After 18 months of negotiations, it was Vice President Kamala Harris's vote that would determine the outcome of the proposal in the US Senate. The voting figures then landed at 51-50, and thus it is clear that the USA is making the largest green investment ever a reality.
Environmental investments account for the majority of the reform package, and the estimated cost of 370 billion dollars will, among other things, go to reduced emissions mainly in the energy and vehicle sectors. Through tax breaks, it will be easier to invest in, among other things, solar energy, electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure, energy storage and wind power. Dagens Industri reports this today, among others.
– By driving down the costs of clean energy, it can make it easier for states and cities to take further climate measures on their own, says Jesse Jenkins at Princeton to The New York Times, according to DI.
A concrete measure is to combat the drought in the western USA, which has affected 40 million Americans. With the help of 4 billion dollars, measures will be taken for drinking water in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado.
According to Princeton University, the reform could mean one billion tons less carbon dioxide emissions each year by the end of this decade. That would account for about two-thirds of the country's goal of halving emissions from 2005 levels.
