For climate Progressives, Biden's $2.25 trillion isn't enough
Leslie Kaufman and Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg
April 1, 2021
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President Joe Biden delivers a speech on infrastructure spending at Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in Pittsburgh.Evan Vucci/AP
(Bloomberg) -- As a candidate, Joe Biden garnered nearly unanimous support from environmentalists, progressives, and clean energy advocates for his promise to reconfigure the U.S. economy for the fight against climate change.
But as president, his $2.25 trillion jobs-and-infrastructure blueprint—released Wednesday and meant to fulfill much of that campaign pledge—received a much less harmonious welcome.
“Today I find myself caught between two truths,” said Varshini Prakash, executive director of the youth climate activist group the Sunrise Movement. “This infrastructure plan is a historic step forward that would not have been possible without us,” she said, referring to fellow young protesters and advocates of the Green New Deal. And yet, “so much more is needed to reach the scale of what is necessary to truly transform this country to stop the climate crisis.”