Congress must be bold in order to revive Michigan’s post-pandemic economy
As a business owner, I know how important it is that we build back stronger than ever from this pandemic by investing in our communities and the very roads, bridges and water systems that our local economies depend on.
We’ve recently seen how repeated extreme weather events pushed our infrastructure past its limits — extreme private and public sector flooding, multiple days of power outages, and closing of local small businesses.
The economic impact of climate change is real and present. With disruptions to supply chains and continuous service interruptions make running a successful business frustratingly harder than it should be. When families are saddled with natural disasters in their homes and valuable food is wasting in the heat, spending money with local busines stops and the local economy hurts.
The U.S. Senate recently passed a bi-partisan $1 trillion investment in America’s roads, bridges, water and sewer pipes, and expanding broadband internet. This can be a tremendous first step if it is coupled with more specific investment in the clean energy economy of the future that President Biden has laid out in his Build Back Better program. This “Part 2” of our country’s recovery from the pandemic invests in things that will create jobs here in Michigan and start addressing the root causes of climate change. It invests in job training and creation in the growing clean energy industry. It invests more in cleaning up our drinking water from toxic pollution. It puts a large focus on supersizing the electric vehicle market — thus putting Michigan manufacturing know-how to work.
The U.S. House recently passed a budget resolution supporting President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. We applaud members of the Michigan delegation who voted “yes.” Our Michigan congressional delegation must see this larger investment through to the finish line.
We know federal funding will spark a wave of private investment. According to a report from Advanced Energy Economy, for every $1 invested in transportation electrification, another $2.60 in private investment follows. The President’s Build Back Better program ties investment in our clean energy economy directly to goodpaying jobs for Michigan workers by connecting strong labor standards to clean energy tax credit extensions. Proposed federal infrastructure investments will go even further. From funds for climate smart agriculture and forest management for farmers and rural communities, to coastal resiliency programs to address our shoreline erosion, to home electrification and weatherization projects to lower energy use, and more
Build Back Better is more than a slogan. It’s a way to embrace our state and our country’s future after a global pandemic that challenged all our perspectives and threatened our livelihoods.
Hundreds of thousands of Michiganders without power is one of many issues we cannot continue to subordinate. Cleaning up and moving on with our lives is not the answer — upgrading our infrastructure and investing in clean, renewable energy to reverse human-driven climate impacts is the answer.
We know now is the moment. The United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released a report that shows us the scale of the climate change problem.
As we look to rebuild and grow Michigan’s economy, we need investment that matches the size and scale of the problem staring us in the face.
The time to act is now. Let’s get to work.