President Joe Biden proposed spending more than $24 billion both to fund natural disaster response efforts and to bolster environmental conservation as part of his 2024 budget.
That is among other billions in government money that he wants Congress to allocate to environmental measures as California and neighboring states perennially reel from wildfires, flooding and other climate-related catastrophes.
Biden suggested ensuring all wildland firefighters make at least $15 an hour and giving more money to agencies that build infrastructure to protect communities from flooding, among other emergency responses. For water and drought, he proposed investments in rural projects, conservation, desalination infrastructure and recycling efforts.
And for the future, he outlined plans to increase reliance on renewable energy and climate-related innovation, like putting $1.2 billion to Department of Energy decarbonization projects.
The plan released Thursday builds on efforts from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which each set aside large sums of cash for similar projects.
The odds that Congress passes legislation this year encapsulating Biden’s plan are pretty much none, especially amid a broader battle that requires lawmakers to lift the debt ceiling by this summer or risk an unprecedented default, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Republicans, who hold control of the House or Representatives, called the budget another example of reckless spending. In a statement, GOP leaders including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, said this “unserious budget proposal includes trillions in new taxes that families will pay directly or through higher costs.”
To reduce deficits by about $3 trillion over the next decade and fund new investments, Biden proposed additional taxes on wealthy individuals and big corporations, as well as cutting spending on Big Pharma, Big Oil and other special interests.
“Put really plainly, this budget moves our country forward,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chair of the money-allocating Appropriations Committee. “And you can do so while lowering the deficit by simply asking the billionaires and the wealthiest corporations in America if they can finally pay their fair share in taxes.”
While many Democratic senators commended Biden’s proposal, some environmental experts think that he did not go far enough to support agencies that enact climate-related efforts.
Biden requested $12 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency — a $1.9 billion or 19 percent increase from this year, according to the Environmental Protection Network, a collective of former EPA staffers and appointees.
But that does not go far enough to make up for funding decreases overtime, EPN Executive Director Michelle Roos said in a statement after the president released his budget. Roos, among other roles at the EPA, co-founded and co-managed the West Coast Collaborative to reduce emissions from diesel engines.
“Adequately funding the EPA is an investment in safeguarding the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the planet we all depend on,” Roos said. “EPA’s budget remains at Trump-era levels and is not sufficient to fully protect our public health and the environment.”
Some of Biden’s proposed environmental spending:
— $4.5 billion to create clean-energy jobs nationwide
— $1.8 billion to weatherize and retrofit low-income Americans’ homes
— $83 million to electrify tribal homes and transition tribal colleges and universities to renewable energy
— $16.5 billion for climate science and clean-energy innovation
— $64.4 million for the EPA to implement the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act and continue to phase out hydrofluorocarbons
— $1.8 billion for EPA programs for environmental justice in communities that bear the brunt of pollution and climate change
— $219 million to help the EPA remediate lead contamination in water
— $3 billion for the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE)
