Sarbanes Votes to Expand America’s Renewable Energy Capacity, Curb Fossil Fuels and Create Millions of New Jobs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today voted to pass the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act (H.R. 4447), a wide-ranging proposal to boost America's clean energy economy, create millions of good-paying jobs, modernize the nation's energy infrastructure and deliver environmental justice for underserved communities across the country.

"With the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis bearing down on us, we must work swiftly to transition to a clean and equitable economy that positions America for growth in the years ahead," said Congressman Sarbanes. "Today, we have a tremendous opportunity to rebuild and revive our nation's economic capacity by investing in clean energy solutions, improving energy efficiency standards, reducing carbon emissions and supporting communities that have dealt – for far too long – with the undue health and environmental impacts of fossil fuel polluters."

Congressman Sarbanes continued: "While I am concerned that some provisions do not go far enough to reduce the nation's dependence on fossil fuels, I believe that the bill as a whole represents an important step forward in our ongoing work to address the climate crisis and deliver environmental justice to marginalized communities."

Congressman Sarbanes concluded: "As Congress continues to eye our nation's recovery from COVID-19 and mitigate the calamitous effects of climate change, I will keep fighting to put America on a path toward a prosperous, clean energy future."

Key provisions of the Clean Economy Jobs Act include:

• Transitioning America to a resilient, clean energy economy;
  
• Modernizing the country's electric grid and improving its security, resiliency and reliability – a key priority led by Congressman Sarbanes;
  
• Investing $4 billion in cutting-edge renewable technologies, including solar, wind, geothermal and hydro power;
  
• Bringing clean and reliable energy to marginalized communities, including $25 million to deploy energy storage and microgrids in rural communities and $1 billion for solar installations in low-income communities – an effort long championed and advanced by Congressman Sarbanes;
  
• Incentivizing private investment in low-carbon technologies and renewable energy projects across America;
  
• Improving energy efficiency and weatherization standards for offices, schools, homes, municipal buildings and manufacturing facilities;
  
• Reducing fossil fuel emissions across America's transportation networks and increasing the nation's adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles; and
  
• Prioritizing the needs low-income communities, communities of color and other marginalized groups by delivering clean energy projects and job training opportunities to those communities, reducing health disparities and requiring federal agencies to integrate environmental justice in their missions to fight climate change and protect the health and safety of every American community.

See here for more information about the bill.

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