White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthyand Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm celebrated progress on President Biden's infrastructure package by taking a spin in a Kenworth fuel-cell, zero-emissions Class A truck.
What they're saying: "We have a deal, a Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework deal," Granholm said. McCarthy responded: "it's big and it's beautiful."
- "[I]t's going to invest in electric vehicle infrastructure like charging stations. But also, hopefully we're going to see incentives for these big trucks which are emission free," Granholm added, referring to the truck she McCarthy were in.
- "This is the future we're driving in right now," McCarthy said.
The big picture: Granholm noted that the transportation section is "a big contributor to carbon pollution." U.S. transportation emits approximately 1.9 billion tons of carbon annually, Yale University said in 2017.
- The secretary also said that increasing production of zero-emission vehicles would increase jobs within the trucking industry.
- Granholm and McCarthy then use the CB radio to chat about semiconductors with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo: "Gina 2 to Gina 1!"
- Raimondo describes Biden's plan to create jobs by stimulating semiconductor production and increasing broadband coverage.
Go deeper: Bipartisan group reaches agreement on $1.2 trillion "hard" infrastructure bill