The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative today released its 2021 U.S. federal priorities that focus on programs, policies and funding that are vital for the economic and environmental health of cities along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
Chicago, IL (PRUnderground) March 5th, 2021
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative today released its 2021 U.S. federal priorities that focus on programs, policies and funding that are vital for the economic and environmental health of cities along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
“We applaud the Biden Administration for making economic recovery, infrastructure development and environmental issues top priorities in its first one hundred days and believe that the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative’s federal priorities fit perfectly within that agenda,” said Mayor Mike Vandersteen, Chair of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.
The Biden administration will need to build on these gains
Photo by yevtony/iStock
A few days before Christmas, the US Congress passed a major $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus bill, pared with a $1.4 trillion federal spending package. The main items that made the headlines were $600 checks to Americans, federal unemployment benefits, and funding for small businesses, school systems, public transit, and vaccine distribution.
Flying beneath the radar in the year-end legislation were a variety of energy- and climate-related provisions that together arguably made up one of the most significant actions on climate in years, at least from Congress.
The bill included an extension of the federal solar investment tax credit for two years at the 26 percent level, instead of dropping down to 22 percent in 2021 and 10 percent in 2022, as had been planned. Federal tax credits for wind were extended for one year, and offshore wind was made eligible for the first time, within a window lasting un