The US Administration on 28 May sent to Congress the President Joe Biden’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) including more than $36 billion to fight global climate change, an increase of more than $14 billion compared with 2021.
“President Biden’s budget request puts America in the driver's seat as we transition towards a 100% clean energy economy,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M Granholm. “These investments will ensure the US is the global leader in research, development, and deployment of critical energy technologies to combat the climate crisis, create good-paying union jobs, and strengthen our communities in all pockets of America.”
The main proposals related to climate include:
- $10 billion for clean energy innovation
- $7 billion for National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research
- $6.5 billion for rural clean energy storage, transmission projects
- $4 billion for advancing climate research
- $3.6 billion for water infrastructure
- $1.7 billion for retrofitting homes and federal buildings
- $1.4 billion for environmental justice initiatives
Climate change is “an opportunity to create new industries and good-paying jobs with a free and fair choice to join a union, revitalise America’s energy communities and the economy, and position America as the world’s clean energy superpower,” a White House statement said.
The budget also calls for $2 billion to employ welders, electricians and other labourers on clean energy projects across the USA with the aim of decarbonising the electricity sector by 2035. A further $580 million is allocated to remediate abandoned oil and gas wells and reclaim old mines. The budget requests $815 million to incorporate climate change risk in disaster planning and includes more than $1.2 billion more than 2021 levels to increase resilience to more frequent and intense climate disasters such as wildfires, floods and drought.
