Data for Climate Progress 3.29.2021 - Infrastructure Week Every Day.
What We’re Watching
Deb *runs* interior
Two weeks ago the Senate voted to confirm Deb Haaland as the next Secretary of Interior. This is a huge win for the progressive, Indigenous and climate justice movements. Congratulations to Madam Secretary and the #DebForInterior movement for making history. We are honored to support you now and moving forward.
Julian talked to WNYC about what this confirmation means for tribal communities. Listen here.
Infrastructure for the win
DC is buzzing with talk about what will be included in Biden’s Build Back Better infrastructure and jobs package. This week, President Biden will be in Pittsburgh (the City of Bridges) to unveil an infrastructure and jobs package nearing $3 trillion that will address and invest in everything from repairing roads and bridges to incentives for new clean energy projects and EV charging stations. While the White House has indicated they will be pushing forward with a Build Back Better agenda that encompasses both structural infrastructure as well as human infrastructure like child care and economy-wide job creation, the exact sequencing and timing of these bills is the question on all of our minds. In the meantime, we’ll be working on putting together an overview of Build Back Better policy recommendations with polling and message testing, so stay tuned.
Polling
Build Back Better is popular—like really popular
Today, Climate Power and Data for Progress released new polling that finds national voters across party lines overwhelmingly support the Build Back Better plan to make much-overdue investments modernizing the nation’s infrastructure and energy grid.
A majority of all voters (70 percent), including a majority of Democrats (89 percent), independents (66 percent), and Republicans (51 percent) all say they support the Build Back Better plan.
Notably, voters say they are more likely to support Build Back Better if it includes provisions to prioritize fossil fuel workers for good-paying, union jobs and direct 40 percent of investments to low-income communities, communities of color, and other disadvantaged communities.
Last week, Invest in America and Data for Progress released new polling that found voters want lawmakers to not hold back and pass a large infrastructure bill, even when they are shown oppositional talking points about how the infrastructure bill may raise the national debt.
DFP + Evergreen = BFFs
Data for Progress and Evergreen released new polling alongside the revamped Clean Jumpstart 2021 report that finds a majority of voters nationwide support federal investments in clean energy, infrastructure, and innovation.
While all the Clean Jumpstart proposals Data for Progress tested enjoy a majority of support among national likely voters, the most popular proposals include upgrading aging water infrastructure (88 percent support), funding to help small farmers expand sustainable farming practices (81 percent support), the creation of a new Climate Conservation Corps (77 percent support), and a GI Bill for fossil fuel workers as part of the clean energy transition (75 percent support).
In support of Evergreen and the Roosevelt Institute’s new policy report Economic Recovery Begins at Home: Retrofitting US Housing Stock for Jobs, Health, Savings, and the Climate, Data for Progress released new polling that finds federal investments to improve household energy efficiency are among the most popular components of the Build Back Better plan.
Voters aren’t buying disinformation about clean energy killing jobs and causing the Texas blackouts
During Secretary Haaland’s confirmation hearings, several Republican senators repeatedly made claims that President Biden’s climate agenda, notably his commitment to pause new leasing of fossil fuel projects on public lands, will kill jobs and reduce America’s energy independence. However, voters aren’t buying those bogus arguments.
In the days following the Texas blackouts, Republicans like Governor Greg Abbott and Representative Dan Crenshaw went on Fox and other conservative outlets to spread misinformation about renewable energy and “frozen windmills” causing the devastating statewide outages. While most voters across the country rejected the disinformation about the Texas blackouts, conservative news watchers disproportionately believed them. Check out more analysis on the DFP blog and in Media Matters for America.
Policy
We stan the Build Green Act
Greening America’s public transportation infrastructure is vital to tackling the climate crisis. Last week several Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Warren and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Build Green Act, which would invest $500 billion over ten years to electrify public transportation, install electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, and expand renewable energy generation capacity.
Our research shows that the Build Green Act would create a million new jobs, save $100 billion annually, and prevent more than 4,000 deaths a year caused by pollution. Read the full memo here.
New Clean Jumpstart, who dis?
We collaborated with Evergreen Action on a new and updated joint report about how Congress can give the economy a clean jumpstart in 2021. The report includes 39 specific policy recommendations for Biden to deliver on his $2 trillion climate campaign plank.
Full report here.
Illinois leading on climate
Illinois may have been upset in March Madness, but Illinois lawmakers are fighting for a major win on new statewide climate legislation. A few years ago, Illinois passed The Future Energy Jobs Act investing billions of dollars into energy efficiency, renewables, and job training. But we can’t stop there. Illinois State Rep. Will Guzzardi blogged for DFP about the need to expand his state’s investments in a green workforce with the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which is supported by a majority of Illinois voters.
Cross-cutting issues
Science is back!
Investing in cutting-edge science and innovation is critical for advancing our technological developments and ensuring the United States remains competitive with other countries. The Endless Frontier Act addresses this by allocating funding and resources to expand the National Science Foundation, ramp up R&D of emerging technologies, educate and train our nation’s budding scientists, and accelerate the deployment of technologies from the lab to the marketplace. Representative Ro Khanna and Senator Schumer blogged about how the Endless Frontier Act can position the US to lead in the 21st Century and ensure all our citizens have an opportunity to participate in the new technology revolution.
Blog here.
Protect farmworkers
Farmworkers are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis and have faced unique challenges during the pandemic. Last week, the House passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act — a first step toward protecting farmworkers.
We put together a guidebook on how to support farm workers during the pandemic in collaboration with DFP fellow, Mackenzie Feldman and the Coalition of Immokalee workers. Read here.
Lead Locally
Races to watch
All eyes are on Virginia as their 2021 gubernatorial and state legislative elections heat up. At stake is whether or not the coalition that is pushing for a VA Green New Deal can oust some incumbents over their support for Dominion Energy, the massive (and dirty) utility that spends big on lobbying in Richmond and is trying to force the Mountain Valley fracked gas pipeline through.
On the gubernatorial level, Jennifer Carrol Foy picked up a major endorsement from the Sunrise Movement who polling shows has the best shot against Former Governor Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe has previously supported Dominion's fracked gas pipelines.
GND-backers have also coalesced behind Del. Sam Rasoul for Lieutenant Governor; Rasoul is leading GND efforts in the legislature, and is leading in the fundraising race for Lt. Governor.
In the VA State Assembly Delegate races, there are a number of interesting primaries where progressives are challenging incumbents who have been aligned with Dominion, all of whom have taken the VA Justice Dems’ pledge to reject political contributions from the utility companies, support a VA GND, and back major progressive legislation like ending Right to Work:
Karishma Mehta for 49 - A preschool teacher in the Arlington area is primarying Delegate Alfonso Lopez for his failure to stand up to fossil fuel interests and for not supporting workers in repealing Right to Work. She is endorsed by DC DSA.
Jennifer Adeli for 34 - A local Democratic party activist, Adeli helped flip VA blue and is now primarying Democrat Delegate Kathleen Walker in the DC suburbs with plans to back the state’s climate movement and teacher unions in their fight for universal Pre-K and higher pay.
Richard Walker for 71 - A community activist for decades, you’d be hard pressed to name a progressive fight Walker hasn’t waged. He’s been a leading activist in the fight to kill the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, enact anti-discrimination hiring policies for the formerly incarcerated, and provide state solar jobs for young people. He’s also found time to lead Bridging the Gap, an organization that helps thousands of formerly incarcerated Virginians like himself find employment. He’s primarying Democrat Jeff Bourne to be a leading voice for racial and environmental justice in the Assembly.
Ibraheem Samirah for 86 - Since winning his seat in 2019, local dentist and youth activist Samirah has been a champion of the VA Green New Deal and ending Right to Work. A relative newcomer, he’s facing a primary challenge from the more moderate wing of the party.
Joshua Cole for 28 - A pastor and well known NAACP head, Cole has been a prominent activist in his Richmond community fighting for for gay rights, voting reform, racial justice, and the Green New Deal VA since he was a teen. He’s one of the legislature’s stronger progressives, and he won his election in a very tight race, so he might face a tough general election.
Media Hits
The Washington Post (Julian authored)
Politico (Julian authored)
Lemonada Media (Julian featured)
The Nation (Julian authored)
Deb Haaland
Yahoo News (Julian quoted)
Jewish Insider (Julian quoted)
MSN (Julian quoted)
The Hill (Julian quoted)
DNYUZ (Marcela quoted)
Exposed by CMD (Marcela quoted)
MSN (Marcela quoted)
Daily Kos (Julian featured)
The Hill (DFP mentioned)
AlterNet (Julian featured)
Press News Agency (DFP mentioned)
Huffpost (DFP mentioned)
Yahoo (DFP mentioned)
Daily Magazine (DFP mentioned)
Common Dreams (Julian mentioned)
Build Green Act
PressFrom (DFP mentioned)
Business Insider (DFP mentioned)
Markets Insider (DFP mentioned)
The Entrepreneur Fund (DFP mentioned)
MSN (DFP mentioned)
Yahoo News (DFP mentioned)
Yahoo News (DFP mentioned)
Daily Magazine (DFP mentioned)
EcoWatch (DFP mentioned)
Portside (DFP mentioned)
Alternet (DFP mentioned)
Common Dreams (DFP mentioned)
Roads and Bridges (DFP mentioned)
MSN (DFP mentioned)
Truthout (DFP mentioned)
Washington Examiner (DFP mentioned)
The Hill (DFP mentioned)
PressFrom (DFP mentioned)
AsumeTech (DFP mentioned)
FramingHam Source (DFP mentioned)
Boston Globe (DFP mentioned)
Automotive News (DFP mentioned)
Automotive News (DFP mentioned)
Crain’s New York Business (DFP mentioned)
Transport Topics (DFP mentioned)
Bloomberg (DFP mentioned)
MSN (DFP mentioned)
China
Guy on Climate (DFP mentioned)
FromPress (DFP mentioned)
DNYUZ (DFP mentioned)
Vox (DFP mentioned)
Slate (DFP mentioned)
Misc
Our America with Julián Castro (Julian featured)
NiemanLab (Julian mentioned)
Newsy (Marcela quoted)
PressFrom (DFP mentioned)
Washington Examiner (DFP mentioned)
OLT News (Marcela quoted)
WNYC (Julian featured)
ExBulletin (DFP mentioned)
USA News Hub (Julian quoted)
DNYUZ (Julian quoted)
PressFrom (DFP mentioned)
DNYUZ (DFP mentioned)
The Atlantic (DFP mentioned)
Bonus:
Join Julian & Rep. Jamaal Bowman on Thursday, April 8, 2021 to discuss how cities can tie economic growth and investment to racial equity and climate justice. Register here.