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Mar. 28, 2021 08:58PM EST
A progressive group plans to spend millions connecting green energy to jobs
Progressives are trying to sell President Biden's infrastructure initiative with new cable TV ads arguing clean energy projects will immediately create thousands of jobs.
Why it matters: White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested Sunday that Biden will split his potential $3 trillion package in two — investments in infrastructure, followed by billions more for the “caregiving economy.” The first political fight may be over what qualifies as infrastructure.
- Climate Power, an environmental group with close ties to the White House, will spend an additional $2 million during the next month on national cable and digital ads arguing major clean energy spending has bipartisan support.
- The ads will be part of an overall $10 million effort.
- “Investing in clean energy and infrastructure is the best, fastest and most effective way to put people to work and address the climate crisis,” John Podesta, a member of the group's advisory board, writes in a memo outlining its plans.
Our thought bubble: "There may be resistance to making the infrastructure bills too climate-heavy, unless the public views clean energy spending as a win/win for jobs and the environment," writes Axios energy and climate reporter Andrew Freedman.
Between the lines: White House officials know there’s a limit to the number of “shovel-ready” jobs in any infrastructure package.
- Progressives are preparing for that coming battle.
- Their argument is that green infrastructure will give the economy short- and long-term boosts: first, with thousands of new jobs to actually build projects, and then with a round of hiring in an economy catering to clean energy.
The big picture: By dividing Biden’s Build Back Better agenda into two legislative proposals, the White House is trying to suggest the first one won’t engender much controversy.
- “Roads, railways, rebuilding them — that's not a partisan issue,” Psaki said on "Fox News Sunday."
- In reality, many Republicans do support traditional surface transportation projects, but some have little interest in spending billions on charging stations and new electricity grids.
By the numbers: Like Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, Democrats insist the president’s infrastructure proposals have national bipartisan support, even if House and Senate Republicans have signaled their opposition.
- Some 67% of voters say the federal government should be doing more to modernize American infrastructure, according to a new poll for Climate Power and Data for Progress.
- 73% say it is time for Congress to invest in infrastructure.
Between the lines: More than two-thirds of voters would be more likely to support the Build Back Better plan if it prioritizes oil and gas workers for new clean energy jobs, and if they have the chance to unionize.
The bottom line: Democrats insist any laid-off workers in the oil and gas industry will be able to find employment in the green energy economy.
- That’s a hard argument to make in Trump country.
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Mar. 11, 2021 07:23AM EST
UN: 12 million women denied access to birth control due to pandemic
Nearly 12 million women lost access to family planning services including birth control and contraceptives because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Population Fund said in a report published Thursday.
Why it matters: The UNPF said the data from 115 low-and-middle-income countries shows the disruption for a total of 3.6 months caused by the pandemic over the past year led to 1.4 million unintended pregnancies.
- The report, published on the first anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, is another reminder of how the pandemic has disproportionately affected women.
- UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem noted to AFP that while the coronavirus has "wrought havoc" on women and girls around the world, the "poorest and the most vulnerable now are seeing the most dire consequences."
What they did: The UNFPA made the projections using anonymous Google Mobility data that showed access to grocery stores and pharmacies to indicate access to essential services, and from collecting data from country partners.
What they found: The worst disruptions to family planning services were largely concentrated in April and May, when governments around the world imposed lockdowns and other restrictions on citizens in attempts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Yes, but: Researchers found the disruption was not as bad as the UNFPA had projected last April, when the reproductive and maternal health agency forecast that some 47 million women would be denied access to contraceptives if lockdowns had continued for six months.
- "From governments to manufacturers to healthcare providers, the world’s supply chains for modern contraceptives have shown their resilience, and largely bounced back from the stock-outs we saw in the earlier days of the pandemic," Kanem said in an emailed statement.
But, but, but: The report makes clear that "disruptions remain a concern, and limited data and some inconsistencies across countries require ongoing monitoring and analysis."
The bottom line: Per the report, "The severe social and economic impacts of COVID-19 demand intensified action for women and girls."
Read the full report, via DocumentCloud:
Go deeper... WHO: 1 in 3 women globally experiences violence
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Sep. 11, 2020 12:15AM EST
Biden to attend 9/11 museum ceremony
Joe Biden plans to attend the 9/11 Memorial and Museum’s 19th anniversary commemoration ceremony in New York City on Friday morning, his campaign said in a press release.
Driving the news: He and President Trump will honor the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, later on Friday. Their paths are not expected to cross, Axios' Margaret Talev reports.
Between the lines: Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence will be in attendance at an independent ceremony scheduled in response to social distancing requirements at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
- Trump is not currently expected to attend the museum's annual event.
Details: Family members at the museum will not read the names of victims in-person onstage to adhere to social distancing guidelines. The reading of the names will be pre-recorded.
- "The horrific loss of life, from the largest attack on U.S. soil, a terrorist attack, requires that we read these names out loud, in person, on this day, every year. We can never minimize that fateful day," the CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which is hosting the independent ceremony, said in a statement.
Flashback: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said last week that Trump "better have an army if he thinks he’s gonna walk down the street in New York. New Yorkers don’t want to have anything to do with him."
- Cuomo was responding to Trump singling out New York in a memo in which he threatened to cut funding to any "anarchist jurisdiction" that "disempowers or defunds police departments."
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Dec. 08, 2024 10:04PM EST



