlight ACC members’ impact in communities across the country. The tour is making stops at a range of ACC project sites and featuring remarks by representatives of the Biden-Harris Administration and other Federal, state, and local elected officials. Visits include ACC member swearing-in ceremonies, service projects, and roundtables with ACC members.
Creation of the American Climate Corps Storytellers Project. Inspired by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, the ACC launched the Storytellers Project, engaging artists and storytellers to capture the impact of President Biden’s American Climate Corps. The ACC Storytellers Project solicited applications from artists across the country. Ten accomplished storytellers were selected to document the impact of the American Climate Corps in communities across the country through photographs, videos, and other visual art mediums.
During Climate Week, which coincides with the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, where climate has become a major issue in recent years, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a number of new initiatives including new investments to protect freshwater resources and enhance drought and climate resilience. This fact sheet is provided by the White House:
Our nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries, and wetlands are fundamental to the health, prosperity, and resilience of our communities and are held sacred by many Tribal Nations. They are not only the sources of clean drinking water that flows into the taps of our homes, but are also economic drivers supporting jobs and outdoor recreation across the nation. By absorbing and storing carbon, our nation’s waterways and wetlands – and the forests, grasslands, and farmlands they nourish – also play a critical role in the fight against climate change.
Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to secure clean water for all communities, protect our vital freshwater resources, and mitigate the impacts of drought. Given that communities often acutely experience the climate crisis through water-related impacts – from floods and droughts to polluted drinking sources and waterways – this Administration is making historic investments through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to protect, conserve, and restore our freshwater basins and ecosystems.
Meanwhile, many Republicans in Congress continue to deny the very existence of climate change and remain committed to repealing the President’s Inflation Reduction Act – the biggest climate protection bill ever – which would undermine the health, safety, and economic vitality of their own constituents.
During Climate Week, the Biden-Harris administration is announcing new funding and whole-of-government initiatives that build upon its ambitious freshwater agenda and help restore and conserve our freshwater resources and address climate impacts felt across the nation:
Investing in Long-Term Colorado River Basin Resilience: The Biden-Harris Administration is leading a comprehensive effort to make Western communities more resilient to climate change and address the ongoing megadrought across the region, including the Colorado River Basin, by harnessing the full resources of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda. The Administration’s investments in the Lower Colorado River Basin bridge the immediate need for water conservation while moving toward improved system efficiency and more durable long-term solutions. Overall, the funding for long-term water conservation initiatives in the Lower Basin is expected to save more than 1 million acre-feet of water, putting the Basin on a path to a more resilient and sustainable water future.
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation is announcing the execution of the first three contracts for long-term water conservation under the Lower Colorado Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program. Totaling approximately $107 million, taken together these first three projects – all with the Gila River Indian Community in the Lower Colorado River Basin of Arizona – will provide over 73,000 acre-feet of water conservation to support the sustainability of Lake Mead while also helping ensure long-term water resilience for the Community. The Bureau of Reclamation is also working on the companion program for the Upper Basin, which will provide additional water savings for the Basin’s long-term sustainability.
The Bureau of Reclamation is working with the following sponsors in the Lower Colorado Basin to negotiate water conservation contracts for ten additional proposed projects, including:
City of Phoenix
City of Tucson
Coachella Valley Water District
Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association & Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District
San Diego County Water Authority
Southern Nevada Water Authority
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Town of Gilbert
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation is also signing agreements with the Imperial Irrigation District and the Bard Water District in partnership with the Metropolitan Water District in California to ensure the conservation of up to 717,100 acre-feet of water by 2026. This water will remain in Lake Mead in an effort to benefit the Colorado River System and its users.
Investing in Indian Country: The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has announced historic Tribal water infrastructure investments totaling over $1.2 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, Reclamation Water Settlement funding, and annual appropriations. This includes a new investment of $9.4 million for Tribal drought relief and technical assistance projects that will restore wetlands, improve irrigation efficiency, and support groundwater monitoring.
Reconnecting Waterways and Restoring Aquatic Ecosystems: With over $3 billion in funding for ecosystem restoration and fish passage projects, the Investing in America agenda is helping secure cleaner rivers, safer communities, greater recreational opportunities, and improved fish and wildlife habitat, driving change across the landscape for people, communities, species, and ecosystems.
The Administration is announcing a suite of 10 transformational fish passage projects that to date have received over $150 million from eight Federal agencies. When completed, these fish passage and aquatic connectivity projects – located in communities from Maine to Ohio to California – will reconnect nearly 5,000 miles of rivers and streams across the United States. Reconnecting waterways allows natural functions to be restored in freshwater systems, improving their climate resilience and water quality, and therefore their ability to protect communities from catastrophic floods, droughts, catastrophic wildfire, and water pollution. Improving fish passage and reconnecting aquatic systems is one of the most effective ways to help conserve vulnerable species, while building safer infrastructure for communities and improving climate resilience. To date, the Administration has spent over $970 million on more than 600 fish passage projects in 45 states across the country.
The Department of the Interior today is announcing an additional $92 million in new resources from the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program to help restore important salmon and other native fish habitat across the West. These projects, when complete, will provide increased water quality, floodplain stability, and drought resiliency.
Collaborating with Stakeholders to Protect Freshwater Systems: At a Climate Week NYC event focused on the Global Freshwater Challenge, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory announced a doubling of new partners in the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge – a nationwide initiative to protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of our nation’s rivers and streams by 2030. Over 100 members from across the country initially signed on to support freshwater restoration in their communities. That number has now more than doubled to over 211, including 14 states, 16 Tribal entities, 27 local governments, and 79 private sector members.
These announcements build on recent actions that deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ensuring safe drinking water, including providing approximately $1 billion in funding to bring safe, clean water to Tribal communities; finalizing the first-ever standard to protect communities from toxic “forever chemicals,” along with rulemakings to hold polluters responsible for PFAS cleanup and to enhance safeguards against dangerous chemical spills in our nation’s waters; and continuing to deliver on President Biden’s goal to replace every lead pipe in America in the next decade. The Department of the Interior has invested more than $6.95 billion to fund over 831 Western water projects through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act; the Environmental Protection Agency has leveraged more than $9 billion in the last two years alone to communities across the West; and other agencies from the Department of Agriculture to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continue to make investments that increase water availability, reduce water use, and enhance resilience.
Inflation Reduction Act final rules build on Administration actions to develop a skilled, well-paid workforce to build the clean energy economy and combat the climate crisis. The Biden Administration has created mechanisms and collaborations to connect those who want to work in the clean energy industry with jobs. This fact sheet was provided by the White House:
Since day one, President Biden has committed to building a clean energy economy that creates good-paying and union jobs for American workers. Spurred by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which includes the most significant investment in climate and clean energy in history, America has unleashed a clean energy manufacturing and deployment boom that has attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment and created more than 270,000 new good-paying and union clean energy jobs. These investments are flowing to the places President Biden promised not to leave behind, including the historic energy communities that have powered this nation for generations and economically distressed communities, providing jobs and economic opportunity, particularly for workers without a college degree.
The Inflation Reduction Act delivered on President Biden’s commitment to be the most pro-worker, pro-union president in history, attaching strong labor protections and incentives to climate and clean energy tax credits for the first time ever. Outside analysis projects that the Inflation Reduction Act could create 1.5 million additional jobs over the next decade, and these provisions will ensure that those jobs building wind farms, installing solar panels, and constructing hydrogen and carbon capture facilities will be good-paying and support proven pathways into the clean energy industry that will allow workers to earn while they learn.
Today, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced final rules implementing the prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship increased credit provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Clean energy projects that meet the requirements of these final rules will receive a fivefold increase for clean energy tax credits for deployment of wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, and other clean energy technologies, as well as for projects receiving allocations under the Section 48C Advanced Energy Projects credit., providing a significant incentive for project developers to pay prevailing wages to workers for construction, alteration, and repair of clean energy projects and to hire registered apprentices to earn while they learn by working on those projects.
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su also published a blog highlighting the use of Project Labor Agreements as a best practice for large construction projects and a tool to help project developers comply with the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Project Labor Agreements, or pre-hire collective bargaining agreements that set the terms and conditions for employment on a construction project, help workers and developers alike by providing strong worker and wage protections while ensuring a reliable supply of skilled workers to help deliver projects on time and on budget.
The final rules provide certainty for clean energy developers and workers to realize the benefits of President Biden’s historic investments in the clean energy economy. To protect workers and ensure compliance with these requirements, the IRS also released a Fact Sheet that can be posted at job sites and used to educate workers about the prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship standards for clean energy projects, including information on how to use IRS Form 3949-A to report suspected violations of tax law. The IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) also announced that they are working on an MOU, to be signed by the end of the year, that will harness DOL’s extensive prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship expertise, to facilitate joint education and public outreach, develop training content for IRS examiners, and formalize a process for DOL to share with IRS, any credible tips or information about potential noncompliance with the prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship requirements.
Today’s announcement builds on efforts across the Administration to create strong pathways into good-paying and union jobs in clean energy and build a high-quality, diverse pipeline of workers prepared to build the clean energy economy of the future:
The Department of Labor launched an interactive map to highlight for workers, unions, and the public more than 1,000 planned clean energy projects nationwide, including the estimated number of workers at each project who stand to benefit if taxpayers satisfy the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements.
The Biden-Harris Administration launched a series of Investing in America Workforce Hubs, partnerships with state and local officials, employers, unions, community colleges, high schools, and other stakeholders in regions with significant investments through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, to connect Americans to good-paying jobs in industries of the future, including Hubs focused on clean energy.
First Lady Jill Biden announced the first set of five Hubs in May 2023, fueling significant progress in building and scaling new job training opportunities, while President Biden announced four more hubs in April to build on the success of the first set.
The Augusta, Georgia Workforce Hub announced partnerships between employers, unions, nonprofits, philanthropy, school districts, and colleges to build workforce and skills development efforts to meet the needs of the energy, battery and battery materials, and nuclear sectors.
The Pittsburgh Workforce Hub announced hundreds of new job opportunities and training pathways—including registered apprenticeships—in clean energy, as well as in cyber occupations that support clean energy and other critical sectors.
Building on historic investments in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing, President Biden launched the Michigan Electric Vehicle Workforce Hub, building on significant efforts underway, to ensure that the transition to electric vehicle supports the union workers and communities that have driven the auto industry for generations.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Detroit in May to announce a suite of actions to support small- and mid-sized auto manufacturers and auto workers to lead the electric vehicle future.
In the Columbus Workforce Hub, Columbus State Community College is working with partners across the state to quadruple the number of students trained for engineering technology jobs. In addition, partners are preparing at least 10,000 skilled construction trades workers, including for clean energy jobs in the area.
The Department of Energy launched the Community Workforce Readiness Accelerator for Major Projects (RAMP) initiative, a pilot initiative that places selected fellows from across the nation in target geographies in order to convene and catalyze effective, inclusive workforce strategies to prepare and connect local workers to good jobs on large clean energy infrastructure and supply chain projects funded the Investing in America agenda.
The Department of Energy continues to incentivize grant and loan recipients across a wide array of Investing In America programs to commit to the use of registered apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, project labor agreements, collective bargaining agreements, community benefits agreements, and other established tools to ensure that workers have accessible on-ramps to good-paying and union jobs in the growing clean energy economy.
The Department of Energy, in coordination with the Department of Labor and the AFL-CIO, launched the Battery Workforce Initiative, a national workforce development strategy for lithium-battery manufacturing with $5 million to support pilot training programs. Recently, the Battery Workforce Initiative announced National Guideline Standards for registered apprenticeships for battery machine operators, created in partnership with battery manufacturers, community colleges, and unions, which lay out rigorous training requirements to support the skilled battery workforce.
Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that it would invest $60 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to advance climate-ready workforce projects in coastal and Great Lakes states, Tribes, and territories. The Climate-Ready Workforce Initiative will fund skills training in emergency preparedness and response, floodproofing, structural elevation, water and wastewater treatment, geographic information systems, and other critical climate-ready jobs. Every awarded project supports a community identified as disadvantaged by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.
The Department of Labor announced the award of nearly $94 million in grants to support 34 public-private partnerships to provide worker-centered sector strategy training programs in 25 states and the District of Columbia to meet workforce needs created by the Biden-Harris administration’s “Investing in America” agenda. The training will support jobs in sectors including clean energy. This investment will build career pathways in manufacturing Electric Vehicles (EVs), EV batteries, and EV charging infrastructure in places like Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Department of Labor also announced the availability of approximately $35 million in funding through the second round of Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs grants to be awarded.
The Department of Energy announced up to $24 million in high-quality training for union apprentices, incumbent workers, and students for in-demand jobs in advanced manufacturing and clean energy through the Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) Program. The announcement is part of the IAC Program’s unprecedented expansion to include Registered Apprenticeship, union-led training, and community and technical college programs through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. It follows DOE’s $40 million investment, announced in November, to support 17 new IACs as well as the inaugural cohort of 10 Building Training and Assessment Centers.
The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Advanced Manufacturing Sprint, an intensive drive to build a diverse, skilled pipeline of workers for needed to fill the good advanced manufacturing jobs created by President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda, including in clean energy, biotechnology, semiconductors, and more. As part of the Sprint, the Department of Labor announced that more than 4,700 apprentices have been hired and more than 150 new programs and occupations created or under development during the course of its Advanced Manufacturing Registered Apprenticeship Accelerator Series—including in the clean energy, semiconductor, aerospace, automotive, and biotechnology sectors.
The Department of Labor launched a $20 million cooperative agreement with TradesFutures, the nonprofit organization of partner of North America’s Building Trades Unions) and the National Urban League, to enroll more than 13,000 participants in apprenticeship readiness programs, giving them hands-on learning experience and skills development, and place at least 7,000 participants into Registered Apprenticeships in the construction industry. The launch followed the Department of Labor’s announcement of nearly $200 million in grants to expand registered apprenticeships, including for clean energy jobs.
The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Infrastructure Talent Pipeline Challenge, nationwide call to action that brought together more than 350 employers, unions, education and training providers, states, local governments, Tribes, territories, philanthropic organizations, and other stakeholders to make tangible commitments that support equitable workforce development in critical sectors, including electrification.
As part of the Talent Pipeline Challenge, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers trained more than 20,000 members through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program to meet the training requirements for the Department of Transportation National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program to install fast EV chargers on national corridors and in communities.
The Department of Labor has invested more than $440 million to expand, diversify, and modernize registered apprenticeships, including in high demand clean energy occupations including electricians, water treatment specialists, wind turbine maintenance technicians and other occupations. DOL has also invested in a clean energy apprenticeship industry intermediary, Interstate Renewable Energy Coalition, to increase industry awareness, connect employers and labor organizations with workforce and education partners, and provide technical assistance to launch, scale, and diversify Registered Apprenticeship programs. These investments and resources expand the capacity of the Registered Apprenticeship system, supporting the education and training needs of more than 1 million apprentices across the country, including the clean energy sector.
The Department of Energy is working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a first of its kind national Energy Workforce Needs Assessment to project employment impacts from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and related private investments by occupation and geography, analyze current education and training capacity, and identify the most acute workforce gaps and strategies to fill them.
The Department of Energy has convened a federal advisory committee called the 21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board to develop a strategy and recommendations on how DOE and other federal agencies should address the workforce needs, challenges, and opportunities of a rapidly changing energy system. The report is expected in early August.
The Biden Administration is accomplishing a real transition to clean energy and a sustainable green economy through promoting investments in technology, businesses, and innovation with state and local governments and private businesses, while demanding a framework of economic and environmental justice. This fact sheet listing Biden Administration actions to expand access to capital for small and medium sized climate businesses was provided by the White House:
Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. is making the largest public investment in climate action in history. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the largest-ever investment in climate action, introduced and expanded grants, loans, tax incentives, and other programs to accelerate clean energy deployment, invest in resilience, and seed breakthrough innovative technologies. Combined with unprecedented executive action, these investments are setting the United States on a path to achieve President Biden’s ambitious climate goals — including cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. President Biden’s historic economic policies have spurred unprecedented levels of private investment into America’s clean energy economy. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, the private sector has announced $866 billion in new investments in clean energy and manufacturing.
Creating economic opportunity for all American communities, entrepreneurs, and workers is central to President Biden’s economic and climate agenda. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed not only to catalyzing investment for climate and clean energy companies, but also to expanding access to that investment, ensuring all communities, including those historically left behind, benefit from these unprecedented resources.
Today, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, and Small Business Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman will host a Climate Capital Convening at the White House with investors, climate technology start-ups, small business owners, and entrepreneurs to discuss opportunities to mobilize capital for climate-focused businesses across America.
The Biden-Harris Administration will also announce new actions and resources to expand access to climate capital:
Releasing the new Climate Capital Guidebook:
The Biden-Harris Administration is releasing a new Climate Capital Guidebook to provide a simple, comprehensive map of capital programs across the federal government that are available to climate-related start-ups, small- and medium-sized businesses, and their investors. While larger, institutionally-backed climate companies may have the resources to identify and access federal funding opportunities, smaller enterprises may face greater challenges in navigating these federal programs.
The Guidebook includes financing and funding programs created and expanded by the Biden-Harris Administration, including those made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and longstanding annual appropriations. It inventories opportunities across the entire federal government, including the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the Small Business Administration, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Together, these programs comprise hundreds of billions of dollars in grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other funding tools to spur the financing and deployment of new clean energy and climate projects — while simultaneously focusing on delivering cleaner air, good-paying jobs, and affordable clean energy to disadvantaged communities, energy communities, and other communities in need. The Guidebook also indicates programs that are part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Expanding financing to support small businesses’ adoption of clean energy:
Small businesses are a critical part of achieving net zero by 2050 and should have access to capital to deploy new clean energy and climate projects.
The Small Business Administration’s 504 Loan Program provides long-term, fixed rate loans of up to $5.5 million from Small Business Administration-approved lenders to small businesses for certain energy and manufacturing projects to support capital expenditures such as real estate or equipment. Previously, this program was capped at three loans per company, allowing each company to receive a total of $16.5 million in loans backed by the Small Business Administration. This month, the Small Business Administration is lifting its cap on the number of 504 loans that small businesses may receive for “energy public policy projects,” which include projects that reduce energy consumption such as retrofits and/or renewable energy projects such as adding solar. In lifting this cap, small businesses may now bundle multiple 504 loans to finance projects that leverage clean energy technologies to lower production costs, improve energy efficiency, and contribute to emissions reductions goals.
This change increases the total financing available to small businesses tackling climate change and investing in a clean energy future.
Today’s announcements build on prior Biden-Harris Administration actions to expand access to climate capital, including:
Expanding Financing for Clean Energy and Climate Solutions:
Thanks to the President’s Inflation Reduction Act, the Environmental Protection Agency is implementing the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a first-of-a-kind national financing program to catalyze private investment in clean energy projects. The agency announced $14 billion for a National Clean Investment Fund, $6 billion for the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, and $7 billion for the Solar for All Program. Together, these investments are creating new clean energy job opportunities and reducing pollution in low-income and disadvantaged communities, as part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative.
The Inflation Reduction Act contains new and expanded tax credits to support investment in new clean electricity generation projects, clean energy manufacturing plants, electric vehicle charging stations, and other clean energy projects. The law also contains new credit monetization provisions for direct pay and transferability, which are expanding eligibility to tax-exempt entities like cities, states, and nonprofit organizations and helping to lower the cost of financing clean energy investments.
Made possible by funding from the American Rescue Plan, the Department of the Treasury allocated nearly $10 billion through the State Small Business Credit Initiative to deliver funding to states, territories, and Tribal governments that spurs lending and support to small businesses. Several states are using funds from the State Small Business Credit Initiative to support climate-focused initiatives, for example: Connecticut is leveraging $89 million to launch a climate equity and venture capital program, Illinois is using $20 million to support its Climate Bank Finance Participation Loan Program, and New Jersey is committing $80 million to its Clean Energy Loans Program.
The Department of the Treasury, through the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), is promoting access to capital in low-income communities through monetary awards and tax credits to certified CDFIs. The program recently began collecting data on climate-centered financing by CDFIs — including projects related to climate resilience, extreme weather response or preparation, emission reduction, sustainability, energy or water efficiency, and clean energy projects.
The Department of Defense and the Small Business Administration are jointly rolling out the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies Initiative to increase capital investment in technologies critical to U.S. economic and national security. The initiative provides equity, debt, and other capital investments in specified critical technology areas, including renewable energy generation and storage.
Funding Clean Energy and Climate Projects Across the Economy:
The Small Business Administration’s flagship 7(a) Loan Program provides small businesses access to financing for a wide variety of projects, including acquiring new real estate, working capital, refinancing, and purchasing new equipment. In August 2023, the Small Business Administration announced its Affiliation Rule and SBLC Rule. This rule included changes to how affiliation is assessed and removed “control” as a factor in determining eligibility of a borrower under current size standards. In effect, this change will enable more small businesses, especially innovative venture-backed companies, to access the credit they need to start up and grow.
The Small Business Administration plans to establish a new Working Capital Pilot Program under its signature 7(a) lending program to provide lines of credit to small businesses, including clean energy and climate technology manufacturers, to support their domestic or export finance needs. The program will be paired with business counseling from the Small Business Administration.
The Department of Energy is accepting Round 2 applications on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service for the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Tax Credit, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. After $4 billion in tax credits were allocated to taxpayers in Round 1 in Spring 2024, the program will allocate an additional $6 billion in tax credits to projects in three areas: clean energy manufacturing, critical materials, and industrial decarbonization. A portion of the funds have also been set aside for projects in certain designated energy communities.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act created the Clean Ports Program and the Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Program, both of which help advance the Justice40 Initiative. Through the Clean Ports Program, the Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $3 billion to fund zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure as well as climate and air quality planning projects at ports. Through the Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Program, the Department of Transportation is investing $400 million in port electrification and efficiency; $148 million in awards were made earlier in 2024, and companies can apply to a second funding opportunity that will go live later this year.
The Departments of Energy and Transportation are working together with states to build out the infrastructure for an electric mobility future while furthering the Justice40 Initiative. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program is providing a total of $5 billion over five years to states to deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure along corridors, and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program is providing an additional $2.5 billion over five years to fill gaps in the national network by installing chargers in various communities. The SMART Program is granting states $500 million over five years to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems that improve transportation efficiency and safety. And the Communities Taking Charge Accelerator Program is providing $54 million in funding for projects that expand community e-mobility access and provide reliable clean energy, accelerating the transition to electric vehicles, including in disadvantaged communities.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Energy are collaborating with state and local partners to ensure that funding for affordable housing development can also be used to deploy clean energy technologies like heat pumps. Programs like the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, the annual Innovative Housing Showcase, and the Buildings Upgrade Prize highlight how funds for affordable housing can simultaneously benefit clean energy and climate companies.
Building Federal Resource Hubs and Providing Technical Assistance:
The Small Business Administration launched its Investing in America Small Business Hub, a new digital resource to help small businesses identify and access industry-specific tax credit, rebate, contracting, and grant opportunities made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
The Environmental Protection Agency published a list of Clean Energy Finance Tools and Resources to help state and local governments access financing for clean energy and climate programs. This includes a toolkit for state and local decision-makers on financing opportunities such as green banks, revolving loan funds, municipal bonds, and green bonds.
The Department of the Treasury launched the IRA Taxpayer Resource Hub, a one-stop-shop for information on the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax benefits. The Hub details how businesses can take advantage of clean energy tax credits to help finance new investments in clean power systems, energy efficiency upgrades, or electric vehicles.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development launched the Build for the Future Hub to connect users — including state and local governments, Tribal entities, private entities, and non-profits — to funding opportunities, technical assistance, and other information related to clean energy, climate resilience, energy efficiency, green workforce development, and more.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership provides a government-to-business and business-to-business portal for supplier scouting. Public and private organizations can access this portal for business or technology connections, including in clean energy and climate-related industries. Local Manufacturing Extension Partnership Centers facilitate government, original equipment manufacturer, and small and medium-sized manufacturer matchmaking events for clean energy companies.
The Department of Labor offers workforce development opportunities for clean energy and climate technology companies. The Office of Apprenticeship connects employers with workforce and education partners and provides technical assistance to launch and expand Registered Apprenticeship programs. The Battery Workforce Initiative — an industry-driven, government-facilitated partnership coordinated by the Department of Energy — is accelerating the development and use of high-quality, standardized training materials in key occupations for companies and local training providers in the battery manufacturing industry.
The U.S. Economic Development Administration designated 31 communities across the United States as Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) to drive regional innovation, private investment, and job creation to strengthen each region’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy technology that advances national security. The hubs in Florida, Idaho/Wyoming, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and South Carolina/Georgia cite a growing need for clean energy technologies to build global economic competitiveness.
The U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build to Scale Program makes awards to strengthen regional innovation ecosystems that equitably support diverse technology innovators, entrepreneurs, and start-ups, including in clean energy and other climate-related industries.
If you want to transition from planet-killing fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and climate change to clean, renewable, sustainable energy, much more has to be done to increase the capacity and reliability of the electric grid. This fact sheet on what the Biden-Harris Administration is doing to bolster America’s power grid was provided by the White House:
Since Day One, President Biden has positioned America as a leader in the global race for a clean energy future, including by taking ambitious action to deliver a clean, reliable electric grid, which will help ensure that communities don’t lose power during extreme weather events, lower energy costs for hardworking families, and create good-paying jobs – all while tackling the climate crisis. Under the President’s leadership, the U.S. is projected to build more new electric generation capacity this year than we have in two decades – 96 percent of that clean energy. In addition, ten major transmission projects have begun construction, expected to connect nearly 20 gigawatts of new power to the grid. America is investing tens of billions to strengthen our grid to bolster resiliency, strengthen energy security, and drive innovation. And in recent weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken critical steps to build out the nation’s power grid – from making the federal permitting process for new transmission lines more efficient to launching a public-private mobilization to upgrade 100,000 miles of existing lines.
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is building on this momentum by launching a Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative, with commitments from 21 leading states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. Building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s legislative accomplishments and executive actions in tackling the grid modernization challenge, the initiative aims to bring together states, federal entities, and power sector stakeholders to help drive grid adaptation quickly and cost-effectively to meet the challenges and opportunities that the power sector faces in the twenty-first century.
Participating states have committed to prioritize efforts that support the adoption of modern grid solutions to expand grid capacity and build modern grid capabilities on both new and existing transmission and distribution lines. Historically, expanding the capacity of the U.S. power grid has typically relied on building new transmission lines with technologies that have not changed since the mid-twentieth century. Today, a new generation of modern grid technologies provides a significant opportunity to achieve power system capacity expansion, including through high-performance conductors that have the benefit of being able to carry double or more of 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. These solutions increase the capacity and throughput based on real-time conditions. Deploying these tools means that renewables and other clean sources of power can be integrated sooner and more cost-effectively than waiting for new transmission construction, which will address load growth challenges more rapidly, create good-paying jobs, and lower Americans’ utility bills.
Alongside this announcement, the U.S. Climate Alliance announced the availability of policy, technical, and analytical assistance to help participating members advance state-level efforts to carry out these commitments. In conjunction the Department of Energy is elevating the host of technical assistance programs that can support varying levels of analysis for utilities, policy makers, regulators, state energy offices, and other stakeholders.
In particular, the 21 states signing on as inaugural members will focus on:
Meeting the shared challenges and opportunities of increased load growth, a rapidly changing energy landscape, aging infrastructure, and new grid-enhancing technologies – while delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy to consumers.
Deploying innovative grid technologies to bolster the capacity of our electric grid and more effectively meet current and future demand, maximize benefits of new and existing transmission infrastructure, increase grid resilience to the growing impacts of climate change, and better protect consumers from variability in energy prices.
Last month, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a public-private mobilization to upgrade 100,000 miles of existing lines with these types of high-impact solutions over the next five years as part of a suite of announcements in the power sector. The Administration is advancing this goal by:
Catalyzing Nationwide Collaboration on Modern Grid Technologies: Governors, regulators, utilities, labor unions, and industry all play vital roles in determining how energy infrastructure gets built. For that reason, the Biden-Harris Administration is convening these stakeholders at the White House today to explore innovative policy solutions to unlock the deployment of modern grid technologies and share best practices. The Federal government stands ready to provide technical and financial assistance and can help provide additional forums to ensure that the best ideas from states, industry, and community stakeholders can be more readily shared.
Accelerating Permitting through New Categorical Exclusions for Reconductoring: Previously, projects to upgrade a transmission line above 20 miles in length could trigger a detailed environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Department of Energy last month expanded a categorical exclusion for upgrading and rebuilding transmission lines, replacing the previous length limits. DOE also made changes to categorical exclusions for certain energy storage and solar projects on previously developed lands. With these changes, most reconductoring projects now qualify for the simplest form of environmental review, which can take years off of project development time and allow the benefits of the transmission expansion to be realized even sooner.
Funding the Deployment of Advanced Grid Technologies: President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) have provided the largest investment in history to strengthen the nation’s power grid, including programs that can support transmission line upgrades. For example, DOE’s Grid Deployment Office is administering $10.5 billion in competitive grant funding through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. The first round of GRIP awards included 10 projects that will help deploy Grid Enhancing Technologies and calls for applications for the second round placed even greater emphases on these solutions. The DOE Loan Programs Office has $250 billion of loan guarantee authority to provide low-interest financing to projects that upgrade existing energy infrastructure, with program guidance that highlights reconductoring as a qualifying project example. The Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program provides $9.7 billion in low interest loans or grants and represents the largest investment in rural electrification since 1936, with eligibility for transmission system upgrades.
Each of these programs advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Reinforcing Administration Accomplishments on New Transmission Lines: The Biden-Harris Administration’s new goal to expand capacity of existing transmission lines will work alongside a historic set of actions to accelerate buildout of new projects. Since 2021, ten major transmission projects have begun construction, expected to connect nearly 20 gigawatts (GW) of new generation to the grid and reflecting over $22 billion in investment, including several projects on public lands that received approvals from the Department of the Interior. The Department of Energy issued a final rule to launch the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorization and Permits Program (CITAP), which streamlines the federal permitting process for qualifying electric transmission projects and helps set a standard two-year schedule for authorizations and permits, cutting the average timeframe in half. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final rule on Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation, Order 1920, that adopts specific requirements addressing how transmission providers must conduct long-term planning for regional transmission facilities, consider the use of advanced conductors and Grid Enhancing Technologies, and determine how to pay for them, so needed transmission is built.
People talk about putting a price on carbon as a key means of addressing climate change. But what would a carbon market look like?This fact sheet on the Biden Administration’s principles for high-integrity voluntary carbon markets was provided by the White House:
Since Day One, President Biden has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate agenda in history, including by securing the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest-ever climate investment, and taking executive action to cut greenhouse gas emissions across every sector of the economy. The President’s Investing in America agenda has already catalyzed more than $860 billion in business investments through smart, public incentives in industries of the future like electric vehicles (EVs), clean energy, and semiconductors. With support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act, these investments are creating new American jobs in manufacturing and clean energy and helping communities that have been left behind make a comeback.
The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to taking ambitious action to drive the investments needed to achieve our nation’s historic climate goals – cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. President Biden firmly believes that these investments must create economic opportunities across America’s diverse businesses – ranging from farms in rural communities, to innovative technology companies, to historically- underserved entrepreneurs.
As part of this commitment, the Biden-Harris Administration is today releasing a JointStatement of Policy and new Principles for Responsible Participation in Voluntary CarbonMarkets (VCMs)that codify the U.S. government’s approach to advance high-integrity VCMs. The principles and statement, co-signed by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy John Podesta, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, and National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, represent the U.S. government’s commitment to advancing the responsible development of VCMs, with clear incentives and guardrails in place to ensure that this market drives ambitious and credible climate action and generates economic opportunity.
The President’s Investing in America agenda has crowded in a historic surge of private capital to take advantage of the generational investments in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. High-integrity VCMs have the power to further crowd in private capital and reliably fund diverse organizations at home and abroad –whether climate technology companies, small businesses, farmers, or entrepreneurs –that are developing and deploying projects to reduce carbon emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere.
However, further steps are needed to strengthen this market and enable VCMs to deliver on their potential. Observers have found evidence that several popular crediting methodologies do not reliably produce the decarbonization outcomes they claim. In too many instances, credits do not live up to the high standards necessary for market participants to transact transparently and with certainty that credit purchases will deliver verifiable decarbonization. As a result, additional action is needed to rectify challenges that have emerged, restore confidence to the market, and ensure that VCMs live up to their potential to drive climate ambition and deliver on their decarbonization promise. This includes: establishing robust standards for carbon credit supply and demand; improving market functioning; ensuring fair and equitable treatment of all participants and advancing environmental justice, including fair distribution of revenue; and instilling market confidence.
The Administration’s Principles for Responsible Participation announced today deliver on this need for action to help VCMs achieve their potential. These principles include:
Carbon credits and the activities that generate them should meet credible atmospheric integrity standards and represent real decarbonization.
Credit-generating activities should avoid environmental and social harm and should, where applicable, support co-benefits and transparent and inclusive benefits-sharing.
Corporate buyers that use credits should prioritize measurable emissions reductions within their own value chains.
Credit users should publicly disclose the nature of purchased and retired credits.
Public claims by credit users should accurately reflect the climate impact of retired credits and should only rely on credits that meet high integrity standards.
Market participants should contribute to efforts that improve market integrity.
Policymakers and market participants should facilitate efficient market participation and seek to lower transaction costs.
The Role of High-Quality Voluntary Carbon Markets in Addressing Climate Change
President Biden, through his executive actions and his legislative agenda, has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate agenda in history. Today’s release of the Principles for Responsible Participation in Voluntary Carbon Markets furthers the President’s commitment to restoring America’s climate leadership at home and abroad by recognizing the role that high- quality VCMs can play in amplifying climate action alongside, not in place of, other ambitious actions underway.
High-integrity, well-functioning VCMs can accelerate decarbonization in several ways. VCMs can deliver steady, reliable revenue streams to a range of decarbonization projects, programs, and practices, including nature-based solutions and innovative climate technologies that scale up carbon removal. VCMs can also deliver important co-benefits both here at home and abroad, including supporting economic development, sustaining livelihoods of Tribal Nations, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, and conserving land and water resources and biodiversity. Credit-generating activities should also put in place safeguards to identify and avoid potential adverse impacts and advance environmental justice.
To deliver on these benefits, VCMs must consistently deliver high-integrity carbon credits that represent real, additional, lasting, unique, and independently verified emissions reductions or removals. Put simply, stakeholders must be certain that one credit truly represents one tonne of carbon dioxide (or its equivalent) reduced or removed from the atmosphere, beyond what would have otherwise occurred.
In addition, there must be a high level of “demand integrity” in these markets. Credit buyers should support their purchases with credible, scientifically sound claims regarding their use of credits. Purchasers and users should prioritize measurable and feasible emissions reductions within their own value chains and should not prioritize credit price and quantity at the expense of quality or engage in “greenwashing” that undercuts the decarbonization impact of VCMs. The use of credits should complement, not replace, measurable within-value-chain emissions reductions.
VCMs have reached an inflection point. The Biden-Harris Administration believes that VCMs can drive significant progress toward our climate goals if action is taken to support robust markets undergirded by high-integrity supply and demand. With these high standards in place, corporate buyers and others will be able to channel significant, necessary financial resources to combat climate change through VCMs. A need has emerged for leadership to guide the development of VCMs toward high-quality and high-efficacy decarbonization actions. The Biden-Harris Administration is stepping up to meet that need.
Biden-Harris Administration Actions to Develop Voluntary Carbon Markets
These newly released principles build on existing and ongoing efforts across the Biden-Harris Administration to encourage the development of high-integrity voluntary carbon markets and to put in place the necessary incentives and guardrails for this market to reach its potential. These include:
Creating New Climate Opportunities for America’s Farmers and Forest Landowners. Today, The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register asking for public input relating to the protocols used in VCMs. This RFI is USDA’s next step in implementing the Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-PartyVerifier Program as part of the Growing Climate Solutions Act. In February 2024, USDA announced its intent to establish the program, which will help lower barriers to market participation and enable farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners to participate in voluntary carbon markets by helping to identify high-integrity protocols for carbon credit generation that are designed to ensure consistency, effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency. The program will connect farmers, ranchers and private landowners with resources on trusted third-party verifiers and technical assistance providers. This announcement followed a previous report by the USDA, The General Assessment of theRole of Agriculture and Forestry in the U.S. Carbon Markets, which described how voluntary carbon markets can serve as an opportunity for farmers and forest landowners to reduce emissions. In addition to USDA AMS’s work to implement the Growing Climate Solutions Act, USDA’s Forest Service recently announced $145 million inawards under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to underserved and small- acreage forest landowners to address climate change, while also supporting rural economies and maintaining land ownership for future generations through participation in VCMs.
Conducting First-of-its-kind Credit Purchases. Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the semifinalists for its $35 million Carbon Dioxide RemovalPurchase Pilot Prize whereby DOE will purchase carbon removal credits directly from sellers on a competitive basis. The Prize will support technologies that remove carbon emissions directly from the atmosphere, including direct air capture with storage, biomass with carbon removal and storage, enhanced weathering and mineralization, and planned or managed carbon sinks. These prizes support technology advancement for decarbonization with a focus on incorporating environmental justice, community benefits planning and engagement, equity, and workforce development. To complement this effort, the Department of Energy also issued a notice of intent for a Voluntary CarbonDioxide Removal Purchase Challenge, which proposes to create a public leaderboard for voluntary carbon removal purchases while helping to connect buyers and sellers.
Advancing Innovation in Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Technology. Aside from direct support for voluntary carbon markets, the Biden-Harris Administration is investing in programs that will accelerate the development and deployment of critical carbon removal technologies that will help us reach net zero. For example, DOE’s CarbonNegative Shot pilot program provides $100 million in grants for small projects that demonstrate and scale solutions like biomass carbon removal and storage and small mineralization pilots, complementing other funding programs for small marine CDR and direct air capture pilots. DOE’s Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program invests up to $3.5 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in demonstration projects that aim to help direct air capture technology achieve commercial viability at scale while delivering community benefits. Coupled with DOE funding to advance monitoring, measurement, reporting, and verification technology and protocols and Department of the Treasury implementation of the expanded 45Q tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. is making comprehensive investments in CDR that will enable more supply of high- quality carbon credits in the future.
Leading International Standards Setting. Several U.S. departments and agencies help lead the United States’ participation in international standard-setting efforts that help shape the quality of activities and credits that often find a home in VCMs. The Department of Transportation and Department of State co-lead the United States’ participation in the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), a global effort to reduce aviation-related emissions. The Department of State works bilaterally and with international partners and stakeholders to recognize and promote best practice in carbon credit market standard-setting—for example, developing the G7’s Principles for High-Integrity Carbon Markets and leading the United States’ engagement on designing the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 Crediting Mechanism. The U.S. government has also supported a number of initiatives housed at the World Bank that support the development of standards for jurisdictional crediting programs, including the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and the Initiative for Sustainable ForestLandscapes, and the United States is the first contributor to the new SCALE trust fund.
Supporting International Market Development. The U.S. government is engaged in a number of efforts to support the development of high-integrity VCMs in international markets, including in developing countries, and to provide technical and financial assistance to credit-generating projects and programs in those countries. The State Department helped found and continues to coordinate the U.S. government’s participation in the LEAF Coalition, the largest public-private VCM effort, which uses jurisdictional-scale approaches to help end tropical deforestation. The State Department is also a founding partner and coordinates U.S. government participation in the EnergyTransition Accelerator, which is focused on sector-wide approaches to accelerate just energy transitions in developing markets. USAID also has a number of programs that offer financial aid and technical assistance to projects and programs seeking to generate carbon credits in developing markets, ensuring projects are held to the highest standards of transparency, integrity, reliability, safety, and results and that they fairly benefit Indigenous Peoples and local communities. This work includes the Acorn Carbon Fund, which mobilizes $100 million to unlock access to carbon markets and build the climate resilience of smallholder farmers, and supporting high-integrity carbon market development in a number of developing countries. In addition, the Department of the Treasury is working with international partners, bilaterally and in multilateral forums like the G20 Finance Track, to promote high-integrity VCMs globally. This includes initiating the first multilateral finance ministry discussion about the role of VCMs as part of last year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
Providing Clear Guidance to Financial Institutions Supporting the Transition to Net Zero. In September 2023, the Department of the Treasury released its Principles for Net-Zero Financing and Investment to support the development and execution of robust net- zero commitments and transition plans. Later this year, Treasury will host a dialogue on accelerating the deployment of transition finance and a forum on further improving market integrity in VCMs.
Enhancing Measuring, Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MMRV) The Biden-Harris Administration is also undertaking a whole-of-government effort to enhance our ability to measure and monitor greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a critical function underpinning the scientific integrity and atmospheric impact of credited activities. In November 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration released the first-ever National Strategy to Advance an Integrated U.S. Greenhouse Gas Measurement,Monitoring, and Information System, which seeks to enhance coordination and integration of GHG measurement, modeling, and data efforts to provide actionable GHG information. As part of implementation of the National Strategy, federal departments and agencies such as DOE, USDA, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Commerce, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are engaging in collaborative efforts to develop, test, and deploy technologies and other capabilities to measure, monitor, and better understand GHG emissions.
Advancing Market Integrity and Protecting Against Fraud and Abuse. U.S. regulatory agencies are helping to build high-integrity VCMs by promoting the integrity of these markets. For example, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) proposed new guidance at COP28 to outline factors that derivatives exchanges may consider when listing voluntary carbon credit derivative contracts to promote the integrity, transparency, and liquidity of these developing markets. Earlier in 2023, the CFTC issued a whistleblower alert to inform the American public of how to identify and report potential Commodity Exchange Act violations connected to fraud and manipulation in voluntary carbon credit spot markets and the related derivative markets. The CFTC also stood up a new Environmental Fraud Task Force to address fraudulent activity and bad actors in these carbon markets. Internationally, the CFTC has also promoted the integrity of the VCMs by Co-Chairing the Carbon Markets Workstream of the International Organization of Securities Commission’s Sustainable Finance Task Force, which recently published a consultation on 21 good practices for regulatory authorities to consider in structuring sound, well-functioning VCMs.
Taking a Whole-of-Government Approach to Coordinate Action. To coordinate the above actions and others across the Administration, the White House has stood up an interagency Task Force on Voluntary Carbon Markets. This group, comprising officials from across federal agencies and offices, will ensure there is a coordinated, government- wide approach to address the challenges and opportunities in this market and support the development of high-integrity VCMs.
The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that the future of VCMs and their ability to effectively address climate change depends on a well-functioning market that links a supply of high-integrity credits to high-integrity demand from credible buyers. Today’s new statement and principles underscore a commitment to ensuring that VCMs fulfill their intended purpose to drive private capital toward innovative technological and nature-based solutions, preserve and protect natural ecosystems and lands, and support the United States and our international partners in our collective efforts to meet our ambitious climate goals.
