Biden’s American Jobs Plan Could Help Launch a Decade of U.S. Climate Innovation
By Arjun Krishnaswami and Jake Higdon
The Biden-Harris Administration’s proposed jobs and infrastructure plan, released on Wednesday, includes a massive investment in the federal climate innovation operation to drive improvements in clean energy technologies, create economic opportunities for disadvantaged communities and in deindustrialized places, and spur American manufacturing. The American Jobs Plan is obviously a near-term stimulus effort at its core. But, the design of the plan indicates that the administration recognizes that robust, end-to-end innovation policy—from basic science, research and development, and demonstration programs to deployment and manufacturing investments and industrial policy—should underpin a strong, long-term economic renewal that leads to a more equitable society.
Last year, we wrote a report with Data for Progress that laid out a vision for a progressive climate innovation agenda and created a framework for evaluating energy and climate innovation policies on three criteria: expansion, emissions, and equity (the “three E’s”). We also showed that these innovation principles are incredibly popular, and that voters support a trillion-dollar investment in emerging low-carbon technologies. Based on the high-level information in President Biden’s plan, the administration is positioning the infrastructure package to make major progress on each of the three pillars of a progressive climate innovation strategy.
Expansion
In our 2020 report, we noted that climate delayers often position “innovation” as an alternative to ambitious investment, and argued that a progressive innovation approach should grow the federal innovation apparatus to include the full suite of activities necessary to integrate new technologies into the energy system at scale.That means expanding both funding levels and the scope of innovation activities by beefing up demonstration projects, deployment incentives, complementary infrastructure investments, and procurement.
The American Jobs Plan takes big strides in this direction with a massive increase in funding and targeted investment in underfunded activities, including demonstration grant programs, procurement, and deployment incentives. The plan:
Provides a much-needed $40B investment to upgrade and expand federal research facilities and infrastructure, enabling the federal government to develop and test the next generation of technologies.
Ushers in a new era of basic science R&D with an $80B investment split between the National Science Foundation and other agencies, including DOE. While these investments are not exclusively focused on climate, they would support advancements in materials, manufacturing, industrial processes, and energy technologies that would help us address the climate crisis.
Provides $35B to expand climate-focused innovation efforts and fill gaps in existing programs.
Funds $15B in large-scale demonstration projects that can commercialize the next generation of technologies.
Leverages $46B in additional procurement funding to drive demand for emerging technologies to reduce pollution from vehicles, ports, and manufacturing.
Makes a historic $174B investment in electric vehicle manufacturing, supply chains, and infrastructure, which will drive innovation and cut pollution from the transportation sector.
Establishes a Clean Electricity Standard that would create demand for innovative strategies to achieve a 100% clean electricity grid.
These investments would make much-needed enhancements to the federal innovation portfolio, increase funds to meet the scale of the climate crisis, and drive improvements in technologies that would pay off in the form of job creation, pollution reduction, and increased public support for climate action. The funding in this plan should expand the foundation of innovation infrastructure and be a downpayment for further investments in the next few years.
Emissions
To take on the crises of the 21st century, we must retool our innovation ecosystem to tackle climate change head on. That means focusing on research, development, demonstration, and deployment programs in the parts of the economy and energy system that generate the greatest emissions and are hardest to decarbonize. In our report, we show the stark imbalance between the proportion of funds spent on power generation technologies at DOE—about two-thirds—and the proportion of U.S. energy emissions that occur in the power sector—about one-third. We recommend dramatic increases in innovation funding for hard-to-decarbonize applications like industrial processes, building heating, transportation, and agriculture.
The American Jobs Plan could transform the federal government’s energy investments to much more closely align with emissions reduction goals—and the technologies we need to get to a 100% clean economy. The plan:
Establishes new demonstration and deployment programs to drive innovation in underfunded technologies, including clean hydrogen, utility-scale energy storage, low-carbon cement and steel, and high-voltage transmission.
Creates new demonstration and deployment programs for deep decarbonization of underfunded sectors, such as heavy industry and transportation.
Establishes ARPA-C, based on the successful ARPA-E, to focus on technologies not well-covered by DOE, such as agriculture and climate resilience solutions.
Capitalizes a national Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator, at $27 billion, with an aim to reduce risk and mobilize private investment in innovative distributed energy technologies.
Establishes programs to transform the building and vehicle stock while offering rebates to consumers, which would drive demand for innovative technologies to address pollution from these high-emitting sectors.
Equity
Policymakers should ensure that the communities that have the greatest stake in the transition to a clean energy economy—including those who have borne the cumulative burden of historic pollution, those who depend on fossil fuel production for their livelihoods, and those who have experienced systemic disadvantages and discrimination—are shaping and benefitting from federal energy innovation priorities.
The American Jobs Plan has a number of programs that weave equity, jobs, and climate action together. On the innovation front, these include increasing diversity in government-supported innovators; directing grants, demonstration projects, and other funds to underserved communities; strengthening workforce development programs and labor standards for clean industries; and investing in innovation infrastructure to ensure rural and energy-producing communities can benefit from emerging technologies. The plan:
Dedicates half of the new funds for critical technologies for HBCUs and other MSIs, provides $15B for 200 centers of excellence for research incubators at HBCUs and other MSIs, and establishes a new climate-focused national lab at an HBCU.
Boosts R&D funding for land-grant universities.
Provides $31B for innovation funding for small businesses with a focus on communities of color and underserved communities.
Demonstrates hydrogen and industrial decarbonization technologies in distressed communities and launches the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator with “a particular focus on disadvantaged communities that have not yet benefited from clean energy investments.”
Spends $20B to establish at least ten regional innovation hubs and a Community Revitalization Fund.
Expands economic development grants for coal communities through ARC’s POWER program and EDA, as well as grants to retool idle industrial facilities.
The plan is a great step forward to make federal innovation programs more focused on equity. But, how well the administration’s innovation program meets the equity pillar will depend on the details of legislation and implementation. DOE should expand stakeholder engagement processes to bring frontline, fenceline, energy transition, and disadvantaged communities in at every stage of the process, including design, implementation, and evaluation of innovation programs. Deeper and more frequent engagement processes will uncover a wider range of problems the federal government should help address, as well as creative and innovative solutions developed by impacted communities.
Congress and DOE should also make sure technologies that reduce transportation emissions, such as zero-emission buses, are piloted and deployed to reduce pollution for communities that have experienced the worst air quality. Renewable energy and building technology research programs should keep affordability, energy justice, and community access at their core, as DOE’s low-income solar programs do today. And DOE should develop new technologies with accompanying workforce training and job placement programs to ensure the economic benefits are going to communities that might otherwise be hard-hit by the transition.
We need transformative new research programs, stronger innovation infrastructure, and sustained funding levels for clean energy demonstration and deployment to meet the scale of the climate crisis. The details will matter immensely to ensure that federal innovation programs are designed to usher in a rapid and equitable transformation of the energy system. However, there’s no doubt that the American Jobs Plan heavily incorporates our “three E’s” and would represent the largest, most direct, and most progressive investment in federal climate innovation in U.S. history. As we watch closely for Congress to execute and build on the American Jobs Plan, look out for more detailed recommendations on how federal policymakers can make a progressive innovation agenda a reality.
Arjun Krishnaswami (@arjjacob) is a fellow with Data for Progress.
Jake Higdon (@Jake_Higdon) is a fellow with Data for Progress.