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BPC’s Grumet to Senate EPW: Economic Recovery Should Point to a Cleaner Climate Future

Washington, DC – Today, testifying before the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee during a 10 a.m. ET hearing, Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet will express his support for S. 2302, the America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act, as an opportunity to help the country recover economically while addressing the twin challenges of reviving our decaying infrastructure and successfully decarbonizing the economy by 2050.

“S. 2302 provides an opportunity to unleash massive investments that will rebuild and modernize our transportation infrastructure while helping to position the economy to achieve ambitious climate mitigation goals,” said Grumet in his written testimony. “At this moment of economic distress, the benefits of a new vision for forward-looking investment in America are hard to overstate.”

Despite the significant economic slowdown and job losses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, “an approach that focuses on improving the resilience of critical surface transportation systems, accelerating the planning and construction of needed projects through thoughtful permitting reforms, and facilitating the transition to low-carbon transportation and energy technologies to meet the enormous challenge of climate change offers a rare opening to move the country forward,” said Grumet.

In his testimony, Grumet will offer a set of policy recommendations that could increase the effectiveness of the legislative package to address the infrastructure, energy, and climate needs of the United States, highlighting three specific areas the committee should consider for bipartisan support:

  1. public investment on a scale that will meaningfully support economic recovery from the current coronavirus crisis
  2. provisions that directly address the need for emissions mitigation and greater climate resiliency in the nation’s surface transportation systems; and
  3. permitting reforms that will accelerate the pace of infrastructure investment and the realization of associated benefits

Recent experience with federal stimulus programs to produce near-term job growth and long-term economic returns, particularly in the area of clean energy technology, provide a roadmap for federal action.

Uniting infrastructure advocates and climate advocates behind these complimentary goals will ensure our long-term economic competitiveness while providing a cleaner future for all Americans.

Read Grumet’s full testimony

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