By Lew Daly and Sylvia Chi, Photo: Unsplash, Roosevelt Institute, June 2022
INTRODUCTION
The growing recognition that climate policy is deeply interconnected with racial
justice has been one of the most important progressive developments in recent years.
The rising national influence of environmental justice leaders and new policies such
as the Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative illustrate how the climate debate
increasingly centers around race and communities of color (Daly 2022; Aning 2021;
White House 2022). Yet, as we collectively try to move forward with the climate clock
ticking, advancing racial justice in and through climate policy still faces strong
headwinds that threaten to stall this momentum.
Justice40 envisions direct, democratic, and beneficial investment in disadvantaged
communities—the communities most harmed by the fossil fuel economy and most
at risk from climate change. Repairing previous harms and achieving an equitable
future for disadvantaged communities requires a substantial and measurable shift
in federal budget priorities, and Justice40 sets a goal of ensuring that 40 percent of all
climate-related investments are targeted for the benefit of disadvantaged communities.
But over the last year, the mainstream climate conversation—particularly around
infrastructure spending—has shifted in a conservative direction that is antithetical to
this vision. Proposals to directly invest in clean energy and environmental justice on a
significant scale have largely been stripped and set aside or clouded by misinformation
about budget deficits and economic damage caused by public spending.
The primary remaining climate policy with widespread support is clean energy tax
credits—specifically, a 10-year extension and expansion of credits proposed in the Build
Back Better (BBB) legislation. Utilities, environmental groups, and climate experts have
made common cause around using expansive tax policy to incentivize clean energy
development, and researchers estimate that these credits would reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in the electricity sector by as much as 73 percent in 2031 compared to 2005
levels, as well as generate net benefits (benefits relative to costs) in a range between $200 billion and $1.5 trillion under different cost scenarios (Greenstone et al. 2022).
The BBB energy tax credit proposal is projected to cost more than $300 billion—
making it potentially the largest climate change investment of the Biden presidency—
if not ever (Joint Committee on Taxation 2021).
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