The publication is reproduced in full below:
ENACTING CLIMATE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE AMERICAN JOBS PLAN
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HON. DORIS O. MATSUI
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about the importance of including climate change focused provisions in any forthcoming infrastructure package.
My district of Sacramento, one of the most flood-prone cities in the nation, relies on modernized flood control infrastructure to protect against the threat of inundations intensified by climate change. Just last year, my home state of California experienced the wildfire season on record and this year, we are bracing for what will be one of the worst droughts in recent decades. All of these are testaments that the climate crisis is here . . . and we have no time for half measures.
As we make the most consequential generational investments on our nation's crumbling infrastructure, Congress must prioritize bold investments in resilience, clean energy, jobs, and environmental justice while lowering our carbon footprint to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. The President's American Jobs Plan does just that.
As a leader in clean transportation and strong vehicle emission standards, I am thrilled to see that the American Jobs Plan will spark the electric vehicle revolution. The AJP would build a network of five hundred thousand EV chargers, replace fifty thousand diesel transit vehicles with cleaner vehicles, create a million jobs in the auto industry, and help consumers purchase the vehicles of tomorrow. These infrastructure improvements are critical to lower transportation emissions, the largest source of carbon pollution in the United States, and to decrease tailpipe pollution which disproportionately impacts communities of color.
Further, the American Jobs Plan will help us meet this moment with a visionary agenda that elevates every community-creating at least 2.7 million jobs in the new green economy and investing 40 percent of infrastructure funds in disadvantaged communities.
It is time for Congress to follow the President's leadership and pass an infrastructure package that will help us build a cleaner economy that values workers, communities of color, and all Americans who need environmental, climate, and economic justice. In 2021, we cannot address infrastructure without addressing climate change.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 105
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